4 December 2008 week 49 27 territories got talent FremantleMedia’s Got Talent: a first-class ticket to ride Luxembourg France Andreas Rudas M6 Mobile’s new music appointed to RTL Group community campaign Executive Committee Germany Communications Launch of a new in Amsterdam regional radio station week 49 COVER: Collage of different Got Talent logos. 7ii l 2 week 49 the RTL Group intranet “Heroes out of underdogs” Since its first appearance on screen in June 2006, Got Talent has achieved tremendous successes all around the globe. Recently, the show ended with the finals in France and Germany. Rob Clark United Kingdom - 3 December 2008 With acts ranging from the sublime to the ridi- whom she invited to perform at the Monte- culous, the quest is on to find the best talent on Carlo circus. Sophie Edelstein, French jury offer. At stake – a life changing opportunity for member, a talented magician as well as artistic all candidates. Magicians, jugglers, strippers, director of the Cirque Pinder, invited contortio- fire eaters, singers, dancers – anything goes. nist Liu Xin to join her circus. “Whether the can- All entertainers are given the chance to win the didates make it to the finale or not, they have a hearts of a nation. first-class ticket to ride and can only benefit from the experience. Specialists and producers Performers take centre stage for the “open are watching and making deals thanks to the auditions” of a lifetime but have only a precious show,” she said. few seconds to impress the hardened panel of judges. They hold the power at the press of a On the evening of 29 November, voters in button. Three Xs and the star-turn is stopped. Germany elected its new ‘Supertalent’ in the The party is over and they’re off before the cur- German edition of Got Talent. From street tain falls! They may not always agree but the musician to national celebrity: Michael Hirte, judges’ decision is final. If the judges give the 44, a harmonica player and welfare recipient thumbs up, they move on to the next round. In from Karzow, is the ‘Supertalent 2008’. His the semi-finals, expectations are higher, the cri- story and his music touched millions of vie- ticism harsher, some will taste success, others wers, who voted him the winner of will fall by the wayside. Thousands of perfor- Das Supertalent in the final show. 6.1 million mers, three hardened judges, a discerning nation and one chance to make an impression. In the grand finale the lucky finalists have one last chance to make it big. But there can only be one winner. So far, Got Talent has been sold to 27 territo- ries. 13 November was a hit on M6 for the third- season finale of the French version, Incroyable Talent. That evening M6 was the top network in the under-50 target group with an audience share of 27.3 per cent. Alex, a fire tamer, was crowned ‘Talent 2008’ under the patronage of Princess Stephanie of Monaco. This flame- taming magician follows in the footsteps of the Salah dancers (2006) and Junior (2007), taking home EUR 100,000. Princess Stephanie of Monaco fell for flag-man Dominic Lacasse, Michael Hirte’s album will be released on 5 December 3 week 49 the RTL Group intranet people watched the talent show on Saturday One of the most moving moments was the fina- evening, for a 20.6 per cent share of total le of Britain’s Got Talent in 2007. Paul Potts, 36, audience. 3.45 million 14 to 49 year-old viewers an amateur opera singer and mobile phone tuned in, making Das Supertalent the evening’s salesman from Port Talbot, Glamorgan, won most-watched show in this demographic. the GBP 100,000 prize and the opportunity to Throughout the second season ratings were sing at the Royal Variety Performance in front of well over 20 per cent, peaking at 30.4 per cent her Majesty the Queen after a public vote which in the final. On 5 December Michael Hirte will was cast by more than two million viewers. The release his first album: Der Mann mit der tenor, who hid his singing talent from work col- Mundharmonika (The man with the harmonica). leagues at Carphone Warehouse, wooed jud- ges on the show from the first note of his audi- In October, America’s Got Talent ended its third tion piece, Puccini’s Nessun Dorma. Piers season with a finale that garnered 12.2 million Morgan, one of the three judges, told him after viewers and crowned 32-year-old opera singer one of his auditions that he wanted to find Neal Boyd as the champion from what host someone who had an ordinary job but who also Jerry Springer called the closest vote in the had an extraordinary talent. “You are that guy,” show’s history. Overcome with emotion, the he told him. The tenor, who was bullied at singer told the judges at his first audition he school, stopped singing four years ago after wanted to make his mother proud and take one several misfortunes, including an operation to last shot at an opera career. He accomplished remove a benign tumour. Well, just days after both. “This competition, coming in, I didn’t the show, the dream became a reality, and Paul think that I would make it this far,” Boyd said found himself making history as he hit the moments before the result was announced. He recording studio to lay down the tracks for the won by less than half of one percent over 26- fastest album release ever. In 2008 Paul was year-old Eli Mattson, a pianist and singer starring a major advertising campaign from whose bluesy-country style earned him many Deutsche Telekom in Germany. In October the fans. For his efforts, the Missouri native Neal spot was named Germany’s ‘Spot of the Year’. Boyd earned a gig headlining a Las Vegas Potts has sold 3 million albums and has rea- revue at the MGM Grand Hotel and a USD 1 ched number one in 15 countries. In Germany million prize. alone Pott’s album One Chance was awarded with six Golden CDs and three Platinums. Britain’s Got Talent 2007 winner Paul Potts and hosts Ant and Dec 4 week 49 the RTL Group intranet Impressed by all these success stories, for the experience which allowed the Got Talent Backstage took the opportunity to ask some production team 100 per cent control over questions about Got Talent to Rob Clark, which online audition clips were viewed by the Senior Executive Vice President Entertainment audience. The experience enabled Got Talent and Production and Andrew Piller, Vice to find a much younger audience and it also President Brand Development. enabled them to go to all the tiny regions and cities where the Got Talent normally wouldn’t How would you explain Got Talent’s global be able to go. The best of the best submissions success? What makes the format so uni- were then chosen by the production and invited que? to perform in a new Myspace branded TV epi- Rob Clark: Got Talent is a successful format sode. The experience was incredibly success- across the world for many reasons but, at its ful delivering more than 2.3 billion promotional core, it uniquely looks at a very traditional form impressions and 5 million video views. Going of entertainment with a very modern eye. Got forward, the Myspace-Got Talent experience is Talent has reinvented the Variety Talent Show very much designed as template that can be format. The key elements are strong formatting, rolled out in any territory where Myspace and quality production, excellent story telling and Got Talent exists. In the future we hope to roll giving the viewer access to follow and partici- this out in all of our key production territories. pate in the journey each act is undertaking, whether the outcome is good or bad. What was the most moving moment in Got Talent’s history for you? All in all, Got Talent has been aired in 27 Rob Clark: For me personally Britain’s Got countries. What are the regional differen- Talent is something that, as a viewer, I really ces? look forward to. I am moved to tears and laugh- Rob Clark: There are remarkably few regional ter in nearly every show. It creates heroes out of differences in the format around the world. underdogs. My favourite moment was the tee- However, from country to country the content nage boy baton twirler from Manchester who may have cultural variations. In France there gave the performance of his short but difficult are more ‘circus acts’’, in the UK there are more life and I don’t think I will ever forget watching eccentric acts. But in a multi-cultural world the it. I cried like a baby. beauty of Got Talent is that everyo- ne has a place in this format. The FremantleMedia global network ensures that what works in one Got Talent international country is passed on to another, whilst this may reduce regional In 2008, Britain’s Got Talent broke all previous records variations it has ensured quality of to win an audience of 13.9 million viewers making it production and a much broader the UK’s highest rated show of the year and the best approach to what ‘variety’ means performing talent show this decade. than would have been traditional- ly the case. In the USA, America’s Got Talent was NBC’s highest rated entertainment series of the 2007-08 Season hit- This year you made ‘virtual ting a peak audience of 13.2 million viewers.