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30 responses to "Kevin Skinner Wins America’s Got Talent Season 4"

1. # StevieCat commented on September 17th, 2009:

   Yeah, it really doesn’t matter who the winner is since we never hear from them again on a huge scale anyhow with the exception of Terry Fator who is a MAJOR talent. The others eek out a good living, but they seem to have shows for just their fans and haven’t evolved to fans outside of the AGT audience (which is pretty vast, but we do lose interest). It was almost as if Vote for the Worst.com was backing him. They do that to American Idol contestants, I should visit the site and see if they had their hand in the AGT show. Although they don’t really make a difference in the long run, they do mess up a couple of weeks here and there. Anyway, what does it matter. To me, it’s all about the enjoyment of watching the show and then I’m done until next year. We’re probably never going to hear from Kevin Spinner again after about 6 months so I’m glad the one who needed the money the most won it. And it served the producers right for their horrible interference with some of the acts. I just hope he accepts the annuity and not the reduced lump sum payout so ohe doesn’t blow it all in one year or something. I can TOTALLY see him giving a lot of it away to help his neighbors and kin folk. Oh well, until next year! Looking forward to it.

   And, John, you never got back to me about “that other thing.” Are you still interested in my assistance or were you just a joshin’. :0)

2. # Donna commented on September 17th, 2009:

   Hi John:

   Are we allowed to post links to other blogs on here?

3. # John commented on September 17th, 2009:

   StevieCat,
   Of course I’m interested. I’ll drop you an email.

   Money does crazy things. Not to mention people come out of the woodworks when you win some money.

4. # John commented on September 17th, 2009:

   Donna,
   As long as it’s not crazy and spammy, then pointing people to great content is just fine.

5. # Donna commented on September 17th, 2009:

   Hi John and StevieCat:

   I think Kevin Skinner is probably a nice guy, although no one has sat down to quiz him on his views on politics or social issues.
   Not relevant, you say? OK, then why do we get beat over the head all the time with these people’s sad personal histories? In the time it takes to listen to all these tales of woe, we could be enjoying watching other performers.
   We might as well find out ALL about a person, not just a few maudlin facts.

   If the public is not judging talent, but is really judging who has the biggest tear-jerker history, then the show should be renamed. Instead of America’s Got Talent (AGT), it should be called “America’s Got Sob Stories” (AGSS).
   Maybe Joe The Plumber should get on there and shake his booty. But then, he wouldn’t win. OK, maybe Joe the Plumber should get on there and sing.

   In the meantime, there is speculation all over the web about the amount of lip-syncing that went on last night. I am sure Shakira lip-synced, not only because her mouth didn’t fit the words but because there was no variation in her tone, despite her physical antics.
   I do not believe, as some said, that Susan Boyle lip-synced, but I do think she is way overrated.
   I am sure Leona Lewis was not lip-syncing, because you could hear her breath during the song.

   But I think the results were flawed, because if we are going on pure talent rather than sob story, then the wrong person won. And I will mention that at a minimum Barbara Padilla and Voices of Glory (the latter especially) also had compelling sob stories.

6. # Donna commented on September 17th, 2009:

   Hi John:

   I hope this is not crazy and spammy:
   http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_tv_tvblog/2009/09/americas-got-talent-and-the-winner-is-are-you-happy.html

7. # karen commented on September 17th, 2009:

   Hello
   I think Donna must live in a 90201 world. Kevin is exactly
   what America is looking for. who the h– wants to talk
   about politics right now, don’t we have enough political shit
   shoved up our buttocks now. Yes, maybe some of those
   political persons should have humbled themselves to the
   peeps like Kevin Skinner and not filling their own pockets and we wouldn’t be in this political mess. Stay humble Kevin and watch out for the wolves. I hope your Las Vegas show is a hit! By the way I been to Las Vegas to golf and some of the shows, and filth I wouldn’t have paid to ever see again.

8. # Donna commented on September 17th, 2009:

   Karen:

   Leaving aside your filthy golf games and your political suppositories, may I respectfully suggest that you missed the point I was trying to make.

   This contest was clearly not judged on talent. If it had been, then someone else would have won. Again, I am sure that Kevin is a lovely person and I have never said or suggested otherwise. But he is not the most talented person on the show, and the judges gave him a complete pass. Anyone else whose performances got progressively worse instead of better, would have been, and many were, excoriated by the judges, and voted off the show.

   My other point is that based on what people like you and Jane and even (sorry StevieCat) StevieCat have written, you are not even saying that you voted for the most talented, but rather for the person whose sob story you sympathized with the most. So is this a talent show or a sob story competition? And if we have to hear sob stories about people’s unemployment (remember the unemployed magician with the kids who the Hoff wanted to can from the outset, but who made it a little way and then got kicked off?), or physical ailments, or disabled/dying/dead relatives, etc., then why stop there? Why not see what else the contestant has done/said? If the talent is a secondary (probably tertiary) consideration, why not get a complete picture of all the contestants? Their likes, dislikes, thoughts, prejudices, foibles, weaknesses, etc. If they are being judged on who they are rather than what they can do, that would be very appropriate.

   In the meantime, if they are being judged on what they can do, then a lot more of that and a lot less of the emotional carrying on would be more appropriate.

   P.S. 90201 is Bell, California, not Beverly Hills. I am unfamiliar with the world of Bell, California. I am also unfamiliar with Beverly Hills, outside of what I have seen in the movies.

9. # StevieCat commented on September 17th, 2009:

   Hi Donna,
   I have to tell you that I literally laughed out loud when I read “America’s Got A Sob Story (AGASS)”. Very clever of you!

   On another note, why in the world would we want to know their political/social views? I’m sooooo very sick and tired as it is with all of the Health Care reform talk going on, why would I want to tune into a variety show to hear it some more? I tune in to forget it for a while. But, I think understand the point you are trying to make and that is if we can’t know that side of them, then they should also keep the sob story side of them off the air as well. The sob story does have a better entertainment value as opposed to their political views though.

   I think the background stories got overplayed via Simon due to the Danny story from American Idol last year who lost his young wife to heart illness 3 months prior to his first audition. (America only bought that for so long and he got voted off but made it to 3rd place.)

   Sometimes the sob stories work against them. I had liked Barbara Padilla for a while, but I got tired of the sob story week after week after week and it turned me off. I don’t know why, but it just did. It shouldn’t have because it was courageous, but there it is. it just happened. Kevin’s story didn’t turn me off and I think it’s because he wasn’t sobbing any story out there, the judges kept bringing it up like some kind of joke and the joke was on them from what they first thought of him, so it was kind of different for me. The Voices of Glory didn’t hang all over their story either. They are very respectful beautiful kids who happen to be able to sing really well. I don’t know….I can’t explain it.

   Regarding the lip synching, when I watched Shikira, I noticed that she was somehow miraculously singing both the melody and the harmony of her song at the same time. I just figured she was singing live with her background music and background vocals being piped in. I wasn’t all that interested, so I fast forwarded through most of her performance. I’ll have to take another look and see if her lips matched up to at least one of the voices!!

   I totally thought Susan Boyle sang live. I love her voice so much that I played it back 3 times so I would have noticed. I’m going to buy her CD. I love her interpretation of the Stones “Wild Horses”. It was beautiful.

   The end of my novel…..

10. # StevieCat commented on September 17th, 2009:

    Ok, everybody, let’s step back. This isn’t YouTube so let’s everyone stop insulting each other. it is self perpetuating and requires an equally insulting response. I don’t think I could just sit here and have insults thrown and me and not respond, so let’s stop while we’re all right and all wrong at the same time.

    Donna, you’re right about what you said to me. This is the first year that I ever voted for someone that had nothing to do with his talent. I couldn’t explain why to myself even, but I just did. And I was the first to admit it to all of you out there. After listening to his last performance, as much as I wanted him to win for all the wrong reasons, I backed off and didn’t cast one single vote. I kept hoping he’d get better and alas he went in the opposite direction. So I didn’t vote for anybody, like the many viewers who also don’t vote at all.

    And Donna, I did understand your point. I was so busy writing my previous huge response that yours got posted before I finished. I agree with you. The personal stuff should be toned down if not completely eliminated. It does make for interesting backdrop, but say it once and move on and stop bringing it up week after week. that is the producers and the judges and not the fault of the contestants IMO.

    Anyway, EVERYBODY….let’s stop insulting each other. Life is too short. AND, it’s only a TV show! Remember that.

11. # John commented on September 17th, 2009:

    Well, I guess the show finally got what they wanted. Something that people could talk about. Nothing else on this season seemed to do it. Except maybe Arcadian Broad’s stuff.

12. # StevieCat commented on September 17th, 2009:

    How does that expression go?? “The only thing worse than being talked about is NOT being talked about!” Oscar Wilde

13. # Donna commented on September 17th, 2009:

    StevieCat:

    Thank you for your posts. I tried to reply earlier today but it didn’t go through.
    You summarized my point very well. The sob story doesn’t make someone worthy of winning, and even dreadful people have some heartwrenching tale to tell. Trust me I don’t want to hear their politics. But I don’t want to be hammered with their sad tales ad nauseum either.
    Your point that it is the producers who are responsible for this is well taken, and I do understand that Kevin and the Voices of Glory were not exploiting their personal situations, it was the show’s personnel (judges, producers) who were doing that.
    I think Kevin and Susan Boyle have something in common, and that is that they are both regular folk who were plucked out of obscurity and placed under a lot of pressure… not against their will but it was still probably more than they expected.
    I think AGT is popular enough that they could run it a few weeks longer than they do. If in fact there were 100,000 contestants initially, I cannot believe that out of that number only 160 were any good. I think they should put more acts through, keep the show going a bit longer, and trim down the maudlin personal stuff. As it is the commercials eat up an annoying amount of time, and I really like to see people getting on stage and doing their stuff. AGT should get back to those basics and stop worrying about being a talent agency for Vegas.

14. # John commented on September 17th, 2009:

    I agree. More performance and less judgery. Not to mention, get rid of Hoff and Sharon. BGT had a nice mix of judges. Too bad Simon’s probably not allowed to judge because of AI.

15. # Debra Porritt commented on September 17th, 2009:

    Oh my goodness! What a disappointment! Kevin Skinner come on now…America are you deaf!!! Barbara Padilla deserved to win, she had a beautiful voice, and the Texas Tenors sang alot better than he did. I can’t believe they are going to headline him in Vegas! What a laugh! He can’t even hold a tune…his singing is scratchy at best…fingernails on chalkboard…shoot I probably sing better than he does, all I need is a sob story and southern drawl, and I would be a shoe in! Good grief what a disappointment…I will never watch America’’s Got No Talent Again! Because Kevin Skinner is a joke!

16. # StevieCat commented on September 18th, 2009:

    I sincerely hope that the people who got disgusted this year and said they won’t watch again will reconsider next year. This was an “off season” this year with everything that went so terribly wrong voting and judging wise. Give it another try next year. I can remember the year I got totally disgusted with American Idol. I stopped watching it after Constantine got voted off before Scotty. Then the morning after the finale, EVERYONE at work was blogging about how great it was and how hysterical it was and it took me over a month to find someone who had taped it (as opposed to dvr) and could lend me a copy. It was top notch that year. So I reluctantly tuned in to the following year’s show and it was great again. So Debra, give it another shot next year. I’m sure all the blogging will not go unnoticed by the producers. They do have people who read the blogs, I’m sure of it. If you find next year that it’s the same stuff all over again, then bow out of it, but give it another shot.

17. # John commented on September 18th, 2009:

    I find it interesting when people choose to stop watching as well. I enjoy watching the various talent. This year was a down year, but we’ll see if that trend continues next year or not. However, if they keep “producing” the show at the level they did this year, then I think the show will have jumped the shark.

18. # StevieCat commented on September 18th, 2009:

    Alas, you are so right. In trying to improve the show, they’re killing it. I hope they read the blogs very carefully. It’s been a fun show and I’d hate to see it go under.

19. # kitty commented on September 24th, 2009:

    Totally and completely off-topic:

    For people who consider opera boring or dying or soon-to-be replaced by popera, it seems like the premiere of Tosca at the Met was anything but:
    http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/21/the-night-at-the-opera-white-tie-and-jewels-and-giant-screens-for-the-masses/
    (Mind you, if I had been there I’d have joined the booing; hate the eurotrash productions)

    Now, as I said this is totally and completely off topic…

20. # StevieCat commented on September 25th, 2009:

    Hi, Kitty. I read about this in the newspaper and they showed side by side pictures of the set the way it had once looked and the very bare set that was in the 9/21/09 version. It reminded me of the bare set of the play Rent, which I thought was cheap and horrible. That was a gas!!

    And back on topic for just a moment, I dvr Conan O’Brien every night, but haven’t watched it in a week. So I was going to erase them all but decided to see who was on first. I saw that one description read “the winner of American’s Got Talent will be on” so I watched it. Kevin did a REALLY decent job. He was on pitch and very enjoyable. The audience really liked him. My husband happened to be passing through the living room at the time (since he works nights, he hasn’t seen one episode of AGT this year) and he stopped, watched and listened to Kevin, and remarked that he’s seen a lot of down home country singers recording now that weren’t as good as Kevin. I think the bad case of nerves he must have had on AGT really worked against him because on The Tonight Show, he was on pitch, he was enjoyable and was handsome too. He was wearing some pretty decent clothes, his hair was better styled and he looked comfortable on stage. It was nice to hear him sing a song that lasted longer than a minute and a half. I’m very glad he won. I can see how he can and will sustain a 90 minute show and I can see him appearing in Nashville very easily. I don’t think America got it wrong. A new talent was discovered and I’m very happy for him. He was MUCH better than his performances on AGT. He did a good job.

21. # Donna commented on September 27th, 2009:

    Hi StevieCat:

    I did not see that performance but am glad to know Kevin is coming into his own and is doing well.

    John: why do you think the Hoff and Sharon should be replaced? I like David Hasselhoff (but I am concerned about his drinking, he really should seek help for that before it’s too late). During the auditions his comments were a little more on point (like asking the guy with the wiggly toe why anyone would want to see his act). But then he went back to being Mr. Nice Guy.

    I liked Brandi very much, somewhat better than Sharon, but I got the impression Brandi was not too fond of Piers.

    I do like Piers, and even though he’s pretty tactless a lot of the time, most of his comments are on the money.

    Much as the producers mess with the acts, I wonder if they also mess with the judges? I think the producers need to back off a bit and let everyone be more natural.

22. # StevieCat commented on September 27th, 2009:

    I personally didn’t care for Brandi. She came off as a little know it all and was bossy mean to the contestants. I am sorry, though, for the tragedy that happened that made her feel forced to withdraw from the show. I felt very bad for her and I did wonder who could replace her. And so when they added Sharon Osborne in her place, I thought “Oh Geeeeeeze, what the????” But that first year she turned out to be wonderful replacement and Brandi wasn’t missed at all. I even would wonder at time how double bad Brandi now felt because the show took off that year. But this year both Sharon and The Hoff made some awful decisions and I’m really hoping that things turn around next year. I sincerely hope they didn’t jump the shark with some of the huge mistakes made this year. . They’ve pissed off a lot of viewers. Not me though, at least not enough to stop watching. I still am looking forward to next year. Probably because my favorite won hee hee hee.

23. # John commented on September 27th, 2009:

    Brandi was actually a bit worse that Sharon if I remember right.

    However, the Hoff and Sharon offered almost no valuable information. You knew they were going to say something nice every time. They weren’t really saying what they thought. They were playing a part and it was horrible.

24. # StevieCat commented on September 27th, 2009:

    No, Brandi was nasty and full of herself. I remember thinking to myself she wasn’t all that talented to be so pompous and all “expert-ty” with everyone else. She had a child’s tv show and a couple of hits because of that popularity and was not a huge break out star. Then along comes Sharon who is a great manager even if her husband was her only client….that’s still a HUGE client to have. She was a real part of their success, so I could see her in that spot. But she’s softened over the years and lost her “oomph” (sp?) and now is more a “personality” than an entertainment manager. But she’s still better than Brandi was. Well, now that I think about it, only one season for Brandi may not be a lot to compare her to Sharon, but then again, if I’m thinking about it like this perhaps 1 season was enough for me for Brandi. I remember thinking who in the world thought to bring Brandi in as a judge. She hadn’t done anything recently and it made it seem like the show must have appeared lame to other real talents out there not wanting to chance their career on it. And then it turned out to be HUGE. Oh well, it’s Sunday and I am rambling on and on because I’m bored, so now I’m boring all of you!! bye…..

25. # Donna commented on September 27th, 2009:

    Hi StevieCat:

    What tragedy befell Brandi? I didn’t hear about that.

    I didn’t think she was nasty. Piers is the one that always makes people cry. I liked Brandi’s reaction when that smirking stripper came out, wearing little more than a band-aid over her hoo-ha. (Of course Piers and David thought that was delightful — middle-aged pervs).

    Brandi might not have been an “A-list” star but I certainly knew who she was, which is more than I can say for Piers (I remember one blogger at the time wondering how Piers got on the show in the first place, speculating that perhaps Simon Cowell owed him money). I have since come to appreciate Piers and to have a new appreciation for the Hoff. Sharon is OK too, but Piers is more direct and although not too polite, certainly has more valuable critiques, at least most of the time.

    I have always enjoyed the show, and I hope that someone in a position of power is paying attention to the comments on this blog and will let the show run longer, and will curb the producers a bit, next year.

26. # StevieCat commented on September 27th, 2009:

    Brandi got involved in a car accident that killed the driver of the other car. Seh wasn’t on drugs or alcohol, but she was hysterical at the accident scene and kept saying over and over that it was her fault. She was going like 65 mph and didn’t notice the car in front of her slowed down considerably. She hit into the back of the car which sent it flying into something like two other cars. The driver was a mother in her 30’s and died the next day. Brandy was distraught and just faded herself from public life at the time. I felt very sorry both the woman who died and for Brandy herself. What a horrible thing to have to live with. It was a terrible accident and she was not impaired at all.

27. # StevieCat commented on September 27th, 2009:

    John, it could always be worse. They could have gotten Paula Abdul as a judge. She is a friend of Simon’s. you think these two are too polite, Paula, would have been dingy in addition to being too nice. I like the Hoff. I think he tries not to make people break in two along with their hearts sinking. It’s bad enough to have a bad performance, you don’t need to be made fun of too at that stage of the game. Once you’re in the top 20, knock it off with the insults already. Be constructive yes, but save the insults for the open auditions for the people who haven’t got a clue (or DO have a clue) as to how awful they are.

28. # kitty commented on September 28th, 2009:

    I thought the girl they have on BGT is nice. Don’t remember much about Brandy, she didn’t make much of an impression on me but from what I remember I liked her better than Sharon. I am really sorry about her accident. It’s an every driver nightmare – to be involved in an accident when someone is hurt or killed. I think many of us had close calls – a momentary lapse in attention or wrong estimate of speed/distance – I certainly had – in which it was just sheer luck or last minute move or skills of other drivers that prevented an accident.

    Paula Abdul would’ve been nice. But what I’d like is some competent judges – that is competent in various fields. Paula would’ve been good to judge dancing and pop singing. There could be judges to judge other variety acts, maybe even classical music. Who says there has to be only 3 judges? They have more than that on SYTYCD, and it worked out fine there. Now, a lot of people don’t like Mary’s screaming, but what I like about SYTYCD is that judges there are all former dancers or choreographers so they know what they are talking about. On AI the judges also know what they are talking about. But on AGT it’s totally unclear why these three people are considered experts in anything.

29. # John commented on September 28th, 2009:

    kitty,
    I’m with you. I think the blonde girl on BGT is the perfect mix of nice, real and funny.

    Don’t bring up Mary unless you’re comparing her to the bad judges. All Mary does now on SYTYCD is scream. She’s useless. Ugghh!!

30. # StevieCat commented on September 28th, 2009:

    At first, Mary annoyed me to no end, but now that I only tune in once in a while, I think her screaming laugh is funny. But, as I said, I don’t watch with any regularity.

    Yes, the blonde girl from BGT would be nice to have and then we’d still have 2/3 of the judges for America’s Got Talent be Brits. :0)