- 3:09 PM, Friday,
April 7th, 2006:
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- Well the insomnia
has hit a new level for me. I'm not really sure what's
wrong. I think it's a combination of things however:
I think I've hit an age where caffeine now
effects me much worse than it did when I was
younger, and of course with the present
environment...the SECOND my eyes open while in bed, my
mind runs...and it's all over. I've remixed the audio
for the comedy bit about 25 times. I've zip-tied a few
more wires, did a few more tests...and of course -
researched every damn word I could find on this
show.
-
- I treat this like
a huge videogame because unfortunately, talent is only
a percentage of what you need to make it. So finding
as much information as possible - could mean a leg-up
on your competition. You want to know what they want
before they ask. So I spent the better part of 2-4 AM
last night searching the vast world of the internet
for every possible story on the show. And boy did I
come up with a dooozy:
-
- "…in
an effort to stand apart from other shows,
the "America's Got Talent" auditions will
carry an element of chance."
-
- "Everyone
who turns up will be sitting in the
audience, and no one knows if they'll be
auditioning until their name is called,"
Cowell explains. "There are going to be
about a thousand [hopefuls] a day,
and only 70 or 80 will get to see the
judges. So you've got to be dressed,
you've got to be prepared, and if your
name and number is called, you run up to
the stage and audition."
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-
- What the fuck.
What the double fuck. Even more oddity:
-
- Cowell
also says that the audition rounds will
feature "a device to stop the act, which I
won't reveal at the moment, but it's
brutal." In response to a reporter's
question, he does allow that the device is
neither a gong nor a trap
door.
-
- "A
trap door is something I've requested for
years on 'American Idol,' and I haven't
been given one yet," he says with a
laugh.
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-
- Yeah, this changes
things dramaaaaaaatically. I pictured a small intimate
setting (even planning of using the sound through the
TVs and singing without a microphone, and THAT sounds
like it'll be a much bigger stage. ?!!? So I kept on
searching, and found a different spin on his
quote:
-
- Those
who make the first cut will sit - in their
costumes - in a theater and will have to
run up to the stage when their name is
called.
-
- Cowell
says he will not be on the panel of
judges, who remain unnamed. But when it's
time for the acts to stop, there will be
what he calls a "very brutal" device to
indicate that.
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-
- Ok, here's my
take: There will be a first round (the pre-screening
before anyone sees Simon, Paula and Randy like all
Idol shows), and it will be narrowed down to say 300
out of the thousands in each city. You're not assured
of seeing the judges however. You'll go to an
auditorium where you'll wait. You then won't know if
you actually made it to the REAL audition until they
call your name. Kinda like Idol meets Price is Right.
Now if the pre-judges see my show, and don't think I
deserve to go and see the big boys - so be it. I can't
possibly pack more varied talents into one show than
that. There may be better actors, singers, dancers,
comedians, writers… but to have invented a canvas
like 4tvs to show it all at once? Whew. Damnit there
go my legs again. I'm all jumpy. Ha! (picture me
saying "whew" while typing it, then bouncing my legs
under my desk in excitement)…
-
- …seriously
who am I kidding. This is all I could have ever
dreamed or hoped for 4tvs. These aren't TV execs or
casting directors that I'm gonna have to convince of
my talents in their medium with this crazy-unique
show…this is a talent show SPECIFICALLY looking
for crazy/unique variety and novelty acts. No one has
ever done anything like it, and they've never seen
anything like it. From the position of "making an
interesting show", after 500 jugglers, or dancers, or
contortionists...you obviously leave one spot for the
only person on the planet doing this. There's just no
way they don't. So I'm done doubting. This is mine to
take.
-
- Knowing that has
allowed me to reminisce on how I got here.
Remembering November 3rd, 1998 when I first
thought of 4tvs at a Brian Setzer concert, but let it
drift away... then seeing Billy Joel a week later and
saying: "I have to perform, I have to make
this work." Spending the next day at work calling
production companies and finally figuring it out,
ending with me drawing this:
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...and the rest is
one helluva loooooooooong history. It either ends
forever or starts all over...
tomorrow.
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- Adam
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