The fine minds of American television have ripped off yet another European series and hope to make it work. And perhaps it will, if it’s as much like American Idol as it sounds. Although…there can be such a thing as too much American Idol, right?

For 50 years, or 45 years more than “American Idol” has been on the air, Europeans have been tuning in to the annual Eurovision Song Contest, in which singers and groups compete to have their song named the continent’s best.

NBC will try to import that tradition—which draws up to 100 million viewers across Europe for the finals—to this country by adapting Eurovision into its own nationwide talent contest.
The network has teamed up with production company Reveille (“The Office,” “Blow Out”) to produce an American version of Eurovision—Amerovision?—that will take performers from all 50 states and the District of Columbia and have them compete for viewers’ affections.

Eurovision has helped launch the careers of ABBA (who won in 1974) and Celine Dion (1988, representing Switzerland), among others.

Read More | Zap2it