By JESSICA MARTIN
Catch their eyes, or catch the train home.
The preliminary round judges for Canada’s Got Talent are making their way across the nation in search of stars: fire breathers, musicians, magicians, cyclists, acrobats or anyone who can make their jaws drop.
The most recent auditions were held at the Rogers Centre in Toronto from Sept. 27-30 where thousands of people lined the street waiting to showcase their acts.
The judges began their journey in Winnipeg and then headed to Edmonton, Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto. They will be in Halifax on Oct. 11 and 12 for the last round of auditions.
“The response has been beyond our expectations,” said Canada’s Got Talent’s executive producer, Ed Robinson, in an article in The Vancouver Sun. “We’ve reached out to a lot of organizations and schools and whatever and said, ‘Bring us your jugglers, your unicyclists, your trapeze artists and your people who do strange things with yo-yos,’ and we’ve got lots of people pre-registered who are certainly non-traditional acts.”
There is no age limit for people auditioning.
As long as the participant is a Canadian citizen, permanent resident of Canada or an aboriginal who permanently resides within the territorial boundaries of Canada, he or she can audition for the show.
“We’re going into it with open arms and open minds,” said Robinson. “I think the fact that it’s open to all age groups and open to duos, trios or however many are in your act, and that the range of what’s welcome on the show is extremely broad, will make it a unique opportunity for people.
“And, like Idol, this provides a platform for people to actually showcase their stuff, which is not always readily available in some areas of the country,” he said.
The show is scheduled to premiere next March on Citytv and Robinson said they are still in the process of getting everything together, including who the TV judges and host will be.
“We have been working very hard for the past four months to put together a judging panel and to find our host and we will be making announcements within the next few weeks,” Robinson said in the article. “We recognize it’s a big part of what people will be talking about.”
The winner will receive $100,000 and a booking to play at a venue in Las Vegas.
You can follow Got Talent action on Twitter and Facebook.
