America’s Got Talent judge Howie Mandel approves the fitness and protection measures implemented through the NBC contest by starting its quarter-finals on Tuesday (8 EDT/PDT).
His voice would possibly have an extra weight in the COVID-19 era, as Mandel is well known as a germphobe that prevents handshakes. “With the pandemic, all his readers feel is how I’ve lived every single day of my life,” says Mandel, who adds that he’s giving up his signature fist stroke because of a virus he calls “an absolute nightmare.” “
While the better-rated summer screen is adapting to the coronavirus, it now has to adapt to some other serious fitness problem: a back injury judges and executive manufacturer Simon Cowell suffered a fall from an electric motorcycle on Saturday. Cowell, who broke his back in several places while testing a new electric motorcycle at his home in Malibu, underwent surgery and is fine, his spokesman said Sunday morning.
Cowell, who remains hospitalized, will not appear in the first live episodes of season 15 on Tuesday and Wednesday (8 EDT/PDT), NBC said later on Sunday. Tuesday’s exhibition features the 11 most sensitive of the remaining 44 acts, five of which advance Wednesday in the spectators’ votes.
Injured Judge: Simon Cowell breaks his back when he falls off an electric motorcycle and will miss this week’s AGT transmissions
In the “AGT” set, the addition of masks, tests, temperature controls, paint modules and even express bath assignments, for tactile search, if required, makes it “the safest position in the world, but it turns out to be world,” Mandel says.
When a team member enters the set, “you see what you think a human person is, because he has a mask, a visor, gloves and a helmet,” Mandel says. “That’s what I think the exhibition would be if we did it on the moon.”
More truth TV disorders on NBC: American Ninja Warrior champion Drew Drechsel faces sex rates with young men two weeks after recording the new season
Strict protocols, including the addition of “COVID counselors,” as Mandel calls the medical experts on set, are just one change since production started months ago for “AGT,” which conducted some early auditions without a studio audience and staged its Judge Cuts on a socially distanced, outdoor set designed to look like a drive-in theater.
With Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre, the classic venue for the season of live exhibitions, unsustainable due to the pandemic, “AGT” moves to close by Universal Studios Hollywood, where artists will perform on a sound stage, at the theme park and in the designated backlot.
Tuesday’s episode stars Simon and Maria dancing on Mel’s Diner and Pork Chop Revue, a pig song, performing on Western Street.
Daredevils Bello & Annaliese Nock will have plenty of room for their “double wheel of death on fire” on Universal’s New York Street, executive producer Sam Donnelly said Thursday. “Their performance is so big and dangerous it wouldn’t ever be able to fit in the studio, but we’re trying to make a bonus out of having this great playground on the backlot.”
Some actions are recorded in foreign countries, largely due to headaches from a pandemic. During Tuesday’s show, the audience will see the Feng-E ukulele guitarist at a dazzling level in Taipei, Taiwan.
Pandemic Preparations: Exclusive: How AGT adapts to COVID-19, from hearings without a hearing to make judgments on cuts to discine
As with the court judges, the final rounds, which will give a champion of season 15 on September 23, require a really extensive adjustment.
Although the performances are historically live, some will be recorded because the acts cannot reach Los Angeles or were performed remotely for security reasons, as was the case with the Voices of Our City Choir in San Diepass. “Got Talent” exhibition groups in India, Germany and Australia film acts that cannot pass to Universal.
To update the loss of jubilant studio audiences, “AGT” will upload a “virtual audience” to the NBA, featuring audio and video from enthusiasts watching live streams from their homes.
“The concept is very exciting that Ohio has the chance to participate in (the show) and potentially be in front of the camera,” says executive manufacturer Jason Raff. “They will laugh, applaud and offer vital feedback to the candidates.”
The lack of some of the auditions affected Mandel, a stand-up comedian.
“Comedy is probably the only act this audience wants live,” he says. However, “as a user who started chasing him in clubs, where 4 other people come and go, you have to paint in the moment”.
As the pandemic adds restrictions, which require significant logistical planning, it also creates opportunities to break the walls of a theater stage.
Reality Adjustment: ”Big Brother’, ‘AGT” and other truth TV contests return with COVID-19 protocols amid a pandemic
Double Dragon, a duet of competing singers on Tuesday, will move from Western Street to Mexican Street while performing, “because the two backlots are side by side,” Donnelly said. “We have these multi-million dollar sets, so we’re looking to make the most of this wonderful place.”
Some settings may be familiar to many viewers.
“We were (on Western Street) where Tarantino filmed ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ and we played an act of making a song in front of the same place, Raff says.
Other acts that will perform on Tuesday include: singer Archie Williams; the swallowed Brett Loudermilk swords; Contortion dancer FrenchieBabyy; the comedian Michael Yo; singer Roberta Battaglia; and singer Shaquira McGrath.
Over the course of 4 weeks, 20 events will advance according to the votes of the spectators; Two savages of the judges will complete the semi-final of 22 acts.