Little Talent Show

Last updated
Little Talent Show
Written by Howard Kuperberg
Opus Moreschi
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producer Michael Canter
ProducersMatt Gallagher
Todd Chambers
Opus Moreschi
Cinematography Christine Ka'aloa
Andre Martinez
Editors Billy DiCicco
Matt Gallagher
Travis Rust
Chris Smith
Camera setup Multi-camera
Production company MTV Productions
Original release
ReleaseSeptember 18 (2006-09-18) 
October 5, 2006 (2006-10-05)

Little Talent Show is an MTV program that aired weekdays in the fall 2006 season.

Contents

Each episode, 7 contestants who felt they were a triple threat when it comes to singing, acting and dancing, competed against each other until 2 were chosen to go head to head in the "Triple Threat" round. [1] After the final round a winner is selected and crowned the most talented performer of the episode and receive a five hundred dollar cash prize and a statuette. [2] [3]

Judges

The hosts included Bryan Dattilo, Laurie Ann Gibson, and Kimberley Locke. Each contestant received feedback from a panel of celebrity judges, each one specializing in one of the categories. Gibson served as the dancing judge. She is a former "Fly Girl" and choreographer, having worked on the Making the Band series. Locke was most often the "singing judge". She was herself a finalist in the second season of American Idol and is a recording artist for Curb Records. Anthony Fedorov and Constantine Maroulis, both from American Idol's fourth season, occasionally sat in as singing judges. The show had alternated acting judges from episode to episode. These judges were Bryan Dattilo (Lucas Roberts on Days of Our Lives), Matt Cedeno (Brandon Walker on Days of Our Lives), Sean Kanan (Alan Quartermaine Jr. on General Hospital.) and Amy Davidson (Kerry Hennessy in 8 Simple Rules).

Episodes/airdates

Each episode set a particular acting theme for the contestants. [4]

Contestants

Contestants included Yara Camarena, singer Aria Johnson, comedian Garrett Gilchrist, Chavon James, Jesse Lewis, Sheila Tejada, Mickey Mello, Ismael Moreno, actor Kamahni Huck (winner), comedian Jesse Maddox, comedian Erik Anderson. Actor Byron Vasquez Jr. Adam Ryan and Merrin Mae Fuentebella were cut from pilot episode "I'm Dyin, Bryan."

Reception

The show was panned by Hartford Courant critic Roger Catlin who wrote on his official blog TV Eye - What's on Television that MTV was tardy in coming forward with a musical competition show, and expressed disdain that none of the competitors seemed to have talent. [5]

Editing and controversy

The pilot episode "I'm Dyin, Bryan" was shot under the (false) title "Triple Threat." Most of the contestants were professional singers, actors, comedians or dancers of some kind, and were told that this was a serious (if small scale) talent competition rather than a spoof. Misleading editing was used to try to show the performers in the worst possible light. For example, professional singer Aria Johnson appears in the pilot but we don't hear her much of her singing in the final edit. Two contestants (Adam and Merrin) were edited out of the final pilot entirely, having performed well in all three segments.

In the final shows, we are told that contestants consider themselves good singers, dancers and actors - a "Triple Threat." Onset, most of the performers considered themselves singers, dancers or actors, not all three. If a performer was a talented dancer, he would be left out of the dancing segment, and so on. The very different singing styles used by the contestants are edited into a single piece, making even a fairly good singer sound awkward in a disjointed edit.

The scripts to the acting competitions were written to be as ridiculous as possible and impossible to perform seriously (full of comically overlong words, or showing the actor regressing in age from an old man to a baby), so most of the cast performed them in a purposely comedic fashion (affecting silly accents, or doing impersonations of celebrities). Sadly this doesn't come across in the edit, as intentional comedy would have detracted from the show's idea of showing the contestants as untalented. There are some extremely odd edits in all the episodes, and it has been said by the show's unwitting cast members that overall, the final shows are much less funny or interesting than what was actually seen onset.

The judges were mostly shot separately from the contestants and seem to use the same script in each episode. This extends even to their comments to the contestants.

Extensive backstage material and a second singing competition ("Photograph") were also filmed for the pilot but not used. Contestants were urged to perform scripted material where they would bicker and infight with each other. Few of the contestants were interested in doing this, but similar scenes supposedly showing the contestants fighting amongst each other were shot for each episode with a similar script.

Contestants were also urged to shout out single scripted lines, like "I am the Triple Threat!" Although the contestants appearing on the show were not working from a script, and could be themselves onset, very few unscripted moments were used in the final edit, suggesting that the shows were written ahead of time, and then edited to that script without paying attention to what actually occurred onset.

In the shows as aired, the contestants are competing for a tiny $500 prize money. Onset there was no talk of prize money - everyone was given a $200 paycheck for a weekend's work, and the chance to be on MTV. Inevitably due to the format of the program, the contestants were disappointed and embarrassed when they saw the final product.

Related Research Articles

<i>Philippine Idol</i> 2006 Filipino reality television series

Philippine Idol is the first version of the Idol series in the Philippines, the 35th country in the world to air a local Idol adaptation and the sixth in Asia broadcast by ABC 5. Similar to the premise of original show Pop Idol, Philippine Idol aims to find the best singer in the country who can be defined as the "national" singer. Local television personality Ryan Agoncillo hosted the program. Ryan Cayabyab, Pilita Corrales and Francis Magalona were also judges of the show. Agoncillo, Corrales and Magalona auditioned to be part of the program, while Cayabyab was chosen by the program's producers. Meanwhile, actress Heart Evangelista hosted the daily updates program I ♥ Philippine Idol: Exclusive. Composer Mel Villena was the show's musical director.

America's Got Talent is a televised American talent show competition, and is part of the global Got Talent franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle USA and Syco Entertainment, and broadcasts on the NBC television network. It premiered on June 21, 2006, after plans for a British edition in 2005 were suspended, following a dispute within the British broadcaster ITV. Production would later resume in 2007, following the success of the first season. Each season is mainly run during the network's summer schedule, and has featured various hosts over the course of the program's history. The current host is Terry Crews.

The Cut is a 1998 MTV talent series, hosted by TLC member Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes. It was the first in a line of televised song contests that later included American Idol. A handful of would-be pop stars, rappers, and rock bands competed against each other and were judged. The prizes were a record deal and MTV's funding to produce a music video, which would enter MTV's heavy rotation.

<i>Grease: Youre the One That I Want!</i> NBC TV Series

Grease: You're the One That I Want! is an NBC reality television series designed to cast the lead roles of Sandy Dumbrowski and Danny Zuko in a $10 million Broadway revival of the 1971 musical Grease directed and choreographed by two-time Tony Award-winner Kathleen Marshall. The Broadway production began previews at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on July 24, 2007, and officially opened on August 19.

<i>Britains Got Talent</i> Televised British talent competition

Britain's Got Talent is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global Got Talent franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, it is produced by both Thames and Syco Entertainment, distributed by Fremantle, and broadcast on ITV every year in late Spring to early Summer. The show was originally intended for production in 2005, but filming was suspended in the wake of a dispute between ITV and the programme's originally planned host. Following the success of America's Got Talent that year, production resumed and the programme eventually premiered on 9 June 2007.

<i>Legally Blonde: The Musical: The Search for Elle Woods</i> American TV series or program

Legally Blonde: The Musical: The Search for Elle Woods is an MTV program created in order to cast an actress to replace Laura Bell Bundy in the role of Elle Woods in the Broadway production of Legally Blonde: The Musical. The show debuted on June 2, 2008.

<i>La France a un incroyable talent</i> TV series or program

La France a un incroyable talent, previously known as Incroyable Talent, is a French TV show, based on the Got Talent series. It debuted on M6 on 2 November 2006, and is currently presented by Karine Le Marchand.

<i>Norske Talenter</i> Norwegian TV show

Norske Talenter is a Norwegian talent show with a similar format to Britain's Got Talent, making it one of the Got Talent franchise programmes. The 16-year-old singer Erlend Bratland won the first series and Quick Style, a hip hop dance group, won the second series. The judges were music producer Jan Fredrik Karlsen, singer and actress Mia Gundersen and comedian/actor Thomas Giertsen. In 2008 Marte Stokstad and Sturla Berg-Johansen were hosts, and in 2009, Pia Lykke joined Berg-Johansen to be hosts.

Strictly Come Dancing is a South African reality dance competition television series produced for SABC2 by Rapid Blue, based on the British show of the same name. It was broadcast live from the Carlton Centre Ballroom, Johannesburg. The show premiered in South Africa on SABC2 on Saturday 4 February 2006, at 20:00hrs.

<i>Qual é o Seu Talento?</i> Brazilian reality television series

Qual é o Seu Talento?, often shortened to QST?, was a Brazilian reality television series on the SBT, a modern version of Show de Calouros created by Silvio Santos in the 1970s.

Tìm kiếm tài năng – Vietnam's Got Talent is a Vietnamese reality television talent show that features singers, dancers, magicians, comedians, martial-art players, performers with risky weapons/tools/elements, variety acts and other performers of all ages competing for a grand prize of 400,000,000 VND. The show was based on the Got Talent series format that originated by Simon Cowell in the United Kingdom. Its first season aired Sunday nights at 9:00PM (UTC+7) between 18 December 2011 and 6 May 2012 on VTV3 and MTV Vietnam.

<i>Arabs Got Talent</i> TV series or program

Arabs Got Talent is an Arab reality television talent show broadcast by MBC 1 in the Arab world; it is produced by the MBC and was first broadcast on 14 January 2011. The show features contestants with a variety of talents, such as singing, break-dancing, comedians, magicians, and rapping. The show features three celebrity judges, popular in the Middle East. They currently are Lebanese singer Najwa Karam; the dean of the journalism school at the American University in Dubai Ali Jaber; and Ahmed Helmy, an Egyptian actor. The show's venue is in Lebanon.

The Singing Office is a television series that has an American and Australian version. It features ordinary citizens who form singing groups in their workplaces, then compete against other teams; the rights to the concept have been sold to 20 different countries.

<i>RuPauls Drag Race All Stars</i> season 1 First season of RuPauls Drag Race All Stars

The first season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars premiered on the Logo network on October 22, 2012. Contestants from the original RuPaul's Drag Race show returned to compete again. Cast members were announced on August 6.

<i>Your Face Sounds Familiar</i> (British TV series) British television show

Your Face Sounds Familiar is a British talent show based on the Spanish series of the same name. The show began on 29 June 2013 on ITV and ended on 3 August 2013. The show was co-presented by Alesha Dixon and Paddy McGuinness, whilst the judging panel consisted of Emma Bunton, Julian Clary, and a different guest judge in each episode. Guest judges included Cilla Black, Donny Osmond, Denise van Outen, Kian Egan, and Peter Andre.

<i>Tvoje lice zvuči poznato</i> (Croatian TV series) Croatian TV series or program

Tvoje lice zvuči poznato is the Croatian version of Your Face Sounds Familiar. It started on 5 October 2014. There are four judges, Minea, Mario Roth (singer), Enis Bešlagić (actor) and Goran Navojec (actor).

Tvoje lice zvuči poznato is the Croatian version of Your Face Sounds Familiar. It started in October 2015. There were four judges in season two, Branko Đurić (actor), Sandra Bagarić, Tomo in der Mühlen and different guest judges in every episode.

<i>The Masked Singer</i> (British TV series) British television series

The Masked Singer is a British reality singing competition television series that premiered on ITV1 on 4 January 2020. It is based on the Masked Singer franchise which originated from the South Korean version of the show King of Mask Singer which features celebrities singing famous songs while wearing head-to-toe costumes and face masks concealing their identities. In February 2022, the show was recommissioned for a fourth and fifth series. The show won an International Emmy for Best Non-Scripted Entertainment in 2021.

<i>RuPauls Drag Race</i> season 15 Season of television series

The fifteenth season of RuPaul's Drag Race premiered January 6, 2023. The reality competition series moved to MTV for broadcast, instead of VH1 in the United States.

<i>Idol Philippines</i> Filipino TV series or program

Idol Philippines is a Philippine reality singing television competition broadcast by Kapamilya Channel, A2Z, and TV5. As part of the Idol franchise created by British entertainment executive Simon Fuller, the show aims to discover new solo singing talents, with the winner determined by weekly singing challenges and the viewing public. This is the third iteration of the Idol franchise in the Philippines, after Philippine Idol in 2006 by ABC 5 and Pinoy Idol in 2008 by GMA Network. It aired from April 21, 2019, to September 18, 2022, replacing World of Dance Philippines and was replaced by Everybody, Sing!.

References

  1. "MTV's Little Talent Show: How it works". mtv.com. Archived from the original on September 9, 2006. Retrieved 2009-04-19.
  2. Shattuck, Kathryn (September 18, 2006). "WHAT'S ON". The New York Times . Retrieved 2009-04-19.
  3. "MTV's Little Talent Show: The prize". mtv.com. Archived from the original on September 9, 2006. Retrieved 2009-04-19.
  4. "MTV's Little Talent Show". tvguide.com. TV Guide . Retrieved 2009-04-19.
  5. Catlin, Roger (September 20, 2006). "TV Eye - What's on Television'". blogs.courant.com. Hartford Courant. Archived from the original on July 7, 2012. Retrieved 2009-04-19.