Reality competitions depend on suspense, but what if there's a contestant so clearly a contender to win from the get-go?

If producers are lucky, a player who is a gimme will be so talented (Mama Sox on 'American Idol') or so hot (Miles on 'Work of Art') or so Kent ('So You Think You Can Dance's' small-town favorite) viewers will want to follow their journey -- even if everyone knows it won't end in a mid-season thud.

Here are some recent reality TV stars who made it to the end without making themselves (or anyone else) break into a sweat.

Kent Boyd, 'So You Think You Can Dance?'
Take one look at Kent, and you know he's a winner. Of 'America's Happiest Engineering Student'. Or perhaps 'World's Cutest Carnival Employee'. So what is he doing on scintillating 'SYTYCD'? Shutting it down, that's what. You just knew as soon as the unlikely 18 year-old Ohioan showed up, judges and audiences would not let him go.