We are the champions:
Some of the big-name winners from the America and Britain’s Got Talent franchise battle it out on a new talent show starting on Three this week. Judge Howie Mandel told Kerry Harvey what to expect.
Susan Boyle heads line up in new talent show.
Susan Boyle spearheads the line-up for America’s Got Talent: The Champions and, according to judge Howie Mandel, that’s just how it should be.
“She is the epitome of what this show is all about,” he says, of the Scottish singer who, along with nine other contestants from around the world, appears in the first episode of the five-part Champions series.
“For me, when she walked out on that stage you could feel the electricity in the audience – and I think it comes across on screen.
“We’re hosting the winners and runners-up and dreamers that have been a part of what makes this show great everywhere, but Susan Boyle is the epitome.”
Described as The Olympics of Talent, America’s Got Talent: The Champions features 50 contestants comprising winners and finalists from previous seasons of America’s Got Talent (AGT) plus acts from some of the other more than 50 Got Talent franchises worldwide.
As well as singers, the performers include knife throwers, magicians, illusionists and escape artists, comedians, extreme roller skaters, a ventriloquist, dancers – including a dog – and a sword swallower.
Along with Boyle, the line-up features singing ventriloquist Darci Farmer, who was only 13 when she won AGT in 2017, singer Bianca Ryan (2006), dancer Kenichi Ebina (2013), ventriloquist Paul Zerdin (2015) and magician Shin Lim (2018). Australian dance group Justice Crew makes the cut as do several British Got Talent winners including opera singer Paul Potts, pianist Tokio Myers and 2018 winner Lost Voice Guy.
In each episode, 10 acts compete for two spots in the finals and one of the four judges – Mandel, Simon Cowell, Heidi Klum and Mel B – is given an opportunity to press the golden buzzer, advancing one chosen act immediately to the finals.
The other spot in the finals is determined through the votes of the 50 super fans representing 50 American states.
Mandel, who is America’s Got
Talent’s longest-serving judge, says his job is not easy.
“As difficult as it is for me on AGT, it’s twice as difficult on the The Champions because on The Champions, it’s not just the title, it’s who we’re watching,” he says.
“We throw caution to the wind and just let our emotions speak for themselves. If somebody in that moment, on that show, on that stage, just takes your breath away then you hit your golden button.
“I did but I’m not telling you who I did it for. The truth is – and I speak for everybody on our show – nobody pre-plans, nobody knows who they’re going to press it for and that’s the fun of it.
“We’re just sitting there on a revolving chair like you’re sitting there on your couch in New Zealand and we go, ‘You know, just show us and take our breath away and make my heart pound out of my chest’. When that happens, they or I press the button. There’s no pre-planning and it’s not set up. It is very real.”
The series was filmed at the conclusion of last year’s season of America’s Got Talent but the outcome is a closely held secret – one Mandel plans to keep.
“I want the audience to enjoy the show as much as I did. You will laugh, you will cry, you will get up from your couch and scream. It’s got every possible emotion,” he says, adding he relished the opportunity to see the international acts. “It was always more exciting for me because I love the element of surprise and I want to be surprised. I didn’t look them up on YouTube until after,” he says.
“It was very exciting and very thrilling and incredibly educational. There’s a little boy DJ from South Africa, a boy band from Australia, this amazing singer from Spain. What’s amazing is no matter your language or age, good entertainment is good entertainment.”
While many AGT winners have gone on to forge successful careers, others have not been so lucky.
However, Mandel believes every contestant benefits – in some way – from their time in the spotlight.
“There is no better platform for anybody who has a dream than to be on GT. Everybody who is on GT is elevated to a greater level than they were before they were on the show,” he says.
“If you’re good enough, and you legitimately have talent and you can get that kind of exposure, your life and career are going to be better.”