America's Got Talent (season 3)

The third season of America's Got Talent, an American television reality show talent competition, premiered on NBC on June 17, 2008. Opera singer Neal E. Boyd was named the winner on October 1, 2008.

Preliminary auditions were held in New York, Dallas, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago, and MySpace from January to April. David Hasselhoff, Piers Morgan and Sharon Osbourne returned as judges. Jerry Springer also returned as host.

It premiered in the United Kingdom on the channel ITV2, 7 months after the United States premiere. It premiered in Singapore on Channel 5 in September 2008, and in Hong Kong on channel TVB Pearl on May 23, 2009.

This season, the audition stage became different. This season, the X on the stages (above) and judges table matched the ones from Britain's Got Talent or has been borrowed for this season. After this season, Jerry Springer stepped down as host.

Selection process

Season three is similar to Season two in the audition process, except that the auditions were held in large theaters, there were three more audition episodes, and two more audition sites. The season also carried over the Las Vegas boot camp, but acts were divided into more groups, such as ventriloquists, male singers, female singers, opera, instrumental music, bands, and other variety acts. There were forty acts that passed through, instead of twenty. The semi-final process consisted of shows on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Ten of the top forty acts performed each of the shows for four weeks. Five were eliminated each show by public vote during the "Top 40" episodes. However, the contestants that come in fifth and sixth place faced the judges' decision. The panel was able to eliminate the act they wished not to put through. Afterward, the Top 40 was narrowed down to a Top 20.

Britney Spears

Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer and actress. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, she performed acting roles in stage productions and television shows as a child before signing with Jive Records in 1997. Spears's first and second studio albums, ...Baby One More Time (1999) and Oops!... I Did It Again (2000), became international successes, with the former becoming the best-selling album by a teenage solo artist. Title tracks "...Baby One More Time" and "Oops!... I Did It Again" broke international sales records. In 2001, Spears released her self-titled third studio album, Britney, and played the starring role in the film Crossroads (2002). She assumed creative control of her fourth studio album, In the Zone (2003), which yielded the worldwide success of the "Toxic" single.

In 2007, Spears's much-publicized personal issues sent her career into hiatus. Her fifth studio album, Blackout, was released later that year, and spawned hits such as "Gimme More" and "Piece of Me". Her erratic behavior and hospitalizations continued through the following year, at which point she was placed under a still ongoing conservatorship. Spears's sixth studio album, Circus (2008), included global chart-topping lead single "Womanizer". Its supporting tour The Circus Starring Britney Spears was one of the highest-grossing global concert tours in 2009.

Drag racing

Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles (usually specially prepared for the purpose) compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, most commonly ¼ mile (1,320 ft (402 m)), with a shorter 3/16 mile 10 feet (1,000 ft (305 m)) used by nitromethane powered Top Fuel dragsters and funny cars along with some bracket races, while 660 ft (201 m) (1/8 mi) is also popular in some circles. Electronic timing and speed sensing systems have been used to record race results since the 1960s.

Drag racing has existed in both street racing and regulated motorsport forms since automobiles and motorcycles were developed. The street racing form, which is usually illegal, is covered elsewhere; this article covers the legal sport.

Basics of drag racing

Before each race (commonly known as a pass), each driver is allowed to perform a burnout, which heats the driving tires and lays rubber down at the beginning of the track, improving traction. Each driver then lines up (or stages) at the starting line.

Derrick

A derrick is a lifting device composed at minimum of one guyed mast, as in a gin pole, which may be articulated over a load by adjusting its guys. Most derricks have at least two components, either a guyed mast or self-supporting tower, and a boom hinged at its base to provide articulation, as in a stiffleg derrick.

The most basic type of derrick is controlled by three or four lines connected to the top of the mast, which allow it both to move laterally and cant up and down. To lift a load, a separate line runs up and over the mast with a hook on its free end, as with a crane.

Forms of derricks are commonly found aboard ships and at docking facilities. Some large derricks are mounted on dedicated vessels, and known as floating derricks and sheerlegs.

The term derrick is also applied to the framework supporting a drilling apparatus in an oil rig.

The derrick derives its name from a type of gallows named after Thomas Derrick, an Elizabethan era English executioner.

Types

There are various types of derrick based on how the tower or mast is set up and the use of boom:

Jonny McGovern

Jonny McGovern (born July 12, 1976), also known by his character name The Gay Pimp, is an openly gayAmerican stand-up comedian, musician and podcaster. He has recorded three albums as comedic singer The Gay Pimp, and is also a cast member of Logo's The Big Gay Sketch Show.

Early life

Jonny McGovern was born to Mary McGovern and Rob Gutowski in Brooklyn, New York. His parents traveled often and McGovern grew up primarily in Egypt and Thailand. McGovern later returned to the United States to study acting at Boston University, where he earned a BFA.

Career

Early career

McGovern stated that he was inspired to create his signature comedic character, The Gay Pimp, after listening to rap songs and interviews by Eminem. McGovern has said,

After the songs from the show began to get heavy rotation in New York City nightclubs, McGovern was approached about making a music video for one of his songs, Soccer Practice. The video for Soccer Practice, which received heavy rotation in dance clubs as well as notoriety on the Internet, featured McGovern in a shirt that was emblazoned with the sequined words "Gay Pimp."