People, ordinary or celebrated, compete in a given field for the votes of the viewing public. Singing, dancing and stand-up comedy are the most common fields.

Prone to {{filler}}. Differs from a RealityShow in that the contestants should have at least some genuine talent.

Frequent tropes:
* EliminationHoudini
* HarshTalentShowJudge
* HopelessAuditionees

If you're looking for a common plotline involving the characters of a show participating in something which may be called a "talent show," see TalentContest.
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!!Examples:
* UK
** ''OpportunityKnocks'' - 1940's Radio, SoundToScreenAdaptation in TheFifties.
** ''NewFaces'' - 1970's
** ''Series/StrictlyComeDancing''
** ''Series/TheXFactor''
** ''StarsInTheirEyes''
** ''Series/BritainsGotTalent'' (UK version of ''Series/AmericasGotTalent'')
** Creator/TheBBC's [[TheMusical Musical Theater]] Talent Show, the name changes every year as with the musical in question. They all are run by Creator/AndrewLloydWebber and the first three have conspicuous involvement by Creator/JohnBarrowman.
*** 2006 - ''How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?'' (Musical: ''Theatre/TheSoundOfMusic'' Role: Maria Von Trapp)
*** 2007 - ''Any Dream Will Do'' (Musical: ''Joseph And The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat'' Role: Joseph)
*** 2008 - ''I'd Do Anything'' (Musical: ''Theatre/{{Oliver}}'' Roles: 1 Nancy, 3 Olivers)
*** 2010 - ''Over The Rainbow'' (Musical: ''Theatre/{{The Wizard of Oz|2011}}'' Role: Dorothy, Totos)
** Creator/{{ITV}}'s [[DuelingShows clone]] of the above ''Grease: Is The Word'' (Musical: ''Theatre/{{Grease}}'' Roles: Sandy & Danny)
** ''Series/TheSlammer''

* US
** ''Series/StarSearch''
** ''Series/TheOriginalAmateurHour'' (radio 1934–45, television 1948–70)
** ''Series/TheGongShow'' (which is actually a ''subversion'' of the TalentShow)
** ''Series/AmericanIdol'' and its imitators
** ''Series/AmericasGotTalent''
** ''Series/BringTheFunny''
** ''Series/FaceOff'', makeup artists
** ''Grease: You're The One That We Want'', which was a US version of the BBC Musical Search format, which was then imported back to the UK by ITV.
** ''Series/DancingWithTheStars'', the American version of ''Strictly Come Dancing''.
** ''Series/AmericasNextTopModel'', though the subjectivity of the competition barely qualifies it as such.
** ''Series/SoYouThinkYouCanDance''
** ''Series/TheVoice''
** ''Series/TheMaskedSinger'', based on the South Korean series ''Series/KingOfMaskSinger''.

* Latin America
** ''Cuanto Vale El Show'' (Venezuela), who lived trough TheNineties and can be seen as a precursor of ''Series/AmericanIdol'', since its three regular judges had similar roles to the ones in American Idol.
** ''Operación Triunfo'' (Spain and several countries) and ''La Academia'' (Mexico), which have more RealityShow ingredients than most of the shows in this list.

* France
** ''[[Creator/JamelDebbouze Jamel Comedy Club]]'' (2006-2008), talent show for comedians, a Parisian theatre continued doing it once it stopped airing
** ''Nouvelle Star'' (2003-2017), French version of ''Series/AmericanIdol''
** ''Top Chef'' (since 2010), {{cooking|show}}.
** ''Series/TheXFactor'' (French edition, 2009-2011)
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