LAST EDITED ON 05-19-10 AT 08:30 PM (EST)Given so much of show business is about how to evoke a certain emotional response from a viewer/listener I'd be shocked if none of the how to make people root for the hero, hate the villain, love the lover, etc that is used in scripted work makes it into reality TV.
I'm sure someone out of all the production people knows that givin someone the hero swelling with victory music during the audition footage would create a different mood than neutral or sad music.
ETA: I do think sometimes there are things that may be by chance, but when the person that always gets a positive edit gets hero lighting, etc. it seems unlikely to be all just happenstance.