DomDoo

America’s Got Talent is an American reality television series on the NBC television network.

It is a talent show that features amateur singers, dancers, magicians, comedians and other performers of all ages competing for the advertised top prize of US$1 million.

The show debuted in June 2006 for the summer television season.

The show concept can be traced back to the British talent contest Opportunity Knocks, which started as a radio program in 1949 before moving to television in 1956.

Among its significant features were that it gave an opportunity to talented amateurs or unknown performers and its results were decided by a public vote.

For the audition round, each of the three judges has a button in front of them that they can press when they do not want the act to continue; in season one, the button rings an electronic bell and a large red X with the judge’s name lights up over the stage. A louder buzzer indicates the third judge’s button was pressed, and the contestant’s performance is terminated. In season two, only a buzzer is heard when a judge hits his/her button. If all three judges hit their X in season 2, the performer is illuminated in a lonely blue spotlight, indicating that they’ve been struck out. This is not as significant as it might be, since the judges occasionally cheat and press one another’s buttons to abort even if a consensus of disapproval has not been reached. Then, the judges are asked whether the contestant should continue to the next round, with the approval of two out of three judges required. The button voting is not final, and occasionally a supporting judge can talk a disapproving one into switching sides. From there, the contestant is either rejected or passed to the next round of performance. The process is similar to the classic spoof amateur show The Gong Show, except that an act was ended by just one judge on Gong with no deliberations to follow.

The acts who pass the auditions will attend a Las Vegas bootcamp, where they will have a chance to perfect their craft. At this point, acts are divided into 2 groups, “music”, and “variety”. The music acts consist of singers and instrument players. The “variety” group consists of other acts. The “music” acts performs first, followed by the “variety” acts. Each act will perform for 3 minutes, and their performance will not be terminated, as the judges have no buttons to press. After each group has finished, the judges will split the groups into lines, either a “yes” line, or a “no” line. The ones who the judges said yes to will go to the short list of 35 acts. The acts which the judges have said no to will go home. After that, the judges will cut the short list of 35 to 20 final acts. In the semifinal episodes, the 20 acts will be first split into 2 groups of 10. America will vote and eliminate 5 out of the first group, than 5 out of the second. The remaining 10 will perform head to head in the next round, where the field will be narrowed each week.

Project Runway is an American reality television series on the Bravo network that focuses on fashion design. Its contestants compete with each other to create the best clothes and are usually restricted in their time, materials, and theme.

Their designs are judged and one or more designers are eliminated each week. The third season winner received a spread in ELLE magazine, a mentorship with INC (Inter-National Concepts) Design, a year of representation by Designers Management Agency, a 2007 Saturn Sky Roadster, and $100,000 to start a clothing line furnished by TRESemm professional haircare.

Although the stated purpose of the show is to identify the next great American fashion designer, to date none of the winners have achieved fame beyond that associated with winning on Project Runway.

Project Runway is hosted by supermodel Heidi Klum and judged by a panel that usually includes Klum, American designer Michael Kors, ELLE magazine fashion director Nina Garcia, and a fourth judge – typically a fashion designer (e.g. Diane von Furstenberg, Vera Wang), critic (Teri Agins of the Wall Street Journal) or model (e.g. Iman), a celebrity (Nicky Hilton, Nancy O’Dell) , or a professional from an industry related to the challenge (Sasha Cohen).

Tim Gunn, Chief Creative Officer for Liz Claiborne Inc, acts as mentor to the designers. Mr. Gunn has proved to be so popular that his role has been expanded. Project Runway takes place in New York City (and a short stop in Paris in Season 3) with designers using a workroom at Parsons School of Design, shopping for materials at a fabrics store in New York’s Garment District (usually Mood Designer Fabrics on W. 37th Street — unless the challenge calls for an unusual material or the fabric is provided, as in the Banana Republic challenge from Seasons 1&2), and living together at Atlas New York (an apartment building near Parsons).

At the beginning of each challenge, the designers are given the outlines of their assignment, usually to create a garment from non-traditional materials, such as recycled materials (Season 3) or items from a grocery store (Season 1) , or to design for a certain person (such as figure skater Sasha Cohen or Miss USA Tara Conner), corporate fashion line (Banana Republic or Macy’s INC), or specialized theme (such as a “cocktail party”).

The designers are given a stipend and limited amount of time to finish each garment. Often the designers work independently, although on some challenges contestants must work in teams. Once the deadline is reached, the designers must dress their models and select their hair, make-up, and accessories.

Each model walks down the runway, and the garment the contestant made is judged by a panel of judges. The judges then interview the designers and share their opinions before conferring as a group and selecting winning and losing designers. Generally, the loser of each challenge is eliminated from the competition. Season 2 contestant Daniel Vosovic has won the most challenges with five, followed by Kara Saun of Season 1, who won four.

Episodes featuring challenges, winners, and eliminations continue until only a small number of designers remain. These finalists are then given 12 weeks and $8000.00 to complete an all-new, 12-piece fashion collection to present for judging at New York’s Olympus Fashion Week at Bryant Park. Again the judges—including Klum, Kors, Garcia, and a guest judge—evaluate the collections and select one of the designers as the winner.

Past finale judges have been Parker Posey (Season 1), Debra Messing (Season 2), and Fern Mallis (Season 3).

Fashion models who work with the designers throughout the season are also in the competition. Each week, as the number of designers dwindles, the number of models is also reduced, with one model remaining at the end. At the start of a new challenge, the winning designer of the last challenge has the opportunity to drop their current model for the eliminated designer’s model.

Included in the prize package for the winning model is coverage in the American edition of ELLE magazine, featuring the winning designer’s designs as part of his or her prize.