''America's Most Talented Kid'' is an American television series that premiered on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
on March 28, 2003. In each round, three age groups (3–7, 8–12, 13–16) of talented children would perform
songs
A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usuall ...
,
dance
Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
numbers,
magic, and other forms of entertainment in front of head judge
Lance Bass
James Lance Bass (; born May 4, 1979) is an American singer, actor, and producer. He grew up in Mississippi and rose to fame as the Bass (voice type), bass singer for the boy band NSYNC. The band has sold over 70 million records, becoming one of ...
and other guest celebrity judges, such as
Sisqo,
Maureen McCormick,
Jermaine Jackson
Jermaine LaJuane Jacksun (né Jackson; born December 11, 1954) is an American singer, songwriter and bassist. He is known for being a member of the Jackson family. From 1964 to 1975, Jermaine was second vocalist after his brother Michael of the ...
and
Daisy Fuentes
Daisy Fuentes (born November 17, 1966) is a Cuban-American model, television host, actress and former weather presenter. Fuentes became MTV's first Latina VJ (signed to MTV and MTV Latin America simultaneously) and Revlon's first Latina spoke ...
. Host
Mario Lopez
Mario Lopez (born October 10, 1973) is an American actor and television host. He has appeared on several television series, in films, and on Broadway theatre, Broadway. He is known for his portrayal of A.C. Slater on ''Saved by the Bell'', ''S ...
led the highest scorer from each round until only three children were left to compete in the grand finale. In the end,
Cheyenne Kimball was crowned the grand champion.
The final NBC episode featured senior citizens competing in the special ''America's Most Talented Senior''.
A limited-run series on NBC to compete with the growing talent-show trend in reality television, it would later move to
PAX TV
Ion Television (referred to on-air as simply Ion) is an American terrestrial television, broadcast television network and Free ad-supported streaming television, FAST television channel owned by the Scripps Networks subsidiary of the E. W. Scri ...
(which then had a business/content-sharing relationship with
Paxson Communications), the title pluralized to "Kids", with
Dave Coulier as host and
Daryl Sabara
Daryl Christopher Sabara (born June 14, 1992) is an American actor. He is known for portraying Juni Cortez in the ''Spy Kids'' film series, and for a variety of television and film appearances, first as a child actor and continuing into adult r ...
,
Scarlett Pomers and
Bobb'e J. Thompson as judges. Unlike the
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
version, however, each show would crown a $1,000 winner and give the winner a finale slot. The Grand Champion of this season was then 13-year-old rock violinist/singer/songwriter
Antonio Pontarelli.
In 2004 ''
American Idol
''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...
'' runner-up
Diana DeGarmo, 2007 ''American Idol'' winner
Jordin Sparks
Jordin Sparks (born December 22, 1989) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame in 2007 after winning the American Idol (season 6), sixth season of ''American Idol'' at age 17, becoming the youngest winner in the series' history. He ...
, plus ''American Idol'' season 9 contestant
Aaron Kelly appeared on the show. Singer
Tori Kelly
Victoria Loren Kelly (born December 14, 1992) is an American singer-songwriter. She first gained recognition on YouTube before making it through to Hollywood week on the ninth season of ''American Idol'' in 2010 and eventually releasing her debu ...
performed on the show during the PAX TV run and won, beating out singer and accordionist,
Hunter Hayes
Hunter Easton Hayes (born September 9, 1991) is an American multi-genre singer, songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist. He is proficient at more than 30 instruments.
Hayes released his Hunter Hayes (album), self-titled debut alb ...
.
Notable contestants
*
Cheyenne Kimball – Grand Champion (2003); debut album ''
The Day Has Come'' debuted at number 15 on the ''Billboard'' 200 in the United States
*
JoJo – singer
*
Antonio Pontarelli – Grand Champion (2004)
*
Tori Kelly
Victoria Loren Kelly (born December 14, 1992) is an American singer-songwriter. She first gained recognition on YouTube before making it through to Hollywood week on the ninth season of ''American Idol'' in 2010 and eventually releasing her debu ...
– Singer, songwriter, and actress.
*
Diana DeGarmo – Later appeared on the third season of ''
American Idol
''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...
'' where she finished in second place.
*
Julie Dubela – She also appeared in ''
American Juniors
''American Juniors'' is an American reality television singing competition series that was broadcast for one season from June 3 to August 19, 2003, on Fox. The series was a spin-off of ''American Idol'', but with younger contestants. The show ...
'' and ''Endurance Tehachapi''
*
Hunter Hayes
Hunter Easton Hayes (born September 9, 1991) is an American multi-genre singer, songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist. He is proficient at more than 30 instruments.
Hayes released his Hunter Hayes (album), self-titled debut alb ...
– Singer and accordionist
*
Jordin Sparks
Jordin Sparks (born December 22, 1989) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame in 2007 after winning the American Idol (season 6), sixth season of ''American Idol'' at age 17, becoming the youngest winner in the series' history. He ...
– Vocalist and actress. She was in the Tournament of Champions. Winner of season 6 of ''American Idol''.
References
External links
Official Website of the NBC versionOfficial Website of the PAX version*
2003 American television series debuts
2006 American television series endings
2000s American reality television series
American television series about teenagers
PAX TV original programming
NBC reality television shows
Television series about children
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