Puttin' On The Hits Lip Sinc Talent Search
Puttin' On The Hits was a half hour music variety show which began its first season on September 19, 1984. The show featured look-a-like contestants who competed in contests held in their local clubs and malls all across the country. The program seeked to discover the very best look-a-like Lip Sync performers in the country, through these grass roots auditions. Clubs, Bars, Colleges, Universities, Radio Promotions, and other events were held with winners advancing to the next level of competition. The City Finals and the National Lip Sync Finals held once each year provided a constant flow of eager contestant for the series. THE HISTORY: In 1981 Mr. Wood offered “Lip Sync” contests in which ordinary people would compete for prizes and cash awards in contests held in area nightclubs and other host establishments. These early contests, in which amateurs mimicked popular recording artists without actually singing the songs, were staged by Mr. Wood who promoted the productions and developed the contest format and rules.
In late 1982 Mr. Wood decided that “Lip Sync” contests held more than local interest and began, promoting the concept on a nationwide scale with an ultimate goal of producing the concept for national television. In order to further these efforts, Lip Sinc International, Inc. was incorporated on May 28, 1983. Mr. Wood traveled extensively producing Lip Sync contests, promotional shows, concerts, and fundraisers throughout the United States and elsewhere.
Mr. Wood refined the format and further developed the concept as an entertainment form of mass appeal with contestants, sponsors, and the media. “Lip-syncing” as it came to be popularly known, became a national sensation, appearing with considerable success throughout the country. From early 1981 and thereafter until Puttin’ on the Hits first appeared on television in September 1984, this national phenomena received considerable attention from dozens of local television stations around the country including Superstation WGN-TV in Chicago. Lip Sync International’s Lip Sync performers appeared nationally on numerous occasions on such shows as “PM Magazine”, “The Dance Show”, “Entertainment Tonight” and internationally on the television show “Entertainment USA” airing on the BBC in Europe and on CTV in Canada. Likewise, news accounts and feature articles about the contests appeared in numerous publications around the country during this early time period.
In early 1984 Mr. Wood and his company joined forces with [...] clark productions stepping into the position of consulting producer for the series. Mr. Wood immediately began converting his LSI contests in 17 cities to official auditions for Puttin on the Hits. As the series aired Mr. Wood continued licensing dozens more organizations to host official auditions for the series providing a continuous flow of eager contestants for the series. Grand Final winners from these auditions from over fifty cities across America were given a chance in Hollywood to compete for the $25,000 Puttin’ on the Hits Grand Prize. The series aired from September 1984 to 1988 in 26 countrys, and was nominated twice for the Daytime Emmy Awards.
Mr. Wm. Randy Wood has joined forces with Thunderball Films llc. to bring back the series for television. The producers will use the same in-market audition process as before with Lip Sinc International licensing host venues to hold auditions. Venue owners holding auditions will report winners to show producers, and for those contestants not able to attend local auditions in their area will be able to submit video performances of their act.
Venue Introduction
The Lip Sinc Talent Search is a proven and successful promotion for any club atmosphere including: oldies, adult contemporary, country western, rock and roll, top 40, classic hits and concert oriented clubs. The promotion has been designed to provide the venue owner with a proven Opportunity to build traffic on a slow night over the eight (8) week contest period.
Few events exist that offers the opportunity to provide a highly successful entertainment promotion and enjoy a low risk profile at the same time. The Lip Sinc Talent Search offers a low risk profile and high energy entertainment as a routine. The benefits are:
• Attract New Customers to Your Venue • Increased Sales on Contest Night • Stimulate Word of Mouth Advertising • Attract Capacity Crowds Consistently • Attract Free Media Exposure • Increase Traffic on other Nights of the Week • Increased Profits
The attendance of contestants, their friends, supporters, curious spectators, regulars and new customers drawn from advertising, free publicity and word of mouth advertising will consistently build week to week as the promotion continues.
Under normal circumstances, capacity audiences can be obtained by week five (5) and will hold at peak levels, thereafter provided the contest is conducted according to established Contest Guidelines.
Club owners prefer to conduct the contest on their own because they are intimately familiar with their own room, personnel and clientele, which offers them a higher success profile rather than allowing a promoter to come into their room and “Take Over” for the night.
To maintain the integrity of the promotion on a nationwide scale each venue is licensed to conduct the promotion. They will receive all the printed materials needed to properly conduct the contest as specified in the license agreement which includes the following:
• Promotional Flyers, Table Tents • Judges Score Sheets, and related Forms • Contestant Entry Forms • A Detailed “How To” Training Manual • In-House Promotional Videos • Sample Advertising Spots • Consulting and Operating Assistance
Your customers will attend the Lip Sinc Contest not just for the unique entertainment, but to cheer on and support their favorite acts. The audience is actually part of the judging criteria and ia an important part of the final selection of your winners.
Audiences get caught up in the excitement and enjoy seeing Lip Sinc recreations of famous recording artists on your stage. All participating venues must meet and maintain the following requirements to be eligible to host the Lip Sinc Talent Search:
• Have a Stage and/or Dance Floor with Good Visibility • Have a Sound System and Lighting • Have a Lip Sinc Event Coordinator • Provide Prizes to Contestants • Up to Date on BMI and ASCAP Music Royalties • Sign Eight (8) Week License Agreement • Pay an Affordable License Fee
Keep in mind that our license agreement applies to an eight (8) week contest cycle and is renewable on the same terms and conditions for as long as you decide to host the promotion. Most of our clients have successfully run the promotion for as long as five years.
Puttin’ on the Hits Intro
Rarely does a music variety show come along that defies all odds for being known as a Hit series, especially in the first season. Puttin on the Hits was such a series. POTH was not only a hit it was the first music variety series in history to capture the number one position in syndication television the first year and nominated twice for the Daytime Emmy Awards.
By the time POTH was offered at NAPTE in January 1984 Lip Sinc International had over 500 licensed contests under its belt in 20 cities. The phenomenon had grown nationwide via national segments on “PM Magazine”, “Entertainment Tonight” and the like. So it was not a surprise when Morley Shaffer on the News Magazine “60 Minutes” stated that “Puttin’ on the Hits was the Cabbage Patch Doll of NAPTE”, referring to the hottest selling toy of the past year. He further stated that “every station wanted it but only one station could have it”. The series was so hot it was picked up immediately by Tribune, Gannett, Taft, and Malrite clearing 60% of the country’s TV market. MCA-TV had placed a full page ad in The Hollywood Reporter announcing POTH “It is a GO for Fall 84” with 102 stations jumping on the POTH band wagon. As we all know now, all the stations that picked up the series made the right choice, POTH ended season 1 with an impressive 9.0 rating, a testament to the power of in-market promotions.
At least 32 stations participated in the series success that first season by taping audition finals at the nightclubs, and malls and airing special news segments with contestant interviews. All designed to create hoopla and excitement for the series in their market.
According to [...] clark productions 1987 annual report and MCA documents the POTH series generated an estimated net revenues of $40 million for the 136 episodes taped from September 1984-1988.
The success of the series was primarily a result of the In-market contests Lip Sinc International had produced prior to the first episode airing, in-fact the series was produced by [...] clark because of the national attention lip Sinc International was receiving as detailed above. From Early 1983 to late 1986 Lip Sinc International licensed over 1,100 preliminary contests the first 278 contests were licensed before joining forces with [...] clark productions.
So you ask, why would a Lip Sync music variety show be successful in 2008? The answer is the same today as it was in 1981 when it all began. We all want to be a “Star”!
Currently we are in the era of Reality Music Shows with American Idol leading the way. We can tune into “The Singing Bee” a hit show, and a favorite by many is “The Next Best Thing” featuring singing look-a-likes complete with full costume, make-up, and hairstyles. I have seen many times where the contestant looks like the artist but doesn’t sound like the artist, Guess what? They are dismissed from the competition. I do not recall seeing a group act, recreating such groups as the Supremes, The Beatles, or the Platters.
POTH provides the best of both worlds, look-a-like performers that Lip Sync the words to the original recording in a concert setting. It doesn’t get better than that! The excitement, the electricity in the room all makes the All New Puttin’ on the Hits high energy entertainment at its very best.
Lets face it, we will never have another opportunity to see Elvis, Michael Jackson, The Supremes, Prince and the Revolution, Madonna and the like perform again as they did at the height of their careers. POTH performers offer the viewing audience that opportunity to see recreations of their favorite artist or group from the past and present on stage creating the excitement of seeing the real thing.
SHOW SYNOPSIS
"Puttin On The Hits Lip Sync Talent Search
Can’t Sing?
Is that Madonna, Michael Jackson, Kiss, Diana Ross we’re seeing live? Not quite. The viewers are watching everyday people, mechanics, cooks, bankers, lawyers, students, waitresses and just about any profession you can imagine who are perfectly performing these hit songs to lip sync.
The contestants are going head to head in competition recreating live the sounds, looks, and moves of a popular artist or music group in search of being “the star they always wanted to be.” Celebrity judges will critique and winners, voted by viewers, with the GRAND FINAL winner receiving $100,000.
"Puttin’ on the Hits Lip Sync Talent Search"is a one hour music reality syndicated television series, based on the original hit 80’s series of the same name; started from the successful grassroots lip sync contests Wm. Randy Wood helped create throughout the USA.
Our new series will ask America, average everyday people to recreate star performers in their prime. The show creates an illusion for viewers wondering if it’s live or lip sync as contestants perform the hits from yesterday and today in a concert-type setting…and the beauty of it all is they don’t have to know how to sing, only perfectly perform on stage and lip sync in time.
Getting Contestants:
There are two ways we intend to audition and secure our contestants:
We will solicit America to send in videos or DVD’S of their own lip sync performance. From those submissions producers will select the best performers to come to our studio in Hollywood (or alternative location like Las Vegas) and perform on the show with the club contest winners.
A benefit to the production is the experience of Mr. Wood who created the concept and licensed over 1,000 preliminary lip sync contests across the country in the 80’s. Through these eight week contests the very best performers will be selected from Grand finals winners to appear on the show.
It’s a win-win for the series because the clubs or venues benefit from local radio/TV coverage, increased traffic and the excitement of having local contestants auditioned by local celebrity judges with the winners going on to the TV series. This also provides excellent ancillary revenue to the production and venue operators.
The series will profile short “behind-the-scene” interviews of each contestant’s personal life as they share with the audience why they auditioned and want to perform. With these performances, some good, some bad, but always realistic, we’ll be able to keep viewers tuned in and excited enough to believe they can do this as well, prompting them to send in their performance to appear on the show.
Audience participation will be constant and dynamic as home viewers are able to vote each week through text messaging, 800 call-in and Internet voting for their favorite contestants holding them glued to their television sets. Selected viewers will also have the chance to become part of the studio audience and win prizes of up to $5,000 weekly.
Whether watching from home or in studio, viewers can’t help but get caught up in the excitement and enjoy seeing recreations of famous recording artists performing in a concert like atmosphere. The original “Puttin’ on the Hits” to which Mr. Wood owns the trademark name has proven to generate over $40 million in revenue and syndication fees and the first ever #1 music syndicated hit, which was also nominated for two Daytime Emmys.
As in the original show, our series will not only appeal to the 18 to 49 year old demographic internationally, but also the other markets, older, younger, all who can identify with these contestants, the artists or perhaps the songs that are being portrayed.
With the advent of the Internet, text messages and plans to expand our coverage in the local markets with more detailed “behind-the-scene” interviews as the show progresses toward the Grand Finals, our viewers, as a result, will surely “hooked” to tune in each week.
The "Puttin On The Hits Lip Sync Talent Search" website will be filled with information about the show, how contestants can sign up, malls or nightclub venues can participate, with appropriate links to sponsors and merchandising products.
FORMAT: "Puttin’ On The Hits Lip Sync Talent Search" is a thirteen week ONE HOUR music reality series where America decides the final winner.
The Pilot episode for the series begins week one with a taped episode of eight (8) contestants (combination of winners from licensed contests or those who sent in their video performance.
In each episode there will be a panel of three (3) CELEBRITY JUDGES comprised of a Music Producer or Record Label executive, an Artist (Music, Film or TV personality) and Talent Agent (i.e. a Marki Costello) to evaluate, critique and sometimes banter the celebrity impersonators based on how they perform.
The judges will decide half the vote and viewers will decide the remaining half via call-in and text messaging to vote through the winners each week. However, in the Semi-Finals and Grand Final, although the judges will offer critique and fair evaluation, it will be America who selects the winner and final two songs (from a pre-selected list) with call-in and text messaging votes. One lucky viewer will have the chance to win $25,000 and a trip for two to the Grand Finals.
Much like music shows of the past, and certainly indicative of today’s competitors, our CELEBRITY HOST (a Daisy Fuentes or T J Lubinsky) will be important to be someone with a similar background to guide the viewers, create stimulating exchanges with the Judges and move the show along with their individual personality.
However, as we have in the past, our show will have an exciting HOUSE BAND to play the tunes for each selection in our studio. This concept was so successful, the Band went on tours after the season to promote the series and top contestants or finals winners we part of the show.
The selection format and process during our thirteen week series will be comprised as follows:
1 The first ten episodes as qualifying preliminary rounds 2.Two semi-final rounds 3.The Grand Final, which will highlight the final two winners performing as selected by America’s vote. One winner will hear those famous words from our Host that “America’s Puttin on the Hits winner for 2008 is….Congratulations; you are now the star you’ve always wanted to be.”
STUDIO SETTING AND SET DESIGN:
Set and production design to give audience and viewers the feeling they are actually attending a Madonna or Rolling Stone concert is extremely important. With a stylized look, exciting colors and lights, a large TV screen to show B-roll footage and interviews, as well as results, would be further developed to maximum effect within our budget.
Of course, the show is set in Las Vegas; there are numerous highline casinos or nightclubs to accomplish this task with many of the infrastructure in place, as within Hollywood.