Randall's got talent

With 'SA's Got Talent' starting it seemed like the ideal time to catch-up with some of those involved with the show to sniff out what we can expect from it all.

I caught up with judge Randall Abrahams this week to grab us some answers.

Which city has delivered the most outrageous acts?
I think Jo'burg has — it certainly delivered the biggest variety of acts.

What's your take on the trends in the other two cities?
I think Durban was still trying to catch up to be honest, and I think — we were expecting to see a lot more good singers and dancers in Cape Town but we more good variety acts there: people with dogs and juggling and flame throwers and all that sort of thing.

What are you looking for specifically when it comes to talent?
I want two things: an act that has some degree of originality so you can you go "They're talented, they're not copying something they've seen." The second thing I want is an act that's hard-working as well.

The good thing is we've seen a lot of people who are quite into what they do. So they're not the type who figure: "Oh well, I'll throw a couple of flame things into the air and it'll be entertaining." They actually really really work hard at the act which is hard — if you're a singer or solo dancer it's up to you but if you're in a group it's up to everyone to pull their weight and we've seen a lot of groups like that.

If you'd entered the show — what act would you have done?
The hula hoop.

Are you good at that?
I'm brilliant at the hula hoop.

How long can you go for?
I can do my whole body — from head to toe.

What has been the biggest difference between judging on this show and judging on Idols?
The biggest difference has been trying to focus on each act because they're not doing the same thing. You have to have a different perspective.

In Idols, because everyone's doing the same thing you have to understand who’s doing it better than everyone else and who's bringing their personality to it whereas here you have to decide which act is original, which act is talented and which is hard working — you have to have a different understanding of what each different performance offers.

If you were to book any of the acts for a party — which would it be?
I'd book the snake lady and make sure I invited Shado.