With today's fierce competition in the reality television singing competition category, it has been hard to to declare a show I’m dedicated to or prefer over the other. Between “American Idol,” “The X-Factor,” and “The Voice,” there are various elements that make one more interesting than the other. And as I learned at the #SXSW Top Chef Panel, reality television programs are now making it a focus to keep the audience engaged beyond the one-hour programming to 24 hours, seven days a week.
“The Voice,” currently in its second season on NBC, has successfully taken an accidental character that gained popularity via online conversation and ran with it. Meet ”Purrfect the Cat.” Purrfect first appeared on the season premiere during a testimonial with owner Cee-Lo (pictured above) and instantly became a hit (mostly because of its humorously silent nature).
Purrfect the Cat now has its own official Facebook page (11,684 likes) and Twitter handle (39,680 followers) where it regularly engages with fans and shares unique content, including personal photos. Purrfect even live Tweets during the show, making witty remarks toward contestants and even the judges (including owner CeeLo). Purrfect successfully carries on the same humorous personality fans who generated it presumed. See a few additional examples of this cat’s silly content below:
It will be interesting to see how “The Voice” leverages this now popular fan-generated character beyond online and back into broadcast, the space it originated. Luckily, they have some great content to work with. Meow!