‘The World’s Best’ Host and Judges Have Been Revealed!
Monty Brinton/CBS The World’s Best
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The reality TV offerings on CBS are known for being more adventure and social-based competitions (The Amazing Race, Survivor, Big Brother) rather than talent shows like NBC’s The Voice, America’s Got Talent, and World of Dance, ABC’s American Idol and Dancing With the Stars, and FOX’s The Four and So You Think You Can Dance. Even The CW has Penn & Teller’s Fool Us. But CBS is venturing into reality TV talent territory with the upcoming series The World’s Best.
Set to debut in 2019, The World’s Best will feature acts of all genres with the performers hailing from all across the globe. Deadline announced today that actress Drew Barrymore, Drag Race host RuPaul, and country singer Faith Hill will serve as judges for the show, while Late Late Show host James Corden will cover hosting duties. In addition to the three celebrity judges, a panel of experts on the types of acts being performed will also have input throughout the competition.
This lineup is looking absolutely FANTASTIC. All three of the judges seem very down-to-Earth and fun; I think Drew will serve as the “sweet one” who always tries to point out the positives in each performance, while RuPaul might be toughest of the bunch, if Drag Race is any indication. I don’t really have a strong idea of what Faith will be like, but hopefully she’ll balance out the other two well and help create a well-rounded dynamic on the panel.
As for James Corden, he definitely has no lack of experience hosting live TV (in addition to his late-night talk show, he’s hosted the live telecasts of the Tony Awards and Grammys) but I do find that he comes across as trying too hard to be funny a lot of the time. A big part of the host’s job on these shows is usually to keep the judges at bay, but I have a feeling the dynamic may be reversed on World’s Best with the panel needing to keep James under control.
The Olympics Of Talent Shows
Executive producer Mark Burnett has dubbed The World’s Best as “the Olympics of talent shows”, which seems to be a term frequently thrown out to describe reality competitions lately. I’m guessing it’s because of the whole “acts from all over” thing, which they really seem to be playing up, in contrast to America’s Got Talent which also features a variety of acts from around the world but has more of a patriotic, “proud to be American” vibe. While the whole Olympics comparison does sound like hyperbole to me, I have to admit it’s nice to see World’s Best embracing the “worldwide” aspect of the show right off the bat.
The World’s Best will air on CBS in 2019.
