Thursday, March 1, 2007

Donny Osmond, the Willy Wonka of the American Dream

ABC is currently fasttracking a reality show pilot called "the Great American Dream Vote." It features eight weekly contestants, who pitch their dreams to an audience and square off in several rounds of competition, and ultimately letting America decide who is the most worthy to have their dream recognized. The host of this latest reality experiment is none other than Donny Osmond, who said of the show: "Debuting on network television at the age of 5 was exciting enough, but then 10 years later, a real-life dream came true: My sister and I became the youngest hosts in television history when 'The Donny & Marie Show' premiered on ABC in 1976. So hosting 'The Great American Dream Vote' for ABC represents a homecoming of sorts; moreover, in a clear case of life imitating art, it definitely represents another dream come true for me."

The casting calls all read some variation of this sentiment: "Want to be on the show? All you need is a dream to apply!" Along with the application, there is eight pages of fine print, as well as cautioning against dreams consisting of such things as making more money or finally buying a house. That, apparently, is still the realm of Oprah.

Mike Fleiss, producer of the show and veteran of such past reality events like the Bachelor, and Are You Hot? told Variety, "If it gets maudlin, it doesn't work. It can't be, 'Who Has the Biggest Tumor?'" Instead, he explains, think of "a mother of quintuplets who dreams of having a proper back yard" or "a 22-year-old bald guy who dreams of a life with hair."

According to Fleiss, the casting is open to "Anyone. With or without talent."

Good to know.

http://abc.go.com/site/casting.html
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3ia767a63ba2afa61be2d323cfd09a947f

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