Hudson Brothers

The Hudson Brothers is an American music group formed in Portland, Oregon in the 1970s and consisting of Bill Hudson, Brett Hudson and Mark Hudson. Their popular songs have included "So You Are a Star" (1974), "Rendezvous" (1975), "Lonely School Year" (1975), and "Help Wanted" (1976).

History

Their first musical group, The New Yorkers, was named after the Chrysler automobile after the winning of a "battle of the bands"-type contest. In spring 1967 they released "When I'm Gone" (SCE-12190) on Scepter Records, following that in August 1967 with "Mr. Kirby" (SCE-12199) and then "Show Me The Way To Love" (SCE-12207) in autumn 1967. By October 1968, The New Yorkers had switched to Jerry Dennon's Pacific Northwest label Jerden Records and issued "Adrianne" (#906), following that up with "Land of Ur" (#908) in March 1969. Later in 1969 The New Yorkers also recorded "Lonely" (#7318) for Warner Bros. Records and "I Guess The Lord Must Be In New York City" (#32569) for Decca Records.

Got Talent

Got Talent is a talent show television format conceived and owned by Simon Cowell's SYCOtv company. A pilot was made in the United Kingdom in 2005, hosted by Paul O'Grady, but after O'Grady's split with ITV, the series was postponed, resulting in America's Got Talent – the first full series of the format.

It has spawned spin-offs in over 58 countries (as of April 2014), in what is now referred to as the Got Talent format, similar to that described by FremantleMedia of the Idol and The X Factor formats. In April 2014, the format was named the world's most successful reality TV format ever by the Guinness World Records.

History

Got Talent was an invention by The X Factor creator Simon Cowell, with comedian and talk show host Paul O'Grady producing a pilot for ITV in 2005 under the provisional title Paul O'Grady's Got Talent. O'Grady left the network after disputes with ITV, resulting in Cowell moving the concept to the United States while he and ITV searched for a new show host.

Due to these issues, the Got Talent franchise ended up debuting first as America's Got Talent on NBC on 21 June 2006, with judges David Hasselhoff, Brandy Norwood, and Piers Morgan. The show's original series was hosted by Regis Philbin. In 2016, the judging panel consisted of Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum, Melanie Brown, and Simon Cowell, and hosted by Nick Cannon, who has been the presenter since 2009. The grand prize on America's Got Talent is $1 million, and, since season 3, a chance to headline a show on the Las Vegas Strip. America's Got Talent proved extremely successful for NBC, pulling in high ratings in both total viewers and the younger 18-49 demographic. The show's initial success in America is credited with the eventual launch of the British series, and the overall global launch of the Got Talent franchise.

America's Got Talent

America's Got Talent (sometimes abbreviated as AGT) is an American reality television series on the NBC television network, and part of the global British Got Talent franchise. It is a talent show that features singers, dancers, magicians, comedians, and other performers of all ages competing for the advertised top prize of one million dollars. The show debuted in June 2006 for the summer television season. From season three (2008) onwards, the prize includes the one million dollars, payable in a financial annuity over 40 years, and a chance to headline a show on the Las Vegas Strip. Among its significant features is that it gives an opportunity to talented amateurs or unknown performers, with the results decided by an audience vote. The format is a popular one and has often been reworked for television in the United States and the United Kingdom.

This incarnation was created by Simon Cowell, and was originally due to be a 2005 British series called Paul O'Grady's Got Talent but was postponed due to O'Grady's acrimonious split with broadcaster ITV (later launching as Britain's Got Talent in 2007). As such, the American version became the first full series of the franchise.

Hudson

Hudson may refer to:

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Howie Mandel

Howard Michael "Howie" Mandel (born November 29, 1955) is a Canadian comedian, actor, television host and voice actor. He is well known as host of the NBC game show Deal or No Deal, as well as the show's daytime and Canadian-English counterparts. Before his career as a game show host, Howie Mandel was best known for his role as rowdy ER intern Dr. Wayne Fiscus on the NBC medical drama St. Elsewhere. He is also well known for being the creator and star of the children's cartoon Bobby's World. On June 6, 2009, he hosted the 2009 Game Show Awards on GSN. Mandel became a judge on NBC's America's Got Talent, replacing David Hasselhoff, in the fifth season of the reality talent contest. Mandel has mysophobia (an irrational fear of germs) to the point that he does not shake hands with anyone, including contestants on Deal or No Deal, unless he is wearing latex gloves.

Early life

Mandel was born and lived in the Willowdale area of Toronto, Ontario. Mandel is Jewish (his ancestors emigrated from Romania and Poland) and a distant cousin to violinist Itzhak Perlman. His father was a lighting manufacturer and a real estate agent. After getting expelled from his high school (William Lyon Mackenzie Collegiate Institute) for impersonating a member of the school board and signing a construction contract to make an addition to his school, Mandel became a carpet salesman who would later open a carpet sales business of his own. He was a stand-up comedian at Yuk Yuk's in Toronto and by September 1978 had a week-long booking as featured act, billed as "a wild and crazy borderline psychotic." His repertoire included placing a latex glove over his head and inflating it by blowing through his nose, the fingers of the glove extending above his head like a cockscomb. When the audience reacted uproariously to that and similar antics, his trademark response was to extend his arms palms up, look incredulous, and ask "What? What?"