‘Canada’s Got Talent’ is back and this time the judges pledge to have an edge

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This article was published 19/03/2022 (1661 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The last time “Canada’s Got Talent” aired in this country was back in 2012. At the time, Barack Obama was the U.S. president, London was getting ready to host the Olympic Summer Games, and Kyle Lowry had just been traded to the Toronto Raptors.

Now, a decade later, the show has been resurrected with a new creative team, a new host, and a different set of judges. While the concept of finding Canada’s next big thing remains the same (the winner receives a $150,000 cash prize), a lot has changed.

McGillivray Entertainment Media is the new production company behind the series. Country singer Lindsay Ell is the new host. And the judges? Well let’s just say they are very different. Composer Stephan Moccio, opera singer Measha Brueggergosman and comedian Martin Short are out. Instead, the 2022 version of the show that premieres Tuesday night on Citytv features rapper and record executive Kardinal Offishall, former pro wrestler Trish Stratus, YouTube sensation and former talk show host Lilly Singh, and comedian Howie Mandel.

Mandel wasn’t joking when he made the decision to pass on the 2012 version. The Willowdale-born funnyman who has served as a judge on “America’s Got Talent” since its fifth season in 2010 says he didn’t watch the original “Canada’s Got Talent” series, despite being approached to be a part of it.

“They talked to me a little bit about it. I was concerned that I wasn’t going to be able to be authentic,” he told the Star. “I thought the last time was more about a celebration of Canadian acts rather than ‘Canada’s Got Talent.’ We are being real with everybody. There are people that are going to blow your mind (this season) but there are also people that are terrible.”

Mandel said that he wanted to make sure the stereotype of Canadians always being nice didn’t muzzle the criticism he wanted to share.

“I felt that if the acts were from Canada, you had to be polite and nice to everybody. That (original) show seemed that they were going in the direction of being too nice but not real. There are some people that don’t rise to the occasion, and they need to hear that without being mean.”

He wasn’t the only judge who wanted to serve up some honesty. While Kardinal Offishall denied being the toughest critic, he agreed with Mandel about always delivering blunt assessments to the contestants.

“Howie is spreading a rumour that I am the most difficult judge, but I’m going to refute that off the top,” Offishall told the Star. “I just feel like when you have to give somebody the Golden Buzzer (a pass straight to the finale), it’s the goal that you always aspire toward. I’m not just giving it to anybody.”

Offishall said that Trish Stratus had the softest touch with the contestants, a fact that the World Wrestling Entertainment former women’s champion disputed.

“At the beginning there was a little bit of us all going ‘OK, that’s a no from us, sorry.’ But we quickly learned you don’t have to say sorry. That’s my job,” Stratus told the Star.

The show’s boss says there is no confusing this show with its predecessor from ten years ago.

“It’s not lost on me that there is a certain lens watching to see what happens next,” said the show’s new executive producer Scott McGillivray. “But I thrive in those conditions. I dare people to underestimate us. I’m a firm believer that sometimes you have to take a bit of risk if you want a big reward. This is a show that is not business as usual. Canadians are going to be shocked at how big this show is.”

Best known as the host and executive producer of HGTV’s “Scott’s Vacation House Rules,” the entrepreneur is the CEO of McGillivray Entertainment Media, a production company he launched in 2014. Despite finding success with many different types of renovation programming, there is little doubt that this relaunch is something different.

“I saw the first version of ‘Canada’s Got Talent’ 10 years ago when it aired and, as a viewer, I thought it was fine. The ‘Got Talent’ franchise was quite young at that time so there wasn’t anything substantial to gauge it against. For me, the most difficult thing about seeing the first version was that it didn’t come back. This isn’t a reboot. This isn’t season two. This is a new show that is very different.”

This time around, the audition and semifinal rounds were all taped at the Avalon Theatre inside the Fallsview Casino Resort in Niagara Falls. Adhering to the ever-changing COVID-19 protocols, the audition episodes in November 2021 had a limited audience while the semifinals in January 2022 only allowed a small number of competitor supporters (along with the show’s crew), to be in the theatre.

At an audition taping in November, the chemistry between the judges was evident.

After being introduced, Howie ran past the crowd to his seat, offering elbow bumps to audience members on the way to his chair. Lilly Singh asked attendees if there was “anyone here from Scarborough?,” a nod to her hometown shortly before kicking off her heels and switching them out for a pair of running shoes (that were hidden behind the judges’ desk). Kardinal and Stratus quietly conferred after many of the performances before offering their assessments publicly.

When asked if their bond could match the camaraderie found between Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson, and Paula Abdul on “American Idol,” or the fun banter that Blake Shelton and Adam Levine shared on “The Voice,” Singh said that it would.

“I already knew Kardi and Trish from before, and these are two people that I grew up idolizing. I learned about music through Kardi. I waited in lines to meet people like Trish so I already had this dynamic with them,” she told The Star. “Howie and I never met before, but I sit beside him on the show. I will roast him the second I have a chance but that’s our dynamic. All of the judges have this camaraderie that I hope you will be able to see through the screen.”

The friendship and mutual admiration stemmed from being sequestered together at the hotel as Ontario’s restrictions kept tightening during filming.

“We were in this bubble. We weren’t even talking to our immediate families,” Mandel said. “We were just all at Fallsview. Having dinner together, prepping together. We became fast friends. And then we started taping so it wasn’t a problem when Kardi didn’t agree with me.”

As for COVID-19, the show’s host, Lindsay Ell, said it was an adjustment but one that they were prepared for.

“Navigating anything right now within COVID has been a feat for us but watching how the performers were able to change and adapt to a changing studio environment was incredible.”

Showrunner McGillivray said that while capacity limits were in place for most of the series, with Ontario’s mask mandate on the cusp of being lifted, things will be different for the last episode.

“Oh heck yeah, we’re planning on a full house for the finale!”

In the end, all of the judges want to make sure the show gives Canada the platform it deserves.

“I have always resented the fact that I had to leave Canada to make a living,” Mandel admitted. “I am always angry at the fact that people in the world don’t realize how much of the comedy they consume has Canadian roots, how much of the music they consume has Canadian roots, and how many of the scripts they consume have Canadian roots. We have always been a hotbed for great talent.”

Singh is just happy that the show will be representative of what this country actually looks like and what it means to be Canadian.

“I knew that we would get the diversity in a really true way,” Singh said. “I do think that’s what Canada’s superpower is. I consider myself a well-rounded person but even I saw stuff on stage where I was like ‘I truly have never come across this before.’”

Canada’s Got Talent premieres Tuesday March 22 at 8 p.m. on Citytv and Citytv.com.

Murtz Jaffer is a Toronto-based Entertainment writer and a freelance contributor for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @murtzjaffer