This format is remarkably similar to one from a French company called Little Nemo who've been showing it at various MIPCOM and MIPTV exhibitions since 2005. It's called 100 Seconds of Fame. You can find the original pilot at http://nemotv.com/100sf
in 100 seconds of Fame, contestants are given words or topics and 100 seconds to weave them into a convincing story to appease the crowd below.
After each round, the crowd vote off the weakest speakers until just one remains. As the series progresses, the best of the best are pitched against each other until just one winner emerges.
The format is innovative and fun as well as being low-cost and easy to produce; it uses a small studio and many episodes can be filmed back-to-back in a day.
