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.

Final Fantasy

Final Fantasy (ファイナルファンタジー, Fainaru Fantajī) is a science fiction and fantasy media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and developed and owned by Square Enix (formerly Square). The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and science fantasy role-playing video games (RPGs). The eponymous first game in the series, published in 1987, was conceived by Sakaguchi as his last-ditch effort in the game industry; the title was a success and spawned sequels. The video game series has since branched into other genres such as tactical role-playing, action role-playing, massively multiplayer online role-playing, racing, third-person shooter, fighting, rhythm and anime.

Although most Final Fantasy installments are stand-alone stories with different settings and main characters, they feature identical elements that define the franchise. Recurring elements include plot themes, character names, and game mechanics. Plots center on a group of heroes battling a great evil while exploring the characters' internal struggles and relationships. Character names are frequently derived from the history, languages, pop culture, and mythologies of cultures worldwide.

Final Fantasy VII

Final Fantasy VII (Japanese: ファイナルファンタジーVII, Hepburn: Fainaru Fantajī Sebun) is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square (now Square Enix) for the PlayStation platform. Released in 1997, it is the seventh installment in the Final Fantasy series and the first in the series to use 3D computer graphics, featuring fully rendered characters on pre-rendered backgrounds. It was also the first game in the main series to be released in Europe. The story follows Cloud Strife, a mercenary who joins the eco-terrorist rebel organization AVALANCHE to stop the world-controlling megacorporation Shinra from draining the life of the planet to use as an energy source. Cloud and his allies become involved in a larger world-threatening conflict and face off against Sephiroth, the main antagonist.

Development of Final Fantasy VII began in 1994. It was originally developed for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, but was moved to the Nintendo 64; since the Nintendo 64's cartridges lacked the required storage capacity for substantial prerendered movie footage, Square moved the game to the CD-ROM based PlayStation. It was directed by Yoshinori Kitase, written by Kazushige Nojima and Kitase, and produced by Hironobu Sakaguchi. The music was composed by Final Fantasy veteran Nobuo Uematsu, while the series' long-time character designer, Yoshitaka Amano, was replaced by Tetsuya Nomura.

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.

Under Pressure

"Under Pressure" is a 1981 song originally recorded by Queen and David Bowie, and later included on Queen's 1982 album Hot Space. The song reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the group's second number-one hit in their home country (after 1975's "Bohemian Rhapsody", which topped the chart for nine weeks), and Bowie's third UK number-one. It was also number 31 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the '80s.

The song was played live at every Queen concert from 1981 until the end of Queen's touring career in 1986. It is recorded on the live albums Queen Rock Montreal and Live at Wembley '86. The song was included on some editions of Queen's first Greatest Hits compilations, such as the original 1981 Elektra release in the US. It is included on the band's compilation albums Greatest Hits II, Classic Queen, and Absolute Greatest as well as Bowie compilations such as Best of Bowie (2002) and Nothing Has Changed (2014).

Creation