It’s about time for another round of Britain’s Got Talent, with its U.S. counterpart, America’s Got Talent and La France a un incroyable talent, following closely behind. Over the past few years, both shows have invited me to appear with my iPad magic.
While last year I decided to be on The Ellen DeGeneres Show instead of joining the 10th season of America’s Got Talent, that doesn’t mean you wouldn’t find me on any version of the show. You might not be aware that I’ve already performed my iPad magic on the program — just not the ones in the UK or the United States.
Did I do the logical thing and appear on the German version of the broadcast, where it’s called “Supertalent?” No, I made my “Got Talent” debut on the Turkish version of the program, which is named, as you would expect,”Yetenek Sizsiniz Türkiyeas“ (Turkey’s Got Talent). I wasn’t a contestant on that show, but I appeared as a special guest. Take a look at my performance:
I had such a great time on the show!
Before I walked on stage, Hülya performed a song in Turkish. The title was something like “I am looking for the perfect man.“ I hadn’t brushed up on my Turkish before this trip, so I didn’t understand a word of it, of course. But when I came out she was saying something like, “There he is!,“ with me nodding my head in agreement.
She raved about my performance, and the next day I was asked by a newspaper reporter if there was something going on with Hülya. I was laughing and saying I’d never had the pleasure of meeting Hülya before seeing her on the show. I’m not sure if some linguistic subtlety was lost in the translation, but the next day we were on the front page of numerous newspapers, complete with photo collages where she was wearing a wedding dress and me next to her as the mysterious magician from Germany. We were topic number 1 in Turkey for a day.
I hadn’t realized this, but the “Got Talent” franchise is a big deal. It’s broadcast in more than 58 different countries, and holds the Guinness World Record for the most successful TV talent format in history. The show was created by entertainment impresario Simon Cowell, who keeps himself busy by judging Britain’s Got Talent as well as its United States counterpart, America’s Got Talent.
So if you’re watching Britain’s Got Talent this year, you won’t see me performing my original iPad magic, but the show might remind you of my story and give you a chuckle.