USA TODAY International Edition
Hopefuls handle the pressure at this ‘Talent’ show
The pressure and stakes are high. What could go wrong?
We go behind the scenes for all the hustle and bustle at a live performance show for NBC’s hit reality competition.
LOS ANGELES – Just a couple of hours before the season’s first “America’s Got Talent” live performance show, the fifth-floor lobby of Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre – transformed into a contestant holding area – buzzes with activity but no sense of panic.
Young rapper Flau’jae, who has just finished a dress rehearsal with 11 other acts competing in the NBC reality competition (Tuesday, 8 p.m. EDT/ PDT), sits at one of 16 makeup tables getting touch-ups; 16-year-old singer Amanda Mena is just a few seats away. She observes the professional artfully blending color on her eyelids, picking up makeup tips she can use later.
Nearby, magician Shin Lim contemplates a nerve-soothing catnap after a quick meal, salad in a plastic container, while comedian Vicki Barbolak takes a selfie video with two members of The PAC Dance Team in front of an “AGT” photo backdrop.
Considering the pressure – performing live for the Dolby audience and millions of viewers at home in a bid to be one of seven acts that survive Wednesday’s results show – the mood is surprisingly calm among the 12 acts, the first of three quarterfinal groups. But scratch the surface, and it’s a different story.
“I felt like I was performing for the judges in the (taped) auditions and Judge Cuts, but this time it feels like I’m performing for America, and all of America is watching my hands, and that can be daunting,” says Lim, ready with an elaborate card trick. “The pressure is way higher this time.”
Barbolak is nervous as she ponders performing for a live TV audience that she calculates is 36,000 times bigger than her usual stand-up crowd.
“That’s the math we’re up against with my brain,” she jokes as juggling artist Mochi spins a glowing green diabolo a few feet away
Live broadcast of the later rounds adds a desired edge, says “AGT” executive producer and judge Simon Cowell.
“It’s such a different experience doing it live in two hours than a 10-hour taping, where everyone’s talking so long (and) it takes so long to set up each act,” Cowell says after the show. “The (live show) pace, the fact it can go wrong, gives it a whole different energy.”
Cowell delights in the uncertainty. “We could pre-record it, but it’s all those things that can go wrong, and sometimes do, that make the live shows better.”
Structurally, live shows aren’t that different for performers, who don’t get do-overs in earlier taped rounds (unposed
less Cowell suggests a change), but the psychological dynamics change, says executive producer Jason Raff, who oversees all production details with fellow executive producer Sam Donnelly.
“The amount of pressure they are under is unimaginable. That have one shot in front of 13 million people to do their performance, not to forget the lyrics, to make sure they’re in the right place at the right time,” Raff says.
For the nearly 300 crew members and production staff who work on a live show, there’s a huge difference, since elaborate sets and staging must be arranged within minutes and the show will go on whether or not they’re ready.
“You have a stressed-out crew of stagehands who need to make sure all those props, in 31⁄2 minutes (of commercial break), end up where they’re sup-
to end up, everything plugged in right, everything set up so the danger acts don’t go wrong,” Raff says. “There’s this unbelievable sense that everything could go wrong. When everything goes right, like it did Tuesday, it is actually quite remarkable.”
Meticulous production planning is evident early in the day during a 21⁄2-hour almost-full dress rehearsal. Host Tyra Banks wears a blue velvet robe, and four stand-in judges critique the performers.
“AGT” is more challenging to produce live than a show with only singers or dancers because of the constantly changing, often elaborate staging required for a mix of dance groups, giant choruses, escape artists, jugglers and other hard-to-categorize acts.
Banks marvels at the stage team’s precision. “I do not understand how the crew changes the set over from some death-defying act to singers to some crazy dancers in heels. And they’re not running and sweating and yelling. They’re just so smooth,” she says.
Producers arrange the order of the acts to make the best use of time, but the unusual range of acts add novel planning concerns.
“Now, you’re dealing with water and spitting. How are we going to clean it up? Who’s coming next? A dance group. Are they going to slip on the water?” Raff says.
The live show ends on a rousing note as Hadwin delivers a driving rendition of James Brown’s “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” and Cowell hugs Mandel.
But that’s just the end of the live broadcast as judges and competitors head for a post-show red carpet. And that’s just one live show; 12 more acts are preparing for the next Tuesday.
“We have people who work on our show who do huge awards shows, the Grammys, the Oscars, and even they’re like, ‘I can’t believe we do this every single week,’” Donnelly says.
“The amount of pressure they are under is unimaginable. That have one shot in front of 13 million people to do their performance ...”
Jason Raff executive producer