GOT TALENT?

Well, Time magazine was right.  The Trump-Putin summit fizzled, and ended earlier than expected.  Worse, Putin won.  Their next session will be in Moscow.  When?  And, in case you were wondering, Putin is 5'7" and Trump 6'3".

Way back in 2014, Guinness World Records deemed the Got Talent franchise the most successful reality TV format worldwide.  At that time, there 58 countries showing their own version of the program.  The whole concept began with Britain's Got Talent, created by Simon Cowell.  However, disputes delayed their release, and the first to air was America's Got Talent in 2006.  They both run during the summer.

The latest ranking (13August2025), however, shows the following:

• #    1  Idol franchise  3.2 billion, 23 years,  2002 to 2025, but did not air in 2017.
• #    2  Got Talent franchise  500 million in 190 markets, 20 years, 2006 to 2025.
• #   
• #  10  Keeping up with the Kardashians, 130 million million in 160 countries, 14 years from 2007 to 2021.

I will in time focus on the Idol franchise, but today will look at the Got Talent franchise because the most recent America's Got Talent Tuesday night show was dedicated to their 20th year celebration.  If you missed it, watch for the re-run on Sunday night.

First, the Got Talent franchise:

• Hosted now in over 70 countries.  The Idol franchise is in over 150 countries.
• Why I enjoy Talent over the Idol shows is:

The concept of the format was for a large-scale televised talent competition where anyone, of any age and background, could participate with any form of talent.

• 
  The youngest was two year old math whiz Baby Dev, while the oldest was 95-year old Georgine Lamar, who sang this year.
• The Golden Buzzer, where each judge can advance an act to the live round, began in 2012 in Germany and copied by America in 2014.  Last year, Canada Got Talent began awarding GB selectees a $25,000 cash prize, and also in 2024, America doubled the number of Golden Buzzers.

• 
  Various locations sometimes host a world championship, and the American Champion in 2019 was card magician Shim Lim.
• Actually, America's Got Talent could just as well change its name to the World's Got Talent, for in recent years, there have been so many finalists who came from other countries.

• 
  In 2022 NBC said:

Throughout the nine rounds of auditions during Season 17 we saw contestants representing everywhere from Austria to West Africa and Ukraine. Out of the Top 55 Acts headed to Live Shows in 2022, nearly half hailed from a foreign country. The season's winners, The Mayyas, proudly traveled all the way from Lebanon to compete. The same can be said for AGT 18, with Acts like Japanese dance crew Chibi Unity and Brazil's Gabriel Henrique earning Golden Buzzers.

• They come because it is allowed, and the USA is where you can immediately get most famous, and even a Las Vegas gig.
• 
  As one of the judges, Howie Mandel, says,  "The U.S. Open invites people to play tennis from all over the world. You don’t have to be American to win the U.S. Open, and you don’t have to be an amateur to win the U.S. Open. [AGT] is the Olympics of talent."

• 
  Further, all the judges in recent years have foreigners.  At least the host, Terry Crews is All-American, for he played in the National Football League with three teams.

The most memorable America's Got Talent performer, to me, was, in 2010, 10-year old Jackie Evancho.

#1 all-time Got Talent singer was 47-year old Susan Boyle in 2009.  Simon Cowell's #1, and mine, too.  You got to watch this first audition, and how the judges reacted, before and after.  Interestingly enough, both Jackie and Susan ended up #2 in their year.  But they went to far greater success than the champions.  In 2019, Boyle sang for the late Pope Francis in the Vatican.  Here she is at at the age of 64 a couple of months ago.

Maybe my most memorable is She Bang by William Hung in 2004.  He was then a civil engineering student at the University of California, Berkeley.  He is now 41 and doing motivational speeches.  He has twice been invited back to perform for America's Got Talent.  Watch this video of his current life.

There is a very dangerous hurricane nearing the USA.  On Tuesday I reported:  In the Atlantic, Tropical Storm Erin could well become the the first Atlantic hurricane, with a potential to make landfall over the Eastern Seaboard.  Now at 45 MPH, Erin is poised to become a hurricane on Friday, strengthen into a Category 2 on Saturday, and a Category 3 on Sunday.  Then what?

Well, Super Hurricane Erin yesterday jumped from 85 MPH to 160 MPH.  However, all models have her turning right, heading north, and far away from the U.S.  There will be some coastal swells.

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