American Inventor - The Winner Wins Big
Finale Recap by Gayl Killough
August 2, 2007
This is the finale of American Inventor and the winner of a million dollar advance on his or her invention will be announced. The audience decided by popular vote, which of the top three finalists should be the winner.
The top three finalists are Greg Chavez with the Guardian Angel fire protection system; Elaine Cato with the Annette convertible bra; and Ricky Devennaux with the HT Racers. All three of the contestants have been give images to fulfill, and if one has not noticed before now, Chavez is the firefighter, Cato is the single mom, and Devennaux is the teacher.
The show has been moved to a stage that kind of looks like American Idol and the judges are sitting where the American Idol judges sit relative to the stage. There is a live audience, which is a really nice touch, but Host Nick Smith was hard to understand sometimes over the crowd noise. The live crowd did add a little bit of excitement because otherwise the show felt really flat.
Host Nick Smith kept asking the top three finalists how they felt. They all felt nervous, grateful to be there, overwhelmed, and so emotional that could barely speak. I could totally relate to how they must feel, but it made for some boring television. Host Nick Smith was given the job of stretching one sentence over several minutes. There are dramatic pauses, but this was pushing the limit, it felt like I could run to the bathroom and back in the length of times between words. For those that usually wait for commercials to run to the refrigerator, the show offered of plenty of times within the show to do errands.
Each of the contestants was given a background clip. Chavez has six kids and the love of his wife has helped inspired to keep going with his invention. She never doubted him and has always stuck by him. He says that everyone should have a wife likes his. Elaine has the support of her kids and family as well. Devennaux has the support of his students and his family too.
The judges offered words of encouragement and were proud of their selections. There was a clip show of highlights of the contestants leading up to this episode with background music of "It's A Wonderful World". It was all dragged out feeling. Could the show not found some more filler for this episode? How about some updates of how last year's finalists did?
The show announces the third place winner and it is Ricky Devennaux. He is still a winner because Spinmaster wants to sponsor his invention. Benjamin Dermer, Director of Inventor Relations, tells him that Devennaux is invited to come to their headquarters in Toronto and that Spinmaster believes that the HT Racer is a "must have" toy. Just a couple of weeks ago, I was looking at some of the new toys coming out for the Christmas season (which is this time of the year) and I was really impressed by several products that Spinmaster has just come out with on the market. Most of the toy companies seem like they are in a dull boring rut with their toy lines, but Spinmaster actually inspired me, which is very rare, so I want to give them some props for supporting inventive toys. I was hoping that Spinmaster would be the toy company to pick up the HT Racer and I am surprised that I was right.
Back to boring filler, although to be fair, it may have been just my mood while watching this episode. I have been in long drawn out meetings all this week and this episode was reminding me too much of my workday that I want to escape by watching reality television. Actually, I think there really is some overlap. I work in government, and this week I have been responsible for monitoring meetings where not for profit agencies (that serve the homeless and low income populations) make requests for grant money. Each agency has only two minutes to make their plea to fund their program, the same amount of time that was given to the inventor contestants. There are not judges, but an independent committee of 16 people that ask questions and grill the grant applicants about how they will spend the money if they receive it and how they have spent money given to them in previous years. The grant applicants have to answer really nit picky questions and some off the wall questions. The grant applicants have to put their fate in the hands of a committee that know very little about the programs and may not even comprehend the need for the service. It reminded me of how the contestants on this show must feel. Reality television has a reputation for not really being reality, but sometimes reality television feels all too real.
The committee (from my workplace) reminded me of a combination of the focus group and the American Inventor judges that each of the inventor finalists faced. From what I saw on this show, the inventor contestants got off really easy compared to how I seen grant applicants ripped and torn apart this week in reality by this committee, all for only a few thousands dollars per grant at most if they are lucky. Although, the inventors had to deal with being on television, which is must be rough. The committee has to be tough, because the amount of money available is a lot lower than the money being requested by some very worthy causes. In comparison, not all inventions could be chosen to be in the top three on this show. To be honest, I think there are more great invention ideas than there are spaces available in the marketplace for them.
The inventors also reminded me of the grant applicants in another way. Each American Inventor contestant saw a need for something that does not currently exist in the marketplace. They have thought through their inventions and have given a lot of time to fulfilling a need that is very much a reality for them. Then they have to face judges and the public with their idea. Similar to the grant applicants, they are all trying to make the world a better place. Not all of them are saving lives with their ideas, but they at least want to improve the world in some way. Well, all right most of the contestants want to make the world a better place, a few might have tried out in the attempt to just make money, but those contestants did not make it very far. Also, in comparison, the grant applicants, due to the grant process, have to spend the money on the project before they are reimbursed by this particular grant. Sometimes the grant applicants have to start a project and hope and pray that enough money will come in to reimburse for it later, but the agencies applying for the grant care enough about helping the homeless or poor, that they do it anyway. Think about the American Inventor top three finalists and many of the contestants; they have invested years of effort, sacrificed, faced rejection, and spent their own money without knowing whether or not they would ever be reimbursed, but the inventor contestants invested in their invention ideas anyway. Inventors are thought about being private sector business people, but unlike a typical business that will look for a service or product that will make money for the business, inventors first have the product or idea that they think will improve the world and are looking for someone with money to believe in their idea enough to fund them.
Enough of my mind wandering off, finally some interesting filler. The judges pick their top ten most memorable moments of this season. Coming in tenth place is Howard Batterman with "Finger Tunes"; ninth place is Richard Dessert Jr. and Richard Dessert Sr. with "The Escape Suit", eighth place is Rose Feller with the "Love Test", seventh place is Rayfil Wong with "Sober Key", sixth place is Evan Balasuriya with "Double Chin Buster", fifth place is Steven Cousineau with "A.C.E. Cycle", fourth place is John Sparks with "EZ Squeeze Ear Plugs", third place is David Le with "Helmet/Shoulder Pads", second place is Carlo Giancanti with "Copper Gear" and first and I agree was the most memorable, Silvio DiSalvatore with "Black Cougar".
Host Smith surprises the judges by telling him that DiSalvatore is there live with Black Cougar. He definitely brought in some life to the show that was needed. He says that he has received thousands of e-mails and I am glad to hear that the show has helped with exposure for Black Cougar. I loved the fact that Black Cougar was wearing Spanx, although being all black, it was hard to tell.
The top two contestants are also receiving surprise visits from companies that want to sponsor their inventions. First Alert wants to sponsor the Guardian Angel fire protection system and they are well known for smoke detectors and many other safety devices. Tom Russo, President & CEO, greets Chavez with the news. Chavez says that he was hoping it would be First Alert that would take on his invention.
Cato is going to be sponsored by Maidenform. I had several bra companies in mind for Cato's invention, and I will be honest that Maidenform did not even cross my mind. They eased my mind by saying that people from their design team want to work with her on the invention. I have been really hard on her idea and while I don't think her bra would personally work for me in its current form, I do think it has potential for me. Norah Alberto, Senior Style Director represented Maidenform.
After the break, Host Smith tells the audience that the winner will be announced. With a few minutes left in the show, Chavez is announced the winner of season 2 of American Inventor. He gives a really classy exit by praising what wonderful people that the other inventors have been that he met. He praises Devennaux and Cato as being wonderful people to know.
Cato is also happy to have the life changing experience due to American Inventor.
I hope that several of the contestants get picked up by companies for their inventions and that I will be seeing some of these products in the marketplace way beyond American Inventor.
Gayl writes government documents for a living and hopes that people will actually read her blogs. Her hobbies include inventions, music, and toys. Her true American Idol will always be B.B. King. Grand Master Flash is her favorite inventor. She can be reached at Gayl@RealityTVCalendar.com
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