From practical to goofy, American inventors vie for a cool million
\nThe State
\nBy MATT HURWITZ
\nFor The Associated Press<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Who knew we all needed the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Bladder Buddy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d? After all, being able to go in public without anybody\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s knowing what you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re doing under that plastic garment bag might come in handy someday.<\/p>\n
NOT, say the four judges on Simon Cowell\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s latest competitive concoction, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153American Inventor,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d which will premiere with a two-hour special at 8 tonight on WOLO-17, cable channel 5.<\/p>\n
The show highlights some of the country\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s brightest and most inventive minds \u00e2\u20ac\u201d as well as some of the nuttier variety \u00e2\u20ac\u201d in a search for the next \u00e2\u20ac\u0153it\u00e2\u20ac\u009d gadget. Contestants will vie for a $1 million prize and the chance to have their inventions end up in homes across the land.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s everything I love about reality shows, which is the good, the weird and the completely and utterly disillusioned,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Cowell says.<\/p>\n
The brutally frank judge from Fox\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153American Idol\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is an executive producer of the new show but does not appear in the series. He helped develop \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Inventor\u00e2\u20ac\u009d after being approached by British business executive Peter Jones, one of four judges.<\/p>\n
Similar to its musical sister, with the talented to the ludicrous petitioning a panel of judges to continue to the next step, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153American Inventor\u00e2\u20ac\u009d actually is more akin to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Idol\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00e2\u20ac\u009d British counterpart, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The X Factor.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
In that series, the judges counsel the contestants before the winner is determined. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Inventor\u00e2\u20ac\u009d takes the same route.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153That process works very well, in that you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got a very clear A-to-Z path,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Cowell explains. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153But you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve also got a sense of responsibility from the judges, who actually try to help the contestants.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
As with \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Idol,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Inventor\u00e2\u20ac\u009d begins with a set of cattle-call auditions in seven cities, with about 10,000 would-be inventors responding. Several hundred contestants are selected, and over the first four episodes of the show, they present their proposed products to the judges.<\/p>\n
Besides Jones, the panel includes ad agency executive Ed Evangelista; Mary Lou Quinlan, whose business focuses on products for women; and inventor Doug Hall, who more typically deals with Fortune 500 companies.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153This is not the world I live in, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been a real roller-coaster ride,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Hall says.<\/p>\n
Hall notes that of the four, he might be the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Simon\u00e2\u20ac\u009d of the group, but Cowell himself says, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153No one\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s trying to be (harsh) for the sake of being (harsh), which often happens on these shows.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Easier said than done when it comes to some of the goofier products paraded past the panel. Besides dental hygienist Hector Ortega’s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Bladder Buddy,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d consider the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Video Tattoo,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d which embeds a video screen in clothing, or one contestant\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pitch for clothing for cars.<\/p>\n
Then we have John Tang, clad in a beetle-inspired space suit, offering the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Space Beetle Utopia,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d a would-be amusement park for insects, complete with a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153bowling alley.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Tang suggests his contraption is the successor to the ant farm, but Evangelista responds, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I see the nut farm here.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re absolutely serious about these things,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Cowell says with a laugh.<\/p>\n
On the more practical side, there are inventors like 18-year-old Colombian student Francisco Bettino, who has created a bicycle with pedals up front for a passenger who rides atop the handlebars. And handyman Mark Martinez, whose simple \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sackmaster\u00e2\u20ac\u009d neatly and quickly fills sandbags for residents of flood-prone regions.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Under normal circumstances, you’d think, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcWell, who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s interested in a sandbagger?\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 \u00e2\u20ac\u009d Cowell points out. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153But the world has changed \u00e2\u20ac\u201d just look at New Orleans \u00e2\u20ac\u201d and you find yourself saying, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcActually, this isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just a shovel that makes sandbags, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something that could potentially save lives.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 \u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Indeed, the judges are looking for products that will, in fact, make a difference, and, more important, make a sale.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The challenge is, when it gets out into the marketplace, will anybody ever buy it?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Hall says.<\/p>\n
When judging an invention, Hall says he first looks to see whether the product really provides something new, or just slightly change things already on the market.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The show is called \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcAmerican Inventor,\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 not \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcAmerican Incremental Improvement,\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 \u00e2\u20ac\u009d he reminds.<\/p>\n
The judges narrow the field 50 contestants, who, in the show\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fifth episode, get one minute each to pitch their products to the judges again. The top 24 get five more minutes each to explain how they would use $50,000 to develop their products, with the top dozen of those actually getting that reward.<\/p>\n
Then, over the following four episodes, the judges will take three contestants each through the process of developing their inventions into real, viable products. Each judge then will choose the best one of his or her lot as a semifinalist.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Many of these people aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t technical, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re just ordinary people with an idea,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Hall explains. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I get people at Cal Tech and UCLA to help validate what they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re proposing, to give them credibility.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Finally, each of the four finalists will create a commercial to sell the idea to viewers, who then will vote on the winner.<\/p>\n
What makes \u00e2\u20ac\u0153American Inventor\u00e2\u20ac\u009d compelling \u00e2\u20ac\u0153is not just the inventions but the people behind them,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Cowell says.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Ninety-five percent of the people who turned up are not part time at this,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he says. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not playing. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve literally put their lives, homes, whatever, on the line for this one product.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
INVENTIONS WE\u00e2\u20ac\u2122D LIKE TO SEE<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\u00c2\u00a0Gamecock time-travel clock: So we can turn back time just enough to get another chance to win the game.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\u00c2\u00a0Bizarro Simon Cowell clone: He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nice and he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t wear black!<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\u00c2\u00a0Portable dehumidifier: Attach it to a hat, and you, too, could tolerate South Carolina summers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
From practical to goofy, American inventors vie for a cool million The State By MATT HURWITZ For The Associated Press Who knew we all needed the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Bladder Buddy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d? After all, being able to go in public without anybody\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s knowing what you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re doing under that plastic garment bag might come in handy someday. NOT, say the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n