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Phenomenon (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Phenomenon is a competition show judged by mystifier Uri Geller
and illusionist Criss Angel
and hosted by Tim Vincent
which debuted live on Wednesday, October 24, 2007 on NBC
. The show featured ten contestants competing to become the next great mentalist, to be determined by viewers voting by phone and online. The contestants performed their effects on celebrity guests each week. The winner of Phenomenon would win $250,000.
On October 30, 2007, during an interview with Larry King
about the show, Angel said "No one has the ability, that I'm aware of, to do anything supernatural, psychic, talk to the dead. And that was what I said I was going to do with Phenomenon. If somebody goes on that show and claims to have supernatural psychic ability, I'm going to bust them live and on television."
The winner of the first season was Mike Super.
The series was cancelled on April 2, 2008, after NBC
announced its 2008–2009 schedule.
, supermodel Rachel Hunter
, and Ross Mathews
, known as "Ross the Intern" on The Tonight Show
with Jay Leno
. Ehud Segev performed a routine in which Carmen Electra felt the touches that Ross Matthews felt. Jim Karol performed a mind over matter demonstration, placing his hand inside of a large bear trap. Karol then revealed the celebrity that guest Rachel Hunter was thinking of. Eran Raven performed Russian roulette with six nail guns. Gerry McCambridge did a routine that allowed the audience to choose a number from one of three phonebooks. The selected phone number was then shown to perfectly match his prediction. Uri Geller performed his Mental Challenge with a "choose-an-ESP-card" effect, a trick Geller routinely performs, which James Randi
had commented tends to select the card "that audiences will [statistically] tend to choose."
. Only Ross Mathews
from episode one returned for episode two. The other celebrity guests were Raven Symone and former Miss USA
Shandi Finnessey
.
First, Wayne Hoffman
performed his tattoo trick with Shandi Finnessey. She drew a yin-yang symbol and Wayne showed the viewers his yin-yang tattoo which he got one month prior to the live taping. Uri Geller and Criss Angel praised Wayne for his performance. Angela Funovits performed Russian roulette
with a large, sharp knife. Funovits allowed Ross Matthews to leave the knife pointing upwards in any one of five mixed stands, each covered with paper cylinders. She then smashed her hand down on the cylinders one by one, leaving only the stand with the knife at the end. Uri Geller called Funovits' performance "gripping", and claimed that she proved she was just as good as the men in the competition. Guy Bavli
performed a heart stop demonstration with a nurse and Raven Symone taking his pulse through his wrist. After an intense period of concentration, Bavli's pulse stopped along with the heart monitor that he was hooked up to. When Bavli's heart began to beat again, Symone was so alarmed that she ran from her chair screaming. Jan Bardi performed an effect with a pendulum, using it to find "a needle in a haystack". Bardi invited Shandi Finnessey to select a three-digit number. Each audience member had a differently numbered matchbox, each containing a different number of matches. The matchboxes were thrown at Bardi on the stage, and the pendulum was used to find the number matchbox that corresponded to the selected number, as well as to correctly divine the number of matches inside.
Self proclaimed Paranormal
ist Jim Callahan performed an automatic writing routine, claiming to contact dead author Raymond Hill in order to identify an object that Raven Symone had placed inside of a closed case. Following the routine, an argument broke out when Criss Angel reviewed Callahan's performance. Angel called the act "comical," and challenged Callahan to tell him what was inside of an envelope he removed from his pocket in exchange for one million dollars of his personal money.
Addressing both Callahan and Geller, Angel 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." As both continued to talk over and interrupt each other, Callahan walked toward Angel and called him an "ideological bigot", while the host tried to restrain Callahan, they fought verbally with constant audio interruptions from NBC for about 15 seconds before going to a commercial.
Mike Super performed a murder mystery routine, in which the time, place, and weapon of murder matched his prediction. Following his routine, Criss made a reference to Callahan's performance, saying this final act was "a hell of a lot more entertaining than the previous act."
, eliminating the unsafe beakers of liquid by dropping metal in them. The strong acid bubbled and ate away at the metal, and Bavli concluded his routine by successfully drinking the only safe beaker of water.
, Dayna Devon and Kim Kardashian
.
Eran Raven was eliminated next, leaving Angela Funovits and Mike Super as the final two remaining contestants. There was no Uri Geller's Mental Challenge in this episode. Instead, Criss Angel revealed what was inside one of his two envelopes. The contents read "911". After he opened it, Angel said, "If somebody could predict, tell us on 9-10 that 9-11
was going to happen, maybe that could have prevented it." He stated that the other envelope would be revealed on the season premiere of Angel's other series, Criss Angel Mindfreak
. At the end of the episode, Mike Super was named the winner and recipient of $250,000.
Candidates' sites
Uri Geller
Uri Geller is a self-proclaimed psychic known for his trademark television performances of spoon bending and other supposed psychic effects. Throughout the years, Geller has been accused of using simple conjuring tricks to achieve the effects of psychokinesis and telepathy...
and illusionist Criss Angel
Criss Angel
Christopher Nicholas Sarantakos , better known by the stage name Criss Angel, is an American illusionist, writer, director, musician, and actor...
and hosted by Tim Vincent
Tim Vincent
Tim Vincent is a Welsh actor and television presenter who was a presenter on the popular children's programme Blue Peter between 1993 and 1997...
which debuted live on Wednesday, October 24, 2007 on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
. The show featured ten contestants competing to become the next great mentalist, to be determined by viewers voting by phone and online. The contestants performed their effects on celebrity guests each week. The winner of Phenomenon would win $250,000.
On October 30, 2007, during an interview with Larry King
Larry King
Lawrence Harvey "Larry" King is an American television and radio host whose work has been recognized with awards including two Peabodys and ten Cable ACE Awards....
about the show, Angel said "No one has the ability, that I'm aware of, to do anything supernatural, psychic, talk to the dead. And that was what I said I was going to do with Phenomenon. If somebody goes on that show and claims to have supernatural psychic ability, I'm going to bust them live and on television."
The winner of the first season was Mike Super.
The series was cancelled on April 2, 2008, after NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
announced its 2008–2009 schedule.
One
In episode one, on October 24, 2007, the first four contestants performed, with Angel and Geller reviewing their performances. The Celebrity guests were Carmen ElectraCarmen Electra
Tara Leigh Patrick , professionally known as Carmen Electra, is an American glamour model, actress, television personality, singer, and dancer...
, supermodel Rachel Hunter
Rachel Hunter
Rachel Hunter is a New Zealand born American model, actress and reality TV show host who now resides in the U.S. She is best known for her appearance in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issues and her longtime marriage to singer Rod Stewart, which ended in 2006...
, and Ross Mathews
Ross Mathews
Ross Mathews , formerly known as Ross the Intern, is an American television personality who first rose to fame with his role as an intern, and later, a correspondent, for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, for which he was known as "Ross the Intern"...
, known as "Ross the Intern" on The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...
with Jay Leno
Jay Leno
James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno is an American stand-up comedian and television host.From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ,...
. Ehud Segev performed a routine in which Carmen Electra felt the touches that Ross Matthews felt. Jim Karol performed a mind over matter demonstration, placing his hand inside of a large bear trap. Karol then revealed the celebrity that guest Rachel Hunter was thinking of. Eran Raven performed Russian roulette with six nail guns. Gerry McCambridge did a routine that allowed the audience to choose a number from one of three phonebooks. The selected phone number was then shown to perfectly match his prediction. Uri Geller performed his Mental Challenge with a "choose-an-ESP-card" effect, a trick Geller routinely performs, which James Randi
James Randi
James Randi is a Canadian-American stage magician and scientific skeptic best known as a challenger of paranormal claims and pseudoscience. Randi is the founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation...
had commented tends to select the card "that audiences will [statistically] tend to choose."
Two
In episode two, on Halloween, October 31, 2007, the remaining six performed and Jim Karol and Ehud Segev from the first episode were eliminated. Uri Geller performed his Mental Challenge with a "land-on-one-of-the-nine-planets" effect where home viewers spell the name of any planet, yet come to the same conclusion of VenusVenus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows...
. Only Ross Mathews
Ross Mathews
Ross Mathews , formerly known as Ross the Intern, is an American television personality who first rose to fame with his role as an intern, and later, a correspondent, for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, for which he was known as "Ross the Intern"...
from episode one returned for episode two. The other celebrity guests were Raven Symone and former Miss USA
Miss USA
The Miss USA beauty contest has been held annually since 1952 to select the United States entrant in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operates both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA...
Shandi Finnessey
Shandi Finnessey
Shandi Ren Finnessey is an American beauty queen, model, television hostess, and actress. She is best known for winning the Miss USA title, as Miss Missouri USA. She previously held the title of Miss Missouri 2002 and competed in Miss America where she won a preliminary award...
.
First, Wayne Hoffman
Wayne Hoffman
Wayne Hoffman is an American mentalist, illusionist, and motivational speaker. He appeared on NBC's television show Phenomenon on October 31, 2007. He also appeared on The Howard Stern Show on April 30, 2008. He was a host of The A List on Discovery's Animal Planet. He was also a guest on CNN's...
performed his tattoo trick with Shandi Finnessey. She drew a yin-yang symbol and Wayne showed the viewers his yin-yang tattoo which he got one month prior to the live taping. Uri Geller and Criss Angel praised Wayne for his performance. Angela Funovits performed Russian roulette
Russian roulette
Russian roulette is a potentially lethal game of chance in which participants place a single round in a revolver, spin the cylinder, place the muzzle against their head and pull the trigger...
with a large, sharp knife. Funovits allowed Ross Matthews to leave the knife pointing upwards in any one of five mixed stands, each covered with paper cylinders. She then smashed her hand down on the cylinders one by one, leaving only the stand with the knife at the end. Uri Geller called Funovits' performance "gripping", and claimed that she proved she was just as good as the men in the competition. Guy Bavli
Guy Bavli
Guy Bavli is a mentalist, illusionist, and lecturer. He owns the entertainment company "Master of the Mind", based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida....
performed a heart stop demonstration with a nurse and Raven Symone taking his pulse through his wrist. After an intense period of concentration, Bavli's pulse stopped along with the heart monitor that he was hooked up to. When Bavli's heart began to beat again, Symone was so alarmed that she ran from her chair screaming. Jan Bardi performed an effect with a pendulum, using it to find "a needle in a haystack". Bardi invited Shandi Finnessey to select a three-digit number. Each audience member had a differently numbered matchbox, each containing a different number of matches. The matchboxes were thrown at Bardi on the stage, and the pendulum was used to find the number matchbox that corresponded to the selected number, as well as to correctly divine the number of matches inside.
Self proclaimed Paranormal
Paranormal
Paranormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...
ist Jim Callahan performed an automatic writing routine, claiming to contact dead author Raymond Hill in order to identify an object that Raven Symone had placed inside of a closed case. Following the routine, an argument broke out when Criss Angel reviewed Callahan's performance. Angel called the act "comical," and challenged Callahan to tell him what was inside of an envelope he removed from his pocket in exchange for one million dollars of his personal money.
Addressing both Callahan and Geller, Angel 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." As both continued to talk over and interrupt each other, Callahan walked toward Angel and called him an "ideological bigot", while the host tried to restrain Callahan, they fought verbally with constant audio interruptions from NBC for about 15 seconds before going to a commercial.
Mike Super performed a murder mystery routine, in which the time, place, and weapon of murder matched his prediction. Following his routine, Criss made a reference to Callahan's performance, saying this final act was "a hell of a lot more entertaining than the previous act."
Three
In episode three, on November 7, 2007, three of the contestants from episode two were eliminated including Jim Callahan who participated in the renowned dispute with Criss Angel. There was no Uri Geller's Mental Challenge in this episode. The remaining five contestants continued to perform, all including at least one of the celebrity guests from Girls Next Door into their act. Mike Super opened the show with the power of suggestion, performing with a voodoo doll. He invited a celebrity guest onstage, and she began to experience everything that he did to his voodoo doll. Her hands became charred when he burned the hands of the voodoo doll, and she screamed when he stabbed the doll. Eran Raven performed a demonstration with snakes, two venomous and one not venomous. Each snake was placed into a jar, and a celebrity's personal object was placed into a fourth jar. The first jar chosen by Raven contained the non-venomous snake and he was accidentally bitten. He continued the routine, correctly divining and locating the personal object, which was a puffer necklace. Gerry McCambridge did a paintball prediction effect, in which the color and placement of paintballs shot at his body accurately matched his prediction. Angela Funovits performed a mind over matter demonstration in which she lit a candle with her mind and then began passing a flaming torch over her skin, divining details of a celebrity guest's relationship with a thought-of person. Funovits then burned the name that the celebrity guest was thinking of into her skin. Guy Bavli performed Russian roulette using 8 jars of hydrochloric acidHydrochloric acid
Hydrochloric acid is a solution of hydrogen chloride in water, that is a highly corrosive, strong mineral acid with many industrial uses. It is found naturally in gastric acid....
, eliminating the unsafe beakers of liquid by dropping metal in them. The strong acid bubbled and ate away at the metal, and Bavli concluded his routine by successfully drinking the only safe beaker of water.
Four
In episode four, on November 14, 2007, Gerry McCambridge and Guy Bavli both received the lowest number of votes out of the remaining five contestants. Criss Angel and Uri Geller were given the opportunity to save one of them from being eliminated. In a head to head competition with Gerry McCambridge, Guy Bavli was chosen as the winner and McCambridge was eliminated, resulting in McCambridge being the only contestant eliminated in this episode. Angel complimented Guy on his act which involved bending spoons, a trick Geller is famous for, saying it was his "best performance yet". Angela Funovits performed an effect in which the person a celebrity guest was thinking of showed up in a photograph. Mike Super performed a motorcycle appearance and prediction effect, in which the total of several numbers written down by audience members matched the numbers on the motorcycle license plate. Eran Raven walked through an obstacle course of razors, glass shards, and scorpions while barefoot and blindfolded. There was no Uri Geller's Mental Challenge in this episode. Instead, the host challenged the audience to guess what Criss Angel has in the envelope which he challenged Uri Geller and Jim Callahan with in episode 2. This episode's celebrity guests were Tia CarrereTia Carrere
Tia Carrere is an American actress, model, voice artist, and singer, perhaps most widely known for her role as Cassandra Wong in the feature films Wayne's World and Wayne's World 2, Queen Tyr'ahnee in Duck Dodgers, and as Sydney Fox in the TV series Relic Hunter.-Early life:Carrere was born in...
, Dayna Devon and Kim Kardashian
Kim Kardashian
Kimberly Noel "Kim" Kardashian is an American socialite, television personality, model, actress and businesswoman. She is known for the E! reality series that she shares with her family—Keeping Up with the Kardashians, and its spin-offs including Kourtney and Kim Take New York...
.
Five
The final four contestants performed together, allowing the celebrity guests to choose from a selection of colored flags and bring one flag to each contestant. The contestants then removed their jackets, revealing that they were already dressed in the colors that matched their flags. Guy Bavli was eliminated, leaving Eran Raven, Mike Super, and Angela Funovits as the top three remaining contestants. Eran Raven performed a routine in which he made Ross Matthews' body strong enough to balance on the backs of two chairs. He then broke a cinderblock on his stomach. Mike Super allowed one of the celebrity guests to grab a dollar bill from a money machine, and he then revealed that the serial number on the bill matched a selected bank of playing cards. Angela Funovits allowed Ross Matthews to be secretly placed inside one of four crates by another celebrity guest. She then proceeded to chainsaw through the crates one by one, safely leaving the crate that contained Ross unharmed.Eran Raven was eliminated next, leaving Angela Funovits and Mike Super as the final two remaining contestants. There was no Uri Geller's Mental Challenge in this episode. Instead, Criss Angel revealed what was inside one of his two envelopes. The contents read "911". After he opened it, Angel said, "If somebody could predict, tell us on 9-10 that 9-11
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
was going to happen, maybe that could have prevented it." He stated that the other envelope would be revealed on the season premiere of Angel's other series, Criss Angel Mindfreak
Criss Angel Mindfreak
Criss Angel Mindfreak is a show distributed by A&E Network. It debuted in 2005, and centers on stunts and street magic acts by magician Criss Angel.-Career as magician:...
. At the end of the episode, Mike Super was named the winner and recipient of $250,000.
Contestants
| Name | Specialty | Home Town | Eliminated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Super Mike Super Mike Super is an American Magician who was the winner of the NBC show, Phenomenon. He currently tours the US and Canada with his illusion show.-Biography:... |
Mystifier | Canonsburg, Pennsylvania Canonsburg, Pennsylvania Canonsburg is a borough in Washington County, Pennsylvania, southwest of Pittsburgh. Canonsburg was laid out by Colonel John Canon in 1789 and incorporated in 1802.... |
Winner |
| Angela Funovits Angela Funovits Angela Funovits is an American Magician, Mentalist and medical student. She is best known in the US for her performances on NBC’s Phenomenon.-Early Life:Funovits was born and raised in Avon Lake, Ohio... |
Mentalist/Illusionist | Avon Lake, Ohio Avon Lake, Ohio Avon Lake is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States. The population was 18,145 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Avon Lake is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land.... |
Episode 5 (second place) |
| Eran Raven Eran Raven Eran Raven is a mentalist and security expert. He is best known in the US for his death defying performances on NBC’s Phenomenon.-Early life:... |
Mentalist | Irvine, California Irvine, California Irvine is a suburban incorporated city in Orange County, California, United States. It is a planned city, mainly developed by the Irvine Company since the 1960s. Formally incorporated on December 28, 1971, the city has a population of 212,375 as of the 2010 census. However, the California... |
Episode 5 (third place) |
| Guy Bavli Guy Bavli Guy Bavli is a mentalist, illusionist, and lecturer. He owns the entertainment company "Master of the Mind", based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.... |
Mentalist | Tel Aviv, Israel | Episode 5 (fourth place) |
| Gerry McCambridge Gerry McCambridge Gerry McCambridge is a stage mentalist from Long Island, New York.He has been a professional mentalist for over 20 years. His father was an NYC detective and an expert at interrogation. Gerry actually learned some skills from observing his father at work... |
Mentalist | Long Island, New York | Episode 4 |
| Jan Bardi | Mentalist/Illusionist | Leuven, Belgium | Episode 3 |
| Jim Callahan | Paranormal Paranormal Paranormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure... ist |
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States... |
Episode 3 |
| Wayne Hoffman Wayne Hoffman Wayne Hoffman is an American mentalist, illusionist, and motivational speaker. He appeared on NBC's television show Phenomenon on October 31, 2007. He also appeared on The Howard Stern Show on April 30, 2008. He was a host of The A List on Discovery's Animal Planet. He was also a guest on CNN's... |
Mentalist/Illusionist | Reading, Pennsylvania Reading, Pennsylvania Reading is a city in southeastern Pennsylvania, USA, and seat of Berks County. Reading is the principal city of the Greater Reading Area and had a population of 88,082 as of the 2010 census, making it the fifth most populated city in the state after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown and Erie,... |
Episode 3 |
| Jim Karol Jim Karol Jim Karol is an American mentalist and actor known for his participation in the NBC television show, Phenomenon.-Early life:Karol was born and raised in Allentown, Pennsylvania... |
Mentalist | Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown is a city located in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is Pennsylvania's third most populous city, after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and the 215th largest city in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 118,032 and is currently... |
Episode 2 |
| Ehud Segev Ehud Segev Ehud Segev is an Israeli performer. He was most recently seen on NBC's reality competition, Phenomenon. He has since released a couple of DVDs along with a new album titled "Exposing It All," a compilation of songs written and performed by Segev.-Early life:Ehud Segev was born in 1979 in the... |
Mentalist | Safed Safed Safed , is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and of Israel. Due to its high elevation, Safed experiences warm summers and cold, often snowy, winters... , Israel Israel The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea... |
Episode 2 |
Trivia
- In the first two episodes, Uri Geller performed his mental challenge for the viewers. Originally, the viewers were to do Uri's mental challenge to win $10,000. Despite the fact that Criss Angel challenged Jim Callahan with $1 million of his own money, the argument broke up, and the contest was not shown.
- In the fourth episode, Guy Bavli and Gerri McCambridge were both eliminated but each had one last chance to impress the judges by performing his trick for the last time. In the end, the judges had to decide who to save and who to eliminate.
Weekly ratings
| # | Rating | Share | 18-49 (Rating/Share) | Viewers (m) | Weekly Rank (#) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5.2 | 8 | 2.9/8 | 8.35 | |
| 2 | 3.9 | 7 | 1.9/6 | 5.95 | |
| 3 | 3.7 | 6 | 2.2/6 | 6.10 | |
| 4 | 3.8 | 6 | 2.0/6 | 6.16 | |
| 5 | 3.8 | 6 | 1.8/6 | 6.17 |
External links
Candidates' sites