Welcome to Pure America’s Got Talent

One thing is for certain about Donald Braswell, there are a TON of American’s that love him. This blog has seen the incredibly passionate fans that love Donald Braswell. He deserved to be back on the show and probably never should have been sent off. I chalk it up to the producers not wanting as many pure singing acts in the top 40. That left Donald Braswell the odd man out.

Of course, I won’t diminish my feelings for Donald Braswell even if he did kick out the most amazing act on this season of America’s Got Talent: the Russian Bar Trio. I’ll be really sad if I never get the chance to see the Russian Bar Trio perform again. The finale of America’s Got Talent or possibly in the next season of America’s Got Talent, but I digress.

You’d be an idiot to argue that Donald Braswell doesn’t have a good voice. He wouldn’t have gone to Juilliard with a bad voice. In fact, he has a very good voice. Personally I just don’t have any solid connection with him. He’s a gentleman, but he never connected to me. I’m also solidly annoyed by the way he tilts his head back as if he’s staring into the sky at something that we’re missing. If I close my eyes, I enjoy Donald’s performances quite well. I guess it’s just his stage presence which doesn’t say winner or Las Vegas to me.

I think I really should like Donald Braswell the way he turned around that audience in the first performance. That was something else to watch and I was impressed by that. However, somewhere along the way I didn’t enjoy him nearly as much. Sometimes being a great guy with a great voice doesn’t always translate to a great entertainer. Personally, I use entertainer for my America’s Got Talent judging criteria and that’s why I don’t think Donald Braswell will win it all.

Now I’m going to go and prepare for all the hate mail I’ll get from the Donald Braswell fan club.

My dear Queen Emily! The first couple performances by Queen Emily she really seemed to knock it out of the park. She absolutely has the instrument to be a great singer, but these past couple performances it was a little too “screamy” to me. It felt at many times in the song that she was trying to sing.

Honestly, I hope that someone like Gladys Knight or Aretha Franklin is watching the show and is willing to take someone like Queen Emily under their arm and help her to become a star. Gladys lives down the street from me and is very busy, so here’s hoping that Aretha will help her out. If that doesn’t work out, then we can always hope that they finally do an America’s Got Talent tour.

Either way, Queen Emily has made a great run and entertained me thoroughly. I can just see her name on the Flamingo in Las Vegas performing every night. She just needs a bit more refinement to be able to do a whole show.

America’s Got Talent producers was smart to play up the story of Neal Boyd. I must admit that at this point the crying on stage has gone a bit too far. It’s fine to be emotional and I’m a cry baby too, put on your big girl underwear and start acting like an adult now. You’re no longer an underdog come from behind winner. You are someone that has a great voice and can do great things whether you win America’s Got Talent or not. Ok, that’s enough ranting about the crying.

Overall, Neal Boyd does have something kind of special in his voice. It’s odd, but I do enjoy hearing him perform. I’m a little sad that he never has really gotten into his songs. His performance style reminds me of Andrea Bocelli where he just stands there and sing. The only bad part is that Neal Boyd isn’t Andrea Bocelli. However, even Andrea Bocelli standing there provides immense expression on his face. Have you ever seen Andrea sing with Sarah Brightman (sp?)? The guy absolutely exudes happiness and emotion in his face. Plus, Andrea is just Andrea. Neal Boyd isn’t to that level yet, so I would have loved to see him move around the stage and connect with various parts of the audience. Provide a little smile here and there. Don’t just stand there and sing.

At the end of the day, I don’t think that Neal Boyd could really sustain a whole show in Las Vegas. Yes, he has a unique quality in his singing that I can’t quite identify, but Vegas won’t respect that small asset very long. I know I live here and it’s just a fickle town. All of this said, I really hope that Neal is able to give up his insurance sales and find a job singing. Would be a shame to see someone so talented and in love with singing doing something else.