But what is the contender ?

to summarize, you could say its the Pop/American Idol of boxing. 16 of the most promising boxers are assembled on a set, and the idea is to give the winner a fight at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and a 1 million dollar cash sum, two defining lifechanging prizes. Its somewhat unfortunate that one of the less lucky contestant, Najai TURPIN (23 years old), commited suicide last february in the parking lot behind the trainging room, leaving behind a wife and a two year old daughter. NBC has started a fund for the now fatherless little girl.....

What are their motiviations ?

For the contestants, the show is clearly presented as a lifechanging experience. Its a chance for them to excel in front of their loved ones, to offer them everything they've ever dreamed of (leaving behind day to day troubles). No one on the set minimises this fact, and it woud be a heresy to call this "just a game". Under such conditions, its only natural that a psychological profiling of each contestant be made..... with always the risk of letting through an .

For the producers, MR BURNETT (producer of Survivor) and MR KATZENBERG (Dreamworks CEO), who put 2 million dollars on the table for each show (13 in all), it is all about giving the art of boxing a new limelight, the pressures, the effects of success and failure.... To convince you, what better example of a great on-screen boxing champion than Rocky BALBOA (Sylvester stallone) to serve as a mentor to all these young contestants ?
The show also has impressive ingredients to rally the unconvinced. Well known actors, massive production, real life gambles, realTV concept, Hans Zimmer action driven music. Come on, youd have to be dead inside not to even want to check out the premiere....

For the viewer, what does this show have that the others don"t ?

without a doubt its the movie point of view KAZENBERG brings to the show, which gives it a cinematic quality comparable to a movie blockbuster. The RealTV concept quickly conveys the sense of real life drama, and the movie angle which is used to give us context, an exercise in putting the viewer in a certain predisposition for emotions to unfold and a connection to be made with the events on screen; here everything that is said is authentic and the implications become obvious. One quickly becomes attached to the contestants (their goal is honorable) : their motivations, joy, doubts, sadness dont need any explanation or lengthy exposition, the viewer immediately identifies with their plight.
With innovative camera angles, editing, interviews, light and sound effects, the viewer finds in less than 55 minutes the
same emotion as in a John Avidsen Movie, a Rocky or a Karate Kid (maybe karate could be the next revolutionnary concept ?). In the end, its the nervous tension during the final bout, each contestants personal fears and dreams firmly anchored in each viewers mind, its the joy and sadness when one or the other is declared the winner. Behind the scenes you can see one of the defeated, hurt and crying under the shower, repeating over and over how he failed in his chance to change his life for the better, under the eyes of his lttle girl and his wife, also crying, with a moving and tearful soundtrack, which is akin to the saddest parts of Backdraft..... After watching that scene, one believes every little girl on that show should have her own donation fund.

And the music in all of this ?

lets be specific, there's 57 minutes per episode, and i don't think im exagerating when im saying that there has to be at least 56 minutes and 59 seconds of music....
Its apparent that Zimmer is doing a innovative exercice in at least one area : his music covers every emotion every second.

For the rest you could wonder how far friendship can drive a composer like Hans ZImmer, composer of many masterpieces, lets just take "The Thin Red line" as an example, to become a composing machine for RealTV for a result, let's be honest, which only tends to play on the primary instincts of the viewer. Other than this question that will remain the big mystery on this tv show, my second question is from a Zimmer fan who was also thrown into the action : will there be a CD and if so when ? :)

Zimmer's choice isn't without reason, he who impressed Spielberg with his envigorating music for "Crimson Tide", was hired by dreamworks thanks to that score and composed for that company many other great scores, like "Prince of Egypt", "Gladiator" or "Spirit". If you add special scores like "Testosterone", "Backdraft" or "The Peacemaker", you get the ideal composer for such a series.
During these 57 minutes, what is most striking is the theme. It has that Zimmer signature, which underlines the importance of the stakes, the efforts everyone will be doing to become THE contender, the influence on each contestants lives, in short, it glorifies the overachievements and gives a hint of patriotism that Zimmer fans will remember for a long time.... This theme is used many times in the series, sometimes in a simpler form, sometimes more personal (piano, guitar and violin), or in its most primal form, depending on whats happening on screen. Just for those theme variations a CD realease would be warranted. The rest is very diverse, moody, patriotic, emotional "Thin red line" or "Last samurai" style (while one can regret its complacency on one occasion), all together making it one of the best Zimmer score....
To make a 57 minute score per episode, Hans Zimmer had hired help in the name of Jim DOOLEY. However, the score is divided in several sections, each one very distinct in its emotional message. Its therefore not impossible that many of these will be reused in following episodes, more or less rearranged, but there sure won't be 13 times 57 minutes of *original* scoring. The rehashing of certain passages during an episode confirms this.
This is the Zimmer we like, but attached to a questionnable TV show. It doesnt change the listening experience, not always delicate,but always well produced, a real pleasure....

French version