RealityTV World has an interview with Simon Cowell for the second season of American Inventor which airs June 6, 2007 at 9pm on ABC. Here are some highlights from the interview:
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For its second season, creator Simon Cowell has reinvented his ABC American Inventor reality series
"We found I think its own identity this year. It is like the thinking person's American Idol," Cowell told reporters during a recent conference call about American Inventor's upcoming second season. "I mean it's not a bunch of singers trying to be famous, these are people who have given up thousands and thousands of dollars -- sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars -- all in the hope that this show is going to rescue them. So it's both funny and sad... sometimes actually quite tragic. But it's a brilliantly made show this time around and I'm quite proud of it.
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As for its cast of creators, Cowell said American Inventor's second-season casting calls could rival Idol's "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" auditions that have become a favorite of viewers for their train-wreck quality.
"I would say 70% of the people who are on [American Inventor 2's first audition episode] are probably insane. I've never seen anything so weird in all my life... Everything was weird," he said. "They all come in with these strange ideas and amazingly, they've all got normal jobs and they've invented what they think are incredible ideas."
Cowell specifically referenced an American Inventor 2 hopeful who actually auditioned with a design for the wheel.
"That's what you get on a show like this," he said. "You get lots of people who are so blind to anything other than their invention, they don't take no for an answer. But in a way, I think it's more tragic then Idol because they've spent so much money trying to get these things made or developed. And when they get a no it's horrible. It's actually quite uncomfortable to watch in parts."
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While Cowell won't actually appear in any episodes of American Inventor, he said viewers should still be able to recognize his imprint on the series.
"I'm a very heavy influence on this show because it's edited to a way I like," he said. "And I believe that when you make a reality show, you've got to show the good and the bad. When I say a thinking person's Idol, you've got to remember these people are in unbelievably precarious positions because of how much money they've put on the line. So it's quite uncomfortable at times when it goes wrong for them. It's just tragic at times. But like I said, when you make reality TV, you've got to show the bad things as well as the good things. And I got very, very invested... seeing how much it means to these people. It's a brutal process I think they have to go through."
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Read the whole interview at RealityTVWorld.
Michelle
Featured Blogger
InventorSpot.com
Comments
I LOVE SIMON COWELL
I too just read his interview. The odd thing about these celebrities is they walk around thinking that they can "bash" people on television and yet they themselves are the sane. Okay, some ideas are goofy and I will admit to that. But inside sources tell me that "goofy" and "insane" is what they are looking and have been looking for all along. At our audition in San Francisco a young man started to go crazy over what appeared to be maybe that wheel. Rather than shield the other contestants, they encouraged him and that scared us all. They kept filming, and filming, even when he stood on chairs and started beating his chest. I thought he was a crazed sports fan. So much of the groups that were left huddled in corners probably praying just as hard as we were that they guy would finally leave. But it went on for a good ten minutes and now I will bet he is on the show. Now we sort of wish we hadn't made it through all the phases because now the issue becomes getting the written releases so we can take our inventions else where. Three hundred plus people have written to me for the "form letter" and I guess they also had their lawyers read the contracts. So what is the real purpose of this show. All I can say is that I would love to take a camera into Simon's house and show people what its like there. Then let us see who is calling the "kettle black." His personal life is a reality show unto itself. Why don't he put that to film?
auditions for AI
I told someone as I was waiting in line in Tampa that you are more likely to move on if you have something carzy. Well, Simon says 70% are insane so given a diference of 20% that would mean 90 % was goofy or insane. People have said they liked the weird the best so I can understand why they would say no to most good inventions. I'm guessing that only the handful of good invention had to conform to what they had in mind from the development companies in CA. Someone was told environmental friendly ideas? A replacement of alluminium foil with something else type inventions is probably what we will see in that case. This is if that auditioner wasn't just fed some balona. Everyone that was told 'no" was given I like it , but no. When training sales persons you are told never to disagree but to use the yes, but system. In this case it might be better described as the yes, but B.S. system.
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