The Next Best Thing: Who is The Greatest Celebrity Impersonator? is an American Reality television series competition of celebrity impersonators with a grand prize of US$100,000(equivalent to $151,645 in 2024). It was hosted by Michele Merkin. The judges were Jeffrey Ross, Elon Gold and Lisa Ann Walter; ultimately, the winner was chosen by viewer voting. The eight-episode series debuted May 30, 2007 on ABC and ended the same year.
The judges narrowed down the contestants to 30 semi-finalists, 28 of whom were featured in fully shown performances over two episodes. The semi-finalists were:
Of the 30 semi-finalists, the judges chose the following 10 to be finalists:
Sebastian Anzaldo
Trent Carlini
Donny Edwards
Roger Kabler
Suzanne LaRusch
Garry Moore
John Morgan
Sharon Owens
Natalie Reid
Cookie Watkins
Erv Dahl
Order of finish
American viewers voted, and ranked the finalists in the following order:
Trent Carlini
Sebastian Anzaldo
Donny Edwards
John Morgan
Suzanne LaRusch
As the winner, Trent Carlini received $100,000.[1]
Trivia
The ten finalists of season 1 included two Elvis Presley impersonators; to reduce confusion, they were named "Blue Suede Elvis" (Donny Edwards) and "Heartbreak Elvis" (Trent Carlini), after the songs "Blue Suede Shoes" and "Heartbreak Hotel."
Little Richard appeared as a "surprise celebrity guest" in the last episode of season 1 (#108).
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