http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EliminationHoudini

This is based on opinion. Please don't list it on a work's trope example list.

Billie Green, note Cameron quit the next episode. Boycott the Caf reviews The Glee Project "It looks like we've entered the middle phase of a typical reality TV contest. The weakest contestants left early, so instead of eliminating the person who did worst that week, they are going to get rid of the one who hasn't created any drama. Looks like Alex and Cameron will make it to the final episode."

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On competition-based Reality TV, especially Talent Shows, one needs to exhibit the talent or skill necessary to win in order to justify their continuing existence on the show. Some contestants just don't have that, and most are quickly jettisoned.

However, sometimes a weak contestant will cheat elimination week after week, horrible performance after horrible performance. This is an Elimination Houdini.

Personality can sometimes play a role, but it doesn't matter whether the contestant is a nice person or a Jerkass. There is one and only one trait required to be an Elimination Houdini: an utter lack of the talent necessary to win the show, especially in comparison to the other contestants, including those already eliminated.

It's not enough for a contestant to be deemed incompetent by a mere sizable portion of viewers, though. There needs to be an overwhelming consensus that the Elimination Houdini just doesn't belong on the show anymore. What's more, this sentiment should also be shared by the other contestants (for shows with Confession Cams) or the judges (where the home audience votes and the judges have little to no influence any more).

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And yet, somehow, they survive for weeks and weeks. In shows where the evictions are decided by judges, there may be Executive Meddling afoot, keeping a contestant on as a human Conflict Ball to drive up ratings. On the other hand, in shows with public votes, people will often vote to keep on a contestant who's So Bad They're Good at the expense of technically superior opponents. Either way, it's enough to get some loyal viewers to not watch again... at least for a week or two. It's not uncommon for these people to develop a Hatedom that takes on a life all its own.

There is also another form of Elimination Houdini, commonly seen in shows like Survivor in which the contestants vote people out and not the audience. They may be the second person or another target for elimination, but somehow manage to avoid it, and they can do it in several ways. Either they get lucky and someone makes a bone-headed move that gets them on the chopping block instead, they instead gun for a different threat, a Non-Gameplay Elimination spares them for a round, or the Elimination Houdini manages to talk their way out of elimination and avoids death. A bad player may become a Houdini through stronger players actively protecting them - why knock them out now when they could be easy competition in the finals? Often this happens when Tall Poppy Syndrome kicks up.

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It is actually fully possible for the Elimination Houdini to win. In shows about alliances, they may be somewhat of a "Deadly Floater" who floats along then slips through the cracks in alliances, or plays enough of a social game their Entitled Bastard opponent(s) get a good "Not you!" in the final round. Or, in a talent-based show, they have a fanbase who votes for them because they want to see them continue. Maybe they're So Bad, It's Good.

The inverse is a Shocking Elimination, in which a favored contestant is cut earlier than expected, many times in the place of the Elimination Houdini. This, of course, fuels the Hatedom even further.

Examples:

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Series with their own pages

Winners

Case in point: Dat Phan, the first winner of Last Comic Standing. He actually did quite well with audiences, though the rest of the contestants were the ones who felt he didn't belong on the show. And if you ask the other comedians from the most recent season, Iliza Schlesinger also counts.

Leon Jackson, winner of The X Factor 2007, though he was never in the bottom 2.

The British series The Murder Game, where winner Andrew went to the Killer Game six (out of 8) times and survived (due to winning the 50-50 coin flip) before getting the correct killer in the finale, this is in contrast to the 2 other finalists who never been to the Killer Game until the finale.

Might have happened with John Sergeant in Strictly Come Dancing thanks to the fans, but he withdrew.

Gabby West in season 2 of Scream Queens (2008). She actually gave very good performances... that is, when she wasn't zoning out on set, making huge technical mistakes and not listening to Tim Sullivan's instructions. As a result, she frequently found herself up for elimination and only staying on because one of her competitors screwed up even worse than she did that week. By the judges' own admission, the only reason she wasn't eliminated right out of the gate was because she won the immunity challenge in the first episode, which saved her after an absolute disaster of a performance later on. Since the prize for winning was a role in Saw 3D, this may have been why her part wound up consisting of her doing nothing but screaming before getting splattered underneath a muscle car in a scene where she wasn't even the star, instead playing second fiddle to Chester Bennington. (For comparison, season 1 winner Tanedra Howard, one of that season's most consistently good contestants, actually got a fairly sizable role in Saw VI, returning for the sequel.) Sometimes, the Elimination Houdini will actually win over better contestants.

Other reality TV examples

Fan Film

Sith Apprentice, a Star Wars parody of The Apprentice, portrays Jar-Jark Binks as one of these, shortly before Palpatine (in the role of Donald Trump) personally eliminates him before the start of the final round.

Non-reality TV examples