Everything We Know About ‘The World’s Best’ So Far
Monty Brinton/CBS Reading Time: 5 minutes
We’re only six days out from the post-Super Bowl premiere of The World’s Best, but the show has been very much an enigma even in these recent weeks leading up to its debut.
Thankfully, a few nuggets of information have recently been dropped, so we’ve compiled a list of all the things we know about the show so far!
The Star Power
The World’s Best will be hosted by actor and late-night talk show host James Corden and judged by Faith Hill, and Drew Barrymore, and RuPaul. Each judge comes from a different facet of the entertainment world – Faith through singing, Drew through acting, and RuPaul through a variety of avenues, including previous experience in the land of reality TV with Drag Race – so we’ll be seeing a nice mix of perspectives. Rumor has it that Drew in particular will be one of the highlights of the show, so we can’t wait to see what she brings to the table!
The Acts
While most of the acts are still being kept under wraps, James Corden did reveal last week on The Ellen Show that the producers spent years scouring the globe to find exciting and entertaining acts that hadn’t competed on an American talent show before. We’ve since learned that one of them is Kazakhstan’s Dimash Kudaibergen, a singer who is already pretty popular in China after competing on the show singer but who might just gain a strong American fanbase after his time on The World’s Best.
The names of the other acts have yet to be announced but we’ve seen clips of a few of them in the brief previews of the show that have been released, a couple of which you can check out below!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2Xn5xxuoBE
loading="lazy"
The Timeslot
While the competition on the show looks to be fierce, The World’s Best itself will be competing in a battle of its own: the network primetime ratings game.
While its been known for awhile that it will premiere right after the Super Bowl, it will regularly air Wednesdays from 8-10 pm (7-9 c) on CBS. Of course, that puts its second hour in direct competition with The Masked Singer, which is already midway through its own freshman season and is thus far proving to be a big hit for FOX.
On top of that, America’s Got Talent: The Champions is still airing on NBC. While the two shows aren’t on the same night, comparisons will inevitably arise since both are variety competitions featuring acts of many talents from around the world. Heck, both have even branded themselves as “the Olympics of talent”. With no real competition until now, AGT has dominated this genre for years…will The World’s Best dethrone it as the king of variety talent shows?
The Wall of the World
If three judges from all around “the biz” weren’t enough for you, a panel of 50 experts in the entertainment industry from around the world will also be involved in the decision-making process. While we don’t know exactly what their role on the show will be yet, CBS did recently reveal who will be sitting on the “Wall of the World”. The 50 experts are:
AARON CASH: Australia – Dancer/Choreographer
ALBERTO BELLI: Mexico – Director
ALEX WRIGHT: South Korea – K-Pop Producer
ANDERSON SILVA: Brazil – UFC Legend
ANGELA GROOTHUIZEN: The Netherlands – Singer/TV Personality
ARIADNA GUTIÉRREZ: Colombia – Model/Former Miss Colombia
ARTHUR GOUROUNLIAN: Armenia – Creative Director/Choreographer
ARYANA SAYEED: Afghanistan – Award-Winning Singer
CARLOS LATRE: Spain – Comedian/Actor
CAROLINE MORAHAN: Ireland – Actress/TV Host
CECILIE LASSEN: Denmark – Royal Ballet Dancer
CHANTAL JANZEN: The Netherlands – Award-Winning Actress/ Singer
CHINZÕ MACHIDA: Brazil – 5th Degree Blackbelt Shotokan Master
DAVE ERINGA: United Kingdom – Platinum-Selling Record Producer
DENNIS JAUCH: Germany – Award-Winning Dancer/ Choreographer
DEL MAK: United Kingdom – International Dance Judge/Choreographer
ESSAΪ ALTOUNIAN: France – Multi-Platinum Artist
GALABINA KAMENOVA: Bulgaria – Six-Time Champion Gymnast
GALENA VELIKOVA: Greece – Sport Dance Champion
GAUKHAR “GIA” NOORTAS: Kazakhstan – Filmmaker/Actress
HOK KONISHI: Japan – Emmy-Winning Choreographer
IDA NOWAKOWSKA: Poland – Ballerina/Actress
JORGE GONZÁLEZ: Germany – Fashion Icon/TV Personality
KATE HENSHAW: Nigeria – Award-Winning Actress
KATHY WU: China – Actress/Television Host
KESHIA CHANTÉ: Canada – Award-Winning Singer/Songwriter
KOBI ROZENFELD: Israel – Choreographer/Creative Director
LIRA: South Africa – Multi-Platinum Artist
LUIGIE GONZALEZ: Panama-Grammy-Nominated Record Producer
MAKOTO DEGUCHI: Japan – Theater Producer
MARGARETA SVENSSON RIGGS: Sweden – Musical Artist/Vocal Coach
NAKUL DEV MAHAJAN: India – Bollywood Choreographer
NATHALIE YVES GAULTHIER: Canada – Circus Expert
NAZAN ECKES: Germany – TV Host/Judge
PATRICIA MANTEROLA: Mexico – Telenovela Star/Singer
PAULINA AGUIRRE: Ecuador – Latin Grammy-Winning Singer
PETRA SPRECHER: Switzerland — Stuntwoman
POPS FERNANDEZ: Philippines – Music Icon
KISHI: Samoa – WWE Hall of Fame Wrestler
ROKIT BAY: Mongolia – Rapper/Music Producer
ROSS KING: Scotland – Emmy Award-Winning Journalist
SERGIO TRUJILLO: Colombia – Award-Winning Broadway Choreographer
SHADO TWALA: South Africa – Award-Winning Radio/TV Personality
SISCO GOMEZ: United Kingdom – Choreographer/TV Host
SLAVA N. JAKOVLEFF: Russia – Film Director/TV Producer
SLONGS: Belgium – Award-Winning Rapper
STU GOLFMAN: Canada – Comedy Talent Agent
STUART MACLEOD: Scotland – Critically Acclaimed Magician
TATS NKONZO: South Africa – Award-Winning Comedian/ Musician
THAI NGUYEN: Vietnam – Fashion Designer/TV Host
WILLIAM YUEKUN WU: China – Beijing Opera Actor
YEMI A.D.: Czech Republic – Celebrity Choreographer/ Creative Director
ZOË TYLER: – United Kingdom – Vocal Coach/TV Personality
ZORA DEHORTER: Nigeria – International Casting Director
The World’s Best premieres Sunday, February 3 as the Super Bowl lead-our program on CBS.
