America's Got Talent! Thread

[RogerRabbit]

Anyone following this show with Regis, David H, etc.?

http://www.nbc.com/Americas_Got_Talent/index.shtml#main

'Simon Cowell & FremantleMedia, the producers from "American Idol," team up with NBC in the search for the hottest variety and novelty acts from across the country! From ventriloquists to contortionists, acrobats to animal acts, magicians to mimes, Americans will prove (or not) just how talented they really are. Viewers will decide the ultimate winner, who will receive a million dollar grand prize!

The final vote will be made by America and announced during an exciting live finale! '


'Bobby Badfingers' was a suitable name, no?

 

[calloway]

It's a pathetic remake of the "Gong Show" and "Let's Make A Deal". No originality... but knowing how stupid people are... this show will probably end up being the #1 hit of the television season.

 

[RogerRabbit]

Cowell's habit of calling a spade a spade is often cited as the secret to his success

I can't believe people watch these craptacular shows lol...( and I know craptacular isn't really a word)

Most reality shows are 'craptacular'

The 14 old had a great voice and Brandi really encouraged her, whic is cool...

This show got huge ratings, plus major PR, like:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5105410.stm

'Mr Nasty' in hunt for US talent
By Peter Bowes
BBC News, Los Angeles
Music mogul Simon Cowell's latest TV show America's Got Talent made its US debut this week.


Jugglers, strippers and a rapping grandmother - just some of the wannabe performers vying to become America's next superstar in Simon Cowell's new audition show. Presented by veteran talk show host Regis Philbin, the talent search follows the same formula as Pop Idol and its US cousin, American Idol.
Cowell, however, does not appear on screen. American Idol airs on the Fox network, while his new show is on NBC.
For contractual reasons, the British producer must remain behind the scenes.
"I was very tempted to go in disguise and judge this show," he says.
"It was quite awkward for me to be watching from the sidelines. There were many moments when I just wanted to throw someone out of the judge's chair and tell them exactly what I thought."
'Brutally honest'
But Cowell has an alter-ego on the panel. Former tabloid editor and showbiz columnist Piers Morgan appears as the token Brit who is not afraid to speak his mind.
"He sure is terrific, and he too is brutally honest," says Philbin. "He makes those tough decisions."


"He's trying to take a leaf from the book of Simon and it looks like he's playing it pretty close to the formula," says Professor Robert Thompson, director of the Centre for the Study of Popular Television at New York's Syracuse University. "All the better that he's a Brit, which we now seem to associate over here with that role."
Morgan is not nasty all the time, and he comes across as far less grumpy than Cowell does on American Idol.
"You're one of the funniest people I've seen in stand-up," he tells an eight-year old African-American comic called Syd the Kid.
The judges' panel is completed by former Baywatch star David Hasselhoff and R&B singer Brandy.
Unlike American Idol, America's Got Talent has few rules - which means anything goes.
The result is old-style variety show entertainment melded with modern day reality TV.
'Variety is key'
In return for a shot at stardom - and the possibility of a million-dollar prize - contestants must be prepared for ritual humiliation.
"You belong on the end of the pier, or preferably off the end of the pier," Morgan advises a particularly woeful one-man band.


But Cowell is convinced that a pearl will be found among the swine. "If I didn't think we could find a star, I wouldn't make the show," he says confidentially.
"Variety is the key here. You absolutely have no idea who is coming up next.
"In the space of 15 minutes we saw a juggler, an acrobat, an amazing 14-year-old singer and a 68-year old male stripper.
"Put that lot in the mix and that's the joy of the show," adds Cowell.
The contest joins a growing list of audition shows on US TV. Earlier this year, ABC had a hit with American Inventor, for which Cowell was executive producer.
"It's like anything," he says. "Whether you're making dramas, comedies or talent shows, you've got to be good."
Cowell's habit of calling a spade a spade is often cited as the secret to his success, whether in front of the camera or behind it.
"The fact that he was so candid about these performers made him a voice that you seldom hear in the often sycophantic, obsequious jargon of these kinds of entertainment shows," says Professor Thompson.

 

[RogerRabbit]

this show will probably end up being the #1 hit of the television season.

You are right calloway :

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsA..._01_N22404440_RTRUKOC_0_US-LEISURE-TALENT.xml

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - NBC, desperate for a summer hit, launched its much-ballyhooed "America's Got Talent" contest to promising numbers on Wednesday night, with more than 12 million viewers tuning in to the Regis Philbin-hosted show.
The two-hour broadcast was the night's most-watched program on U.S. television and the highest-rated among viewers aged 18 to 49 -- the prime-time audience that matters most to advertisers, Nielsen Media Research reported on Thursday.
Averaging 12.4 million total viewers, it also marked NBC's strongest Nielsen performance in the Wednesday 9-11 p.m. time slot since April 2005, excluding the network's Winter Olympics coverage this year.

The 18-49 score notched by "America's Got Talent" was 84 percent higher than the NBC average for the same time period last summer, and 44 percent above its tally for that slot all last season. NBC finished the regular season fourth in the ratings among the major broadcast networks.