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#1 It’s The Singing Contest, Not The Song

If a music competition was about nothing more than range and technique, all of the contestants would bend their pipes around the same tune. As happens, judges -- and, more importantly, audiences -- like to get a bit of variety from their talent pool. In a way, it's simple mathematics. Fashion a battle 'tween devotees of rock, pop, country, and r'n'b, the odds argue that your potential viewer will be predisposed to back one horse in the race. 

So, by all means, study up on the sort of songs that your particular region has been most likely to reward during music auditions, and lean into the most lucrative idiom. Should results be inconclusive, it's never a bad idea to rehearse a few different types of numbers so that you might easily zig upon observing a thicket of zagging rivals.

All the same, don’t so obsess about the suitability of genre that you lose track of what brought you to the big stage. Plenty of worthy singers manage to avoid critique only to escape notice. To put yourself head and shoulders above the dozens of other equally-talented, equally-tasteful competitors, figure out your best shot at drawing goosebumps from weary judges, and, if you have a guaranteed show-stopper in your arsenal, lock and load.

In an interview with Billboard about her experiences braving musical auditions for The Voice, finalist Sarah J revealed the breadth of styles in attendance. “There were people in my room auditioning with everything from jazz standards -- I think somebody sang ‘Paper Moon’ -- to contemporary soul, you know, Stevie Wonder and Whitney Houston. Then, somebody sang an Evanescence song.”

The NYC chanteuse ended up selecting ‘Hallelujah’ for the singing competition because the Leonard Cohen standard “was my most goose-bumpy song possib

le, and I picked the most emotional verse from it.”

#2 Dress For The Music Auditions You Want

Keep in mind that you're telling a story. As much as the overriding narrative of these shows pretends each singing contest will be won by the finest singer, the evidence suggests an easily-understood, readily-sold personality will be most appreciated by the mainstream fan, and the heads of reality TV shows have adjusted their casting protocols accordingly. 

Each new crop of perfectly-pitched karaoke kings or coffeehouse divas should be expected to trail salacious origins and boast a wardrobe that more than live up to the most fantastical of backstories. To this end, all entrants of reality TV shows are in some way betting their dignity against widespread group-think searching out a lurid reason to care, and a costume may well be worth a thousand words. 

Still, undiscovered talents skipping rehearsals to try on new outfits will shoot themselves in the expensively-shod foot. Authenticity, the (at least)  illusion of authenticity, remains the most salable gift, and suddenly donning different garb might diminish your natural aura. “Make sure you feel comfortable,” Voice alum Sylvia Yacoub admitted to The Hollywood Reporter, “the second you feel you’re being put in an outfit that you normally wouldn’t want, your performance isn’t going to seem genuine.”

#3 Imitation Is The Dumbest Form Of Flattery

Should you manage to sing your way toward the sort of prime time music auditions arbitrated by industry heavyweights, DO NOT make the mistake of presuming top performers will be delighted by a new iteration of their time-worn hits. Stars are all too quick to judge a rookie by his or her covers.

“Here is the thing,“ Katy Perry told Entertainment Tonight last autumn, “we have heard those songs so many times …I don’t need to hear them again.” Perry, a newly-appointed judge of ABC’s American Idol revival, explained that sheer overexposure almost always leads superstar to tire of their own hits. Even a note-perfect replication will engender diminishing returns.

More to the point, should the performer fumble even slightly when interpreting a tune, the original artist will know in an instant. On behalf of her Idol-mates past and present, the pop chanteuse implored contestants climbing on stage for a televised music competition to avoid any material the judges of reality TV shows may find uncomfortably familiar -- unless, of course, “you sing them better than us.”