The Successor (show)

The Successor (also known as The Next Uri Geller) is a series in which contestants perform acts of mentalism, illusion, escapism and other feats before a live studio audience. The acts are judged by a panel, with votes from the studio audience and viewers at home. In the original series, Uri Geller was one of the judges.

The show was created by Uri Geller in 2007 for Israeli television. It was subsequently remade in the United States under the title Phenomenon, co-hosted by illusionist Criss Angel, as well as Germany, the Netherlands, Hungary, Greece, Turkey and Russia. The show has been televised in multiple countries world wide including Canada, Latin America, Australia and Finland.

International versions

Wikinews has related news: Criss Angel challenges Uri Geller and Jim Callahan over paranormal claims

Later in 2007, the show was introduced to the United States, under the name of Phenomenon, co-starring Criss Angel, and hosted by British TV presenter Tim Vincent.

The show was notable for the October 31, 2007 controversy when Criss Angel challenged Geller and contestant Jim Callahan to prove they had supernatural abilities.^[1] Angel pulled two envelopes from his pocket and said, "I will give you a million dollars of my personal money right now if either one of you can tell me specific details of what’s in here right now."^[1] On November 21, 2007, Criss Angel again offered Uri Geller $1,000,000 on the finale of NBC's nationally televised Phenomenon,^[2] to which Geller began to discuss seemingly random events which included the numbers 1, 20, 19, 40 and 1. Angel appeared to cut Geller off mid-sentence to reveal the contents of the envelope, which were the numbers 9 1 1.

• On January 8, 2008, The Next Uri Geller (The next Uri Geller – Unglaubliche Phänomene Live), the German version of the program, began on German TV network Prosieben, followed by a second season in January 2009.
• The Dutch version of the program entitled De Nieuwe Uri Geller (The New Uri Geller) was launched on SBS 6 in 2008, followed by two more seasons, in 2009 and 2010. TV personality and Luv' singer Patty Brard appeared as a regular guest star in the first season and as a co-host with Tooske Ragas in the second and third seasons. Brard was also part of a jury that preselected candidates for the 2010 edition.
• In September 2008, the live show was launched in Russia, filming live in Moscow.
• The Hungarian version of the live show called A kiválasztott - Ki lesz Uri Geller utódja? (The Chosen One - Who will be the successor of Uri Geller?) began on March 29, 2008. During the show Geller speaks both in Hungarian and in English.
• In 2009, Geller started a Greek version, called Uri Geller's Successor (Ο Διάδοχος του Uri Geller - O Diadoxos tou Uri Geller), on the Greek television network Antenna (or ANT1), co-hosted by Christos Ferentinos.
• The Turkish version of the show ran on Turkish TV network "Star", starting April 2008. Ratings were helped by a lengthly article in The Turkish Daily News, under the headline "Famed psychic transfixes Turkish television". The host, movie producer Sinan Çetin, stated in an interview that prior to meeting Geller he did not believe feats such as telekenesis and telepathy were real, but that since the show his belief had been changed, stating "Now, yes, I believe him."
• In 2011, Geller hosted a Swedish version, called Fenomen, (Phenomenon), on the Swedish Kanal 5.

References