Does America Have Talent?

I enjoy watching a particular talent show on TV. I have seen some really great acts; singers, dancers, illusionists, contortionists, comedians, and acrobats. There have also been some pretty awful ones. The spectrum is wide when defining talent. I like to watch for the “behind the scenes” workers when they are caught in a camera shot behind the performer as they’re being judged and the set is being flipped. As I was catching up on back episodes the other day, I got to thinking about what it would take to put on a talent production of this size.

I helped to coordinate a small talent show at a local high school gymnasium many, many years ago. We had auditions to make sure the acts were at least appropriate and asked a couple local VIPs to act as judges; the mayor, the high school principal, the church’s choir director, and the student council president. The acts were ordered in a way so the same type of performances weren’t back to back to bring variety in the programming and a list of criteria was created by a small committee for the judges to use to rate the acts. We advertised the show, sold tickets, and filled the gym.

The most complicated set change we had to coordinate was to push the piano off and on the stage based on which act was performing. I watch the TV talent show and am amazed at the size and scope of some of the set changes required. I understand that the show is edited, but still, when the golden buzzer goes off and the confetti flies, it’s got to take an army to get that cleaned up quickly and reset the stage for the next act. Not to mention all of the LED walls, lighting trusses, platform stages, band equipment, and props that have to go on and off in mere moments.

I can only imagine the amount of hours of “talent” the team has to weed through to get to the ones that are actually shown on TV. This has to be someone’s (or a lot of someone’s’) full time job. The number of professional production technicians must be high because the show quality is excellent. There are lighting, sound, video, and technical engineers, riggers, camera operators, and front of house technicians. In addition, there are backstage managers, people movers, caterers, and hair, makeup, and costume designers on site.

The audience always appears to be full when I watch these shows, so someone is managing a large number of ticket sales, refunds, and related accounting. I’m sure there is a whole host parking attendants and it probably takes several ushers to help people find their seats. I know the advertising and marketing is robust and I’m sure each star judge has their own personal assistant, if not a small team of people, that follows them around to make them look good and tell them where to be.

Every event comes with its own list of tasks, deadlines, milestones, and more but this is a multi-date, multi-week, multi-location event. There is a very talented project manager coordinating all of these details. This isn’t your small-town talent show for sure!

Talent shows have long been a popular way for people to find entertainment. Starting in the late 1800’s, the Miner’s Theater used to pull bad acts off the stage with a hook, coining the phrase “Give ’em the hook!” Then, in the mid 1990’s, the Gong Show judges would hit a large gong to have a bad performer’s act come to an end. Other talent shows over the years include: So You Think You Can Dance, The X Factor, American Idol, The Voice, The Masked Singer, and many, many, many more.

Do you have a favorite talent show you watch? Have you ever had to coordinate a talent show of this size? Share something that you experienced with us here or
send me an email! I love learning from others’ stories.

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