Welcome to Pure America's Got Talent

I’ve been a little bit busy, but a couple of days ago Piers Morgan announced on his CNN show that he would not be returning as a judge on America’s Got Talent. Here’s what he said in the video:

I think we all knew that something had to happen with the judges. I’m just sad that it was Piers leaving and not Howie. Sharon was a wash for me. I’m not sure they’ll be able to find someone as good as Piers in what he did. He was pretty good at playing devil’s advocate. Unless Simon decides to step in and be a judge, then I think we’re going to be disappointed by whoever replaces him. Now, Simon Cowell replacing Piers would be fantastic and now that he’s not a judge on American Idol, maybe that’s a possibility since it shouldn’t overlap too much with X Factor either. Simon judged Britain’s Got Talent and was great.

As for Piers, his choice makes a lot of sense. Between not wanting to deal with Sharon, Howie and Nick, there’s little doubt that 2012 will be a huge year for “Piers Morgan Tonight” thanks to the presidential election.

Howard Stern has be rumored as a replacement for Piers Morgan on America’s Got Talent. The Hollywood Reporter quotes him as saying:

“Everyone knows I love America’s Got Talent,” he said he said on his syndicated radio show. “I think it’s the greatest and I would be certainly honored to sit with Howie [Mandel] and Sharon [Osbourne] and judge these lunatics.”
He also insisted that his big personality wouldn’t get in the way of the job at hand.
“I take show business very seriously,” he said. “If I was a judge on there, there would be no nonsense whatsoever. I would be there for the talent. I would be there to actually find somebody good.”

The Parents Television Council (PTC) has issued a statement asking NBC to not hire Howard Stern as a judge on America’s Got Talent. Turns out, a number of my readers are in agreement. Here’s what they’ve sent me on my contact page:

I have been a fan of America’s Got Talent since it started but I will not watch it anymore if Stern is hired. I am sure I am with others in not wanting to give Mr Stern any credibility at all. I can see a push via the internet for a boycott of this program if this person is hired.

And this one I just received:

Just to let you know. if the rumors are true that Howard Stern is being considered I will not be watching AGT. I voted religiously for Michael Grimm and Landau Eugene Murphy Jr and cannot see them or anyone else I would be interested in watching being judged by this man.

Considering I hadn’t even posted about the Stern rumor and I was already getting messages like this, I’d say it would be a mistake for them to put Howard Stern on the show. Sure, I’m sure Howard would be a different man on America’s Got Talent than he is on his radio and TV shows. It might even show us that Howard is a real person like we found when Jerry Springer hosted the show. However, I think the show would definitely take a hit with its core viewers if they chose to put Howard on. The outcry would be big. Maybe that’s what they want. Sad if that’s the case.

I’ll save my predictions for who is going to win America’s Got Talent 2011 until later. Instead, now I’ll make some predictions about the America’s Got Talent finalists performances tonight.

Landau Eugene Murphy, Jr. – Much of the same. His voice will rule. He will smile. The old people will swoon and he’ll get lots of votes.

POPLYFE – I think they’re going to make a poor song choice. It’s going to be a disappointment since it will feature the band and not be a great song for the lead singer’s voice.

Silhouettes – A few moments of beauty, but with nothing all too spectacular. However, the kids smile after their performance will still steal my heart and many others. Regardless of how they do, what an amazing story.

Team iLuminate – Another exciting performance. Some unexpected choreography and lighting. It won’t be so wow that we can’t stop talking about it, but people will still love what they do.

Interesting. I didn’t realize this was what I was doing, but I’m basically predicting a bunch of solid, but less than sensational performances. I guess that’s the problem with 2 dance acts and 2 singing acts. How do you up your game in those 2 genres? It’s much harder to do that.

Of course, I hope I’m proven wrong and something blows me away!

Ok, I had to use that special title with the word “opera” since I know long time reader Kitty will love it. I’ll start out by saying that Cindy Chang is not an opera singer. Plus, I don’t know why they were acting like they were blown away. Seriously? I thought she was one of the worst “operatic” sounding voices that I’ve heard on the show. At least ones that they put through to Vegas. Was I missing something? In case you didn’t catch it, her audition video is below.

Cindy Chang’s Operatic Audition

Turns out she’s also a bit of a fake. AGT News wrote an article talking about Cindy Chang’s real background. Turns out there might be more to Cindy Chang’s story than what she let on. She’s been singing for quite a while and has an agent.

Of course, this isn’t really news for anyone that’s been reading this site for a while. Many past contestants had stories told for them (I give the producers credit for not telling the full story) on America’s Got Talent that weren’t completely true. It’s not really that big of a deal to me. Although, some people won’t like the fakeness of it all.

Either way, I didn’t like Cindy Chang’s singing before I knew that she had more experience than she let on, so I don’t like her any more or less now. Although, her random laughing was pretty funny to watch.

The America’s Got Talent season 6 YouTube audition deadline is June 9 (that’s today for those keeping score). You can upload your short video to http://www.nbc.com/americas-got-talent/auditions/. Plus, you can also submit your audition using the Android or iPhone app, at YouTube.com/agt, or on the AGT Facebook page!

I think Jackie Evancho was a YouTube audition. Plus, she was a Pure America’s Got Talent reader (or her mom was) years before she made it on the show. I always love when readers of this site make it on the show. So, go and submit your video and be sure to remember the little people when you become a star.

Below are the acts that went through the show. I will (over time) also include any links so that you could find out more information about each act.

So keep coming back to this page to find out where you could find more information about the acts that made it through to Vegas.

Read more…

Update: Word is that they might not be an air guitar band after all, but a real band. Funny that the show would name them the Airpocalypse Wannabes on their site then.

I got a note from a member of the air guitar group that was on the last season of America’s Got Talent: Airpocalypse. It said:

Hi All! Obviously, we think this is great… http://americasgottalentauditions.com/new/node/309 Airpocalypse Loves You! ~X

To save you having to click the link. It has a picture (seen below) on the official AGT audition website of what’s labeled “Airpocalypse Wannabes.” I guess we should have seen it coming. I think Piers (if he’s back) will have a field day ripping them in favor of the originals. Although, I have to say that the note from the original Airpocalypse shows what classy guys they are. Makes me feel good they made it as far as they did.

I just got the following email from the producers of America’s Got Talent Season 6. They just added 3 more cities. As always, if you audition come back and let us know how it went. Here are all the details for the new AGT Audition cities:

MINNEAPOLIS
Saturday, January 22 and Sunday, January 23
Registration: 8 a.m.- 7 p.m.
Location: Minneapolis Convention Center
1301 2nd Ave. South
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55403

ATLANTA
Saturday, January 29 and Sunday, January 30
Registration: 8 a.m.- 7 p.m.
Location: Atlanta America’s Mart
240 Peachtree Street NW #2200
Atlanta, Georgia 30303

HOUSTON
Saturday, February 12 and Sunday, February 13
Registration: 8 a.m.- 7 p.m.
Location: Houston Reliant Center
One Reliant Park
Houston, Texas 77054

SEATTLE/TACOMA
Saturday, February 19 and Sunday, February 20
Registration: 8 a.m.- 7 p.m.
Location: Tacoma Convention Center
1500 Broadway
Tacoma, Washington 98402

It all starts once you head over to www.agtauditions.com and pre-register there. Just simply fill out all the information we are asking of you and choose your audition city.

In the meantime, tighten up your act, keep it under 90 seconds, and be prepared to show the producers what you got!

If for some reason you can’t make it to your registered audition…Don’t fret.  We understand:  life happens! That’s why your good buddies at AGT 6 have your back.

You can still mail in a video tape/DVD or upload a link of your act directly to us!  Just go to AGTauditions.com and click on the “SUBMIT A VIDEO” tab. Our Producers go through every single mail in and video upload daily to ensure we don’t miss a hidden gem.

You might remember that we posted about Jackie Evancho choosing NOT to sing at Carnegie Hall with Tim Janis. Well, I just found out today that America’s Got Talent will still have two representatives from the show at Carnegie Hall to perform on the Tim Janis Christmas Special on December 2nd. It’s not Jackie, but Donald Braswell and Eli Mattson.

Congrats Donald and Eli and best of luck!

Here’s the full details of the performance:
Little Sisters of the Poor – Thursday December 2nd
Carnegie Hall, Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage
The Tim Janis Singers – 200 voices – and the 94 piece Tim Janis Youth Symphony Orchestra
400 musicians in this concert with special guests Donald Braswell, Sarah Darling, Emily Bear, Eli Mattson, Jim Cole, Chandler and Ryan Lutz
Tickets on sale at the Carnegie Hall Box Office October 2, 2010

I’m sorry I haven’t been keeping up with all the auditions happening this year. Although, it’s looking like America’s Got Talent is going to be as big this year as it was last year.

Yesterday, I posted about the America’s Got Talent season 6 Chicago auditions. However, they’ve announced the dates of auditions for a few more cities on the official America’s Got Talent audition website and I never wrote about them here.

America’s Got Talent Season 6 Audition Cities
New York City – November 14 and 15
Atlanta – January 29 and 30
Houston – February 12 and 13
Seattle and Tacoma – February 19 and 20

I have a feeling they may still add a city or two more. Probably depends on how much talent they’re finding in their current cities. We shall see.

As always, if you’re auditioning for America’s Got Talent season 6, we’d love to hear about your experience.

Word on the street was that Jackie Evancho was to perform at the famous Carnegie Hall in New York City on Dec. 2nd. In fact it would break a record:

Pittsburgh area fifth-grader Jackie Evancho is scheduled to perform at Carnegie Hall in NYC on Dec 2 , and will be the youngest female vocal soloist ever to have performed at Carnegie Hall. -source

However, I just got work via Facebook that Jackie Evancho won’t be performing at Carnegie Hall in December. Here’s the note from Jackie’s mother:

Just wanted to give advanced notice to all jackie fans that she will not be performing with Tim Janis at Carnegie Hall this December. This was not an easy decision and we wish that things could have been different.

Can you imagine making these tough decisions? Seems like they’re doing their best to take care of Jackie since she is so young. I certainly applaud these efforts. Hard to imagine passing up Carnegie Hall though. That’s pretty amazing.