Everyone has to get their start somewhere, and for many celebs, they'll try to do anything in order to get their careers going, and that includes auditioning for famous talent shows. Many of these celebrities we might have forgotten have appeared on some of our favorite talent shows like X-Factor, American Idol, and So You Think You Can Dance. While many of them have worked hard to make it to the end, not all of them have been successful.
It's hard to believe that these famous celebs didn't win their respective reality shows, but despite the fact that they came in fourth, third, or even second, that didn't stop them from continuing to follow their dreams and getting the career of their dreams. With the help of these reality shows, they were able to boost their careers and become the famous, talented, celebrities we know and love today.
9 One Direction
We all know that One Direction was one of the biggest boybands in the world. It didn't get that way overnight, though. In case you didn't know, One Direction got their start on the British talent show, X-Factor back in 2010. Originally, the five guys had auditioned as solo artists, however, Simon Cowell decided to put them together to form a group — his best idea to date.
They became wildly popular on the show, fans falling for the five goofy boys who could sing well together. You would've thought that with their popularity, they would've won the show, but that wasn't the case. One Direction actually came in third place during their season, while Rebecca Ferguson came in second, and Matt Cardle won the show. Despite coming in third, we all know that they went on to have an insanely successful career together.
8 Kacey Musgraves
Many people might not have realized that country superstar Kacey Musgraves got her start on a talent show. Kacey appeared on season 5 of the show Nashville Star which was a country version of American Idol. The show was known for finding country stars Chris Young and Miranda Lambert. Kacey was just 18 years old at the time when she was competing, and she didn't do as well as you would think. She was the fourth contestant to be eliminated and placed seventh. Obviously, despite the poor results on the show, Kacey went on to have an extremely successful career.
Alanis Morissette
Alanis Morissette is a big name in music, and has been a trendsetter and paved the way for many other women in music. Back in 1990, Alanis appeared on an episode of Star Search where she performed "One Bad Apple." Of course, Alanis being Alanish you'd think that she would've coasted to an easy win. Unfortunately, she didn't get to sing any of the other songs that she had prepared because she lost in the very first round and was eliminated by a country singer named Chad. We all know that she went on to do bigger and better things though!
7 Miranda Lambert
Back in 2003, we got to see Miranda Lambert perform for the first time. Much like Kacey Musgraves, Miranda also appeared on Nashville Star, the country version of American Idol. Miranda appeared in the first season of the show, and she was just 19 years old when she competed. Despite the fact that Miranda impressed both the judges and viewers, she didn't win the show, nor was she the runner-up. Miranda came in third place, as Buddy Jewell came in first. Even though she didn't win, we all know that Miranda went on to have an amazingly successful career.
6 Carly Rae Jepsen
It seemed like everywhere you turned in 2012, you constantly heard Carly Rae Jepsen's hit song, "Call Me Maybe." But if it wasn't for a talent show, we never would've had that song that became the song of the summer. Back in 2007, Carly Rae appeared on Canadien Idol, which was basically Canada's version of American Idol. She did really well on the show, as she made it through week after week. In the end, Carly Rae didn't win, unfortunately. Instead, she came in third place and went on to have a very successful career, despite not being a winner.
5 Beyoncé
Everyone has to get their start somewhere, and the same goes for Beyoncé. Back in 1993 when she was just 12 years old, Beyoncé competed on Star Search. She didn't compete as a solo act, but with five girls called Girls Tyme. Unfortunately for Beyoncé and the rest of the girls, despite the fact that they had a pretty good singing and dancing routine, they lost to an all-boys rock band called Skeleton Crew.
Beyoncé used the loss as motivation to be better and work harder in order to make her dreams come true. In fact, Beyoncé used the sound clip from Star Search of Skeleton Crew on her track "***Flawless." Forever a reminder of how far she's come in her career, and despite the fact that she lost on a talent show, she still continued to follow her dreams.
4 Heather Morris
We all know Heather Morris from her time on Glee. There was a time, however, that she was trying to kickstart her career by competing on the reality show, So You Think You Can Dance. She auditioned for the second season and made it all of the way to Vegas week. However, she just missed the Judges' top 10 girls. Despite the fact not doing as well as she had hoped on the show, she went on to become a backup dancer for Beyoncé, dancing for her on tour, at the American Music Awards, and on Saturday Night Live. We all know after that Heather went on to do great things on Glee.
3 Nicole Scherzinger
Before she became a member of the Pussycat Dolls, Nicole Scherzinger tried to make it big by competing on a show called Popstars back in 2001. The show allowed contestants to compete for a spot in a pop group called Eden's Crush. Nicole did really well on the show, and actually won a spot in Eden's Crush. The girl group was what essentially launched Nicole's career. Unfortunately for Nicole, the band didn't take off as she had hoped and they eventually called it quits, and that's when the Pussycat Dolls came calling. She auditioned to be in the band and the rest, we know, is history.
2 Lucy Hale
We all know Lucy Hale from Pretty Little Liars, Bionic Woman, and Privileged. Before she became a successful actress, she was a contestant on American Juniors. The show was a spinoff of American Idol that had kid contestants that would compete against one another to form a pop supergroup called American Juniors. The judges on the show included Deborah Gibson, Gladys Knight, Justin Guarini, and Dionne Warwick. Lucy auditioned for the show and made it week after week to the end, where she was chosen to be a part of the American Juniors supergroup.
1 Amy Schumer
People often forget that Amy Schumer got her start on a talent show. In the mid-2000s, Amy really started to work on her stand-up comedy career, wanting to become a famous comedian. She decided to try out for NBC's Last Comic Standing back in 2007 where she made it through the auditions. She gained a decent fanbase while on the show, making it all of the way to the end. It might be hard to believe, but Amy didn't win the show. Instead, she came in fourth place. Despite the fact that she only came in fourth, she still went on to have a very successful career as a comedian.