Of course, the celebrity argument cuts both ways. Some note it may be too much to ask for these shows to produce such a rare commodity.

John Rich, who’s actually moving in with a contestant for 72 hours on the CW’s ‘‘The Next,’’ says those who've gone on to become stars did so because they had something special: ‘‘Sometimes great singers win the talent contest and sometimes great artists win the talent contest. More times than not, probably a great singer wins, not a great artist.’’

As Colon predicted, the year since he won has been challenging. He asked out of his record contract with Universal Republic when he felt he wasn’t getting the necessary promotional push and support. But he recently wrapped a swing through South America with Maroon 5 at Levine’s invitation. He played in front of 35,000 in Sao Paolo, Brazil, perhaps the highlight of his career. And more important, he’s now able to draw several hundred out to a gig in North Dakota, drawing on his own star power.

‘‘The Voice’’ didn’t give him stardom, but the wave of momentum from the show has given him a career.

‘‘My expectations going into the show were just, you know, I want this to be a good opportunity for me and good exposure and hopefully I'll be in a better place than I was before the show started,’’ Colon said. ‘‘I'm definitely there and beyond that.’’

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AP Television Writer Lynn Elber in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

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