The World's Best - General Discussion

[adhoc]

Let's discuss CBS's new show, the World's Best, here. I only tuned it myself to catch Dimash Kudaibergen, who was not even on the first episode, as it turns out.

I never understood how you could have a competition among folks with different skills. For example, how do you compare a great singer to a great dancer or to a great martial arts performer?  How do you decide which one's better?  It's like comparing apples to oranges to grapes. Flaw in the premise, from my POV. (But I do like the idea of showcasing amazing talent from around the world.)

Moving on... as soon as I saw children were going to be on the show, I knew it was not intended to be a "real" competition anyway. Children are always pandered to. 

As for Dimash--the only reason I've got my TV tuned to this show, which otherwise has not particularly impressed me--I doubt he'll go as far as maybe some die-hard fans think he should. Sure, he's got an amazing voice and talent for days, and a huge fan base world wide, especially in China.

But Dimash does not have a sad or tragic backstory. He's not a cute little child. He doesn't sing American country music. (And if he did, his English accent needs some work.)  So from my POV, this being an American show, Dimash is at a severe disadvantage.

After all, if  a Mongolian who speaks no English, but who does a competent rendition of a country song with a flawless American down-home accent (even though he can't be bothered to find out what the words mean, which I found a bit insulting), can score an almost perfect score (97 out of 100 possible points) from the 3 American judges and a panel of 50 "international" judges, I fear that Dimash will simply be too talented for his own good. 

Edited February 4, 2019 by adhoc

[junemeatcleaver]

I don't care much about what's fair and what's not when it comes to these shows, they've been filled with ringers and producer manipulation since the first American Idol.  I do care whether I am entertained, and World's Best is working for me for now.  I only wish there was a different host.  The show doesn't need James Corden's "star power" since Drew Freaking Barrymore is one of the judges.

[adhoc]

Well, I'd like it better if they dropped the competition aspect. It's great publicity for these folks, it's not like there has to be a  "winner" and a $$$ prize or no one would participate ... 

[Rickster]

3 hours ago, adhoc said:

Well, I'd like it better if they dropped the competition aspect. It's great publicity for these folks, it's not like there has to be a  "winner" and a $$$ prize or no one would participate ... 

True, but there’s a segment of the potential viewing audience that tunes in for the competitive aspect to discover “the best”, and in the end it’s all about ratings. Variety shows don’t do well these days.

[crimsongrl]

I only made it 20 minutes. Too many cutaways to the judges that were wowed by everything! I wish TV producers would place all judges & audience reaction in a small box at the bottom of the screen. 

I won't be back.

[lynxfx]

The voting is pretty gimmicky especially when you start out with two 99/100 scores. I feel that they need to be a little more critical going forward. At least they didnt give the one armed violinist a near perfect score. Touching story but only so-so playing. 

Not impressed by the Mongolian. Pure mimicry from listening to a recording over and over. 

And did they really end the show on a stupid cliffhanger!? I give AGT crap for doing that with a commercial break but to end the show that way, pure amateur hour. I dont think I'll continue watching. 

[bybrandy]

Ru, Drew and Faith... I kept wishing the final American judge was Prue Leith (Yeah, she's not American) or that Drew and Ru didn't rhyme.   

It really bothered me that the Mongolian singer hadn't tossed those lyrics into google translate because I mean what if you found out you were singing something terrible?   That really bothered me and that's the whole reason I looked for this thread.  

[SnideAsides]

I don't think this show would be as bad as it is (and holy shit it's a stinker) if they weren't undermining the show's entire generic name by pushing the weird "America matters more" subtext so damn hard. Like there are legitimately big names in the crowd (to use one example, Angela Groothuizen is essentially the Dutch equivalent of a Spice Girl, and was one of the judges on the original version of The Voice), but none of the crowd gets anything but the most superficial focus because they're so focused on the three Americans.

This could be so much more, but they've basically just merged America's Got Talent with All Together Now, and done a pisspoor job of plagiarising either.

[Katmai]

The only reason I caught some of the show was Manami Ito. She played beautifully, with emotion. I've been around orchestras for two decades now, son is a string bassist, and it was truly awe-inspiring hearing what she went through, then to see & hear the result of her perseverance. The right arm does the lion-share of the work for a string musician. On top of all of that, it was wonderful to see her smile and that she's married and has a little girl. Her disability doesn't hold her back nor slow her down.

[adhoc]

Halfway thru the Wednesday night 2-hour (ugh) episode.

So far, there have been a couple of good acts (Naturally 7, Dundu) and the rest were so-so, IMO. One judge (Cisco) voted against Dundu, and the judges and James took time out to embarrass and shame him for his "no" vote, declaring in what they obviously thought was a cute manner that he needed to be replaced as a judge.

No, Cisco was fine. It's the judges, and James, who needed to be replaced.  Their behavior is just embarrassing.

Karaoke singing nun gets 78 points and makes it thru to the next round. Unbelievable. I guess all these Christians were afraid they'd go to hell if they didn't vote her thru. Perhaps she'll win.

I'm wandering in and out of the living room as I've lost interest in the rest of this and am just waiting to hear Dimash.  

UPDATE: That was totally worth the wait! The judges (finally) got it right, with James C. saying "We've saved the best for last"--which is kind of insulting to the other contestants when you think about it--and gave him a perfect 50. RuPaul said that people like Dimash are the reason The World's Best was created.

I will say, he started off nervous. But then he was fine, though the arrangement was a bit weird. (Maybe edited for time?) All the judges but 2 voted him through to the next round (whatever that is).  

Edited February 7, 2019 by adhoc

[Sounder]

If the goal here is to do something different.....they should just drop the american panel and let the "wall" alone vote on who goes through.   Last thing i want is another sugary sickening panel of "too nice judges" overusing the word "amazing".  The cliffhanger at the end is stupid..... stop doing that.... It's a talent show.... not a scripted show i hope.  They invested tons of $$$ in this..... so there's pressure to succeed.  Me?  Don't like it.  But if they tweak things....they could see season 2.

[SnideAsides]

2 hours ago, Sounder said:

If the goal here is to do something different.....they should just drop the american panel and let the "wall" alone vote on who goes through.

That would get them into a world of trouble (sorry, I couldn't resist), as that is literally the format of All Together Now.

[Sounder]

I'm betting the nun might've drawn a golden buzzer on agt because they are schmaltzy like that.  Anyway.....if they need celebrity judge interactions.... they could have random b list or lower level celebs sitting among the wall along with some performance experts like they have now and host James Corden will throw it to them on occasion.  And we wouldnt have to sit through up to seven "amazing" blurbs BEFORE the time consuming scorings process which leaves less time for acts.  And the acts are good of course.... talent is talent.... regardless of show.

[adhoc]

Yea! Forums are back up. Looks nice and clean... 

Anyway, I wanted to say that I don't get how a foreigner who doesn't know English, but who can perfectly imitate an American country western singer, is "amazing".  Call me crazy, but aren't there probably lots of folks in other non-North American countries who could do that very thing? And frankly, as an American, I don't want to see someone imitate something I can see here any day I want. Surely Mongolia has a couple of amazing acts that we could not see here in the U.S.  (I'd mention the Hu Band, but they're too new and only have a couple of songs on offer now.)

Same thing with the nun. IMHO, her performance was a nice karaoke rendition of an American pop song. Was it a "World's Best" performance? I don't think so. I think this show qualifies it as "best" because it's being sung by a nun. You know what? I'll take "Dominique" by Soeur Sourire (Google it, young'uns) over this. Again, a foreigner imitating an American. Stop the presses.

Of the performances I saw, I thought Dundu and Naturally 7 (along of course with Dimash) were unique enough to qualify for this show that purports to show you "the best".   

Oh, also, the idea that you've picked "the best" to compete against each other, but you're making them audition?  Over 4 hours of episodes? I call BS.  Just give them enough time to really showcase themselves (you could do that by cutting out the judges' annoying shenanigans) and dazzle us.  Is it really that hard to understand?

[Sounder]

OK I'm gonna wrap up my assessment of this show...... talent is good..... but I hate these judges and the entire format needs major overhauling...... yeah man ..... Cisco spoke his mind.....I guess speaking your mind is deemed intolerable in this country now...... episode three..... I lasted till the third act..... was hoping to see William Close...... did he appear?    If he did and I missed it because this show is tv's answet to sominex.... I'll be MADD.

[Bucket]

........AND we will never know if Drew really fainted, staring into the dog's eyes.   <stomps feet>  

Edited February 15, 2019 by Bucket

[lynxfx]

On 2/14/2019 at 3:54 PM, Sounder said:

was hoping to see William Close...... did he appear?  

He did and was great. Of course Rupaul gives him a 35. He barely made it through to the next round.

I don't see this show getting a season 2. Horrible format, overly produced voting method. Better off just watching the acts when they show up on The Gong Show. I mean that in a positive way, they get some great acts mixed in with the gong-worthy.

[Sounder]

I wonder if producers of these shows ever read discussion boards like these..... because we know what we like.   I would enthusiastically attend a William Close concert if he ever tours around here.  So yes I did find his performance on YouTube and was awed as usual.  And they ruined it by putting William in the background to give Faith Hill additional face time I don't want to see.   And she might get some crock of an idea like playing an earth harp like a country fiddle..... talk about nails on a chalkboard.

[Sounder]

Why don't we get Tape Face on this show so he can apply tape to these judges?

[PikaScrewChu]

I must be the last person that was watching this. And I turned it off during the singing nun doing her interpretation of Like a Virgin.

That has to be some elaborate prank.

This would have worked so much better as a variety show. So much better.

[lynxfx]

Not the last person but pretty close PikaScrewChu. 

It is pretty bad and they are already in their selected finals. So apparently these people are the world's best. Uh sure. Half these acts wouldn't get past judges cuts on AGT which let's face it, even lets through some terrible acts.

So let's see, they came up with 4 categories that people compete head to head in. Ok that's interesting. At least it pits singers against singers so you don't end up with nothing but singers at the end.

The card magician is pretty bad. He did the exact same trick as Shin Lim did on the final of AGT Champions. Well one trick out of his routine. He was clean with it, but the presentation was as cookie cutter boring as possible. Just compare his vs Shin's and you will see why Shin is a star and this guy I can't even be bothered to look up his name. 

I really don't like most of the singers. The Nun, ughh, the Mongolian cowboy, double ughh. I think the only act I really liked was the slack line guy. That was impressive. The child piano player, sure he could bang on the keys and play really fast but it didn't really sound that good. 

[PikaScrewChu]

"World's Best Agent" is more apt. I'm sure they could have found better acts world wide, it's all about who had the best agent to get them on this show.

Even the last season of America's Got Talent which seemed to be mostly contestants from other Got Talent franchises had better selection.

Yeah. I'm out. It's a pity because some of the acts are really good. Piano kid should have been relegated to The Gong Show.

[atlantaloves]

Well I really like it, so there. 

[mayahouse]

I really like it too!! I do agree that it could use some small changes, but it's entertaining.

[atlantaloves]

I love the male a'cappella group the best.....they are a talent that needs to be discovered! I am all for them for the TOTAL WIN.

[PikaScrewChu]

I was flipping by and saw Dimash's performance and the end of the episode. I can't believe he sacrificed himself for Daneliya and piano kid for a spot in the top 4.

[Diana Berry]

So Dimash gave away 1 million dollars sigh

[PikaScrewChu]

Just now, Diana Berry said:

So Dimash gave away 1 million dollars sigh

To piano kid no less.

This is like one of those bracket challenges where one of the mediocre acts wins by virtue of being better than the act they were against.

[mayahouse]

I'm fine with Dimash with drawing because I think he has already arrived and probably wealthy. I loved Naturally 7. They are very unique and talented. I'm glad they got so much exposure. I don't think I should be so harsh on talents from some countries because I don't know what their countries are like. Perhaps they are very popular in their country. I'm ok with Lydian winning. He is quite talented, and I would like to follow his career and he grows. 

I'm glad the show will be back even if I didn't enjoy all the performances. I don't like cutting away for judges reactions either, but it seems to be a trend now.