The Golden Age of television lives in our memories. The authentic whole family viewing experience in front of the ‘box’ seems only a hope. The prospect of a genuine ‘Hey Hey’ type show that reflects the ordinary Australian seems left to anniversary specials.
It was easy to write off Seven’s new incarnation of AGT (Australia’s Got Talent), half awash with British judges, left until Q4 and missing the previously announced Neil Patrick Harris (whose commitment was for 2021 when the show was halted due to COVID). As an honest critic, I must confess that I may not have even sampled the show, if not for my work in the television space.
In hindsight now, what a fool I would have been to not have experienced this truly mind blowing, jaw dropping, yet emotive first episode of the 10th season of this world wide brand – something that has now given me some confidence that Seven could do something special with the upcoming Australian Idol.
Every ingredient in the first episode was perfect:
Judges
In some talent shows, we know there is a major focus on the judges. In AGT, the judges were nothing more than side players. The focus was whole heartedly on the performers. David Walliams had the perfect mix of comedy and heart and there is something special about having ‘Sally’ (Kate Ritchie) on our screens again. Although she now has a successful radio career with Nova and has acted on the small screen outside of Home and Away, she will always be ‘our Sally’. Little needs to be said of Alesha Dixon and Shane Jacobsen, because they allowed the acts to speak for themselves, offered their thoughts but never tried to outshine the talent.
Choice of Acts
The flow of acts was spot on. The episode opened with Sascha Williams performing an aerial act that has to be seen to be believed. This guy is a seasoned performer, having appeared as a semi finalist on Britain’s Got Talent. The second performance was a bunch of young girls aged between 2 and 6 doing ballet. It seemed to be a run of the mill act but then the fathers of the girls joined in, making for a special and warm moment that Australia needs right now – the importance of love and family amongst all the current chaos. I just feel that it could not have been only me that put aside hiking petrol prices, inflation rates, soaring mortgages, stress at work, even personally me launching a new website and then to be drawn into the simplicity of the bond of family.
Next came three hot shirtless brothers, which again appeared to start as a rolling the eyes moment, but the warmth of these guys, their talent and the interaction with their father was truly moving.
A viewer favourite, a quick mix of the quirky and not so talented acts followed, allowing for a breather between massive performances.
A female Chinese comedian was right on the mark and Bir Khalsa with a truly terrifying stunt blew the audience away.
The night ended with young Indigenous 16 year old singer Breanna Lee, whose emotional response had to halt her performance of ‘True Colors’ part way through. This was not about being pitch perfect but rather about a young Indigenous Australian teenager living in foster care with her proud foster Dad watching on, realizing a dream and seeking affirmation from the judges and audience from the voice inside her that wants to sing. To be fair, I cried twice in The Lion King, but even so, I was so proud of her.
Pace of the Episode
The episode did not feel too long, even though it was 1 hour and 22 minutes without advertisements. The back story packages were not padded out and the time with the judges was about right.
Final Note
I applaud Seven for flickering the Golden Age candle just a bit. This mix of international performers, married with every day home grown real Australians was a treat that the whole family can watch. For those looking forward to the new AGT, you will not be disappointed. For those that rolled their eyes, thinking this might be some overhyped show with clowns on a unicycle juggling with fire, then I would ask you to give episode 1 a go – you will be truly surprised.
To Seven, you just raised the bar for Australian Idol.