And The Winner Is. . . The Tension Pause

Newcastle Upon Tyne, England
November 16, 2015 4:34pm CST
If you are a fan of TV shows such as The X Factor and Britain's Got Talent (I'm not), and seemingly any other show that has an elimination process, you will have to go through the now obligotary tension pause (sometimes accompanied by a heartbeat backing track). I was watching a re-run of The Million Pound Drop earlier, and they too held the audience in suspense with a lengthy pause before the hatches were opened. Are these pauses even necessary? Would the show lose anything by omitting them, and simply saying "Tonight's winner is Greg. Well done Greg."? Seriously, an avid watcher of shows like this could probably spend half an hour per night watching dead air. Do you enjoy the tension pause, or could you live without it?
9 people like this
9 responses
@pgntwo (22408)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
17 Nov 15
I'll tell you later...
2 people like this
• Newcastle Upon Tyne, England
17 Nov 15
Heh :D
1 person likes this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
17 Nov 15
I hate the tension pause! I hate the way they manipulate my emotions.
1 person likes this
• Newcastle Upon Tyne, England
17 Nov 15
I agree, and this scenario takes the tension pause to a new level of irritation: "And the correct answer is. . ." Pause "We'll find out after this break." Grrrr!
1 person likes this
@zebra2222 (5268)
• United States
17 Nov 15
Not crazy about the tension pause. It adds nothing.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (472507)
• Switzerland
17 Nov 15
I do not like the reality shows and those long pauses make me crazy, wasted time.
1 person likes this
@cahaya1983 (11116)
• Malaysia
17 Nov 15
Not a big fan of reality shows, but I can live without it. Actually, it annoys me haha. I remember there was one local reality show here and the host always took forever to announce the results I swear I could take a nap just waiting for it.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (348065)
• Rockingham, Australia
17 Nov 15
I could certainly live without the tension pause. Sometimes they just spin out the pause for far too long
1 person likes this
@amnabas (14889)
• Karachi, Pakistan
16 Nov 15
I hate these suspense pauses.
1 person likes this
17 Nov 15
sometimes those dramatic pauses are good
1 person likes this
@Lucky15 (37374)
• Philippines
17 Nov 15
haven't heard the show here in the Philippines ;( with the pauses, i am not a big fan :))
1 person likes this