Welcome to Pure America’s Got Talent

Now that we know the America’s Got Talent top 10 finalists, it’s time to vote for which of the top 10 finalists are going to win America’s Got Talent Season 5. Although, it does feel a little bit odd to call them finalists, but the show is still going to go from the top 10 to the top 4 who will then perform in the finale of America’s Got Talent.

Either way, I think with 10 acts left we’re going to get a pretty good idea of who will be the America’s Got Talent 2010 winner. So, vote for who you think will win America’s Got Talent season 5. Be sure to vote so we can predict the winner. You’ve been great at predicting the America’s Got Talent Winner in the past, so let’s do it again.

Well, the wait is over. Tonight Kevin Skinner was announced as the winner of America’s Got Talent season 4. This wasn’t too shocking for me since I’d already predicted Kevin Skinner as AGT winner earlier today. Sorry, I couldn’t help but brag just a little. Although, a lot of the credit goes to the readers of this site that participated in my America’s Got Talent Winner poll. I’m happy to say that it predicted not only the winner, but pretty much got the top 5 right. Nicely done all of you!!

I really can’t believe that Kevin Skinner won. Somehow his humility and story got into the heart of America and he had them. I’ll be interested to see how much Kevin Skinner improves now that he’s going to have a show in Las Vegas. I’m sure that those producing America’s Got Talent Live in Las Vegas won’t want him to be a headliner in Las Vegas and sing the way he sang in his last 2 performances on America’s Got Talent. A bunch of people in Las Vegas who might have never heard of Kevin Skinner might boo him off stage if he sings like that. Some might think this is harsh, but I live in Las Vegas and at the prices they’re paying for the show there is a high expectation by the audience.

Of course, I think the best thing that Kevin Skinner could do is to take his million dollar prize (really $25,000 annuity every year for so many years if I remember right) and go back to where he knows and love and live a great life. He’s actually the one person on the show that could live very happily on $25,000 a year I think. Maybe that’s why America likes him so much.

I’m not trying to say that Kevin Skinner can’t or shouldn’t try to make it in the music industry. If that’s his dream go ahead and go for it. However, I have a strong feeling that he’s going to end up disillusioned and unhappy working in the spotlight and ugly world we call the music industry. I guess time will tell. Maybe the taste of fame he got on the show whetted his appetite for more. However, my feeling from when I interviewed Kevin Skinner was that he’s enjoyed the experience, but just mostly missed a lot of things from home.

All of this said, I’m sure many Kevin Skinner fans will come on here and tell me I’m wrong. However, I think they’re just trying to say that they love Kevin Skinner and want to hear more of his music. That perspective sounds like its more about them than it is what’s best for Kevin.

It will be fun to see what happens. At the end of the day, Congratulations to Kevin Skinner!! America voted you for the win and so enjoy your time in the spotlight and everything related to the win. I really think Kevin is a good guy. Best of luck to him in the future. We’ll certainly be watching!

One of the advantages of having this blog is that I sometimes get access to some pretty cool stuff. Like I got to interview 5 of the America’s Got Talent finalists. I also got to go to the opening night of Terry Fator in Las Vegas at the Mirage.

I admit that I thought Terry Fator was good, but after seeing his show at the Mirage he was outstanding!! That’s why I also jumped at the chance to get one of the Terry Fator DVD’s as well. You can order the Terry Fator DVD (and Blu-Ray) on Amazon now. I got a copy and it’s really well done.

Of course, the live show is more fun, but the DVD does a great job of capturing not only Terry Fator’s incredible talent but also captures the energy in the theater. Plus, the other nice part about the DVD is that you get some close up shots of the puppets and of Terry Fator. You can really see how good he is at what he does. Oh yes, Terry Fator’s Assistant isn’t too bad as well.

Inside the DVD there’s also a preview of his biography Who’s the Dummy Now?: Winner of America’s Got Talent. There was also a nice little note talking about Michael Jackson since Terry Fator does an impression of Michael Jackson in his act as well. It always amazes me how far reaching of an impact Michael Jackson had on people.

Good stuff. Terry Fator deserves all the accolades and attention he’s receiving. A lot of people are really going to enjoy watching the Terry Fator: Live from Las Vegas.

The performances are over and now it’s time to vote for your favorite America’s Got Talent season 4 finalists. No, this isn’t official. It’s just for fun, but should give a pretty good idea of who are people’s favorite talent on this season of America’s Got Talent. So, vote for who you want to be the winner of America’s Got Talent.

Of course, no matter who is the winner of America’s Got Talent, we’re going to see most of the above list at the America’s Got Talent live show in Las Vegas.

I just received the official video of Neal E. Boyd singing his latest recording of “God Bless the U.S.A.” Check out the video of Neal below or download it on iTunes .

Also, here’s the full list of songs on his debut album called My American Dream.

My American Dream Album from Neal E. Boyd
God Bless the U.S.A.
God Bless the U.S.A. (Video)
Nessun Dorma
Somewhere
Mama
Amazing Grace
Ave Maria
Bring Him Home
Is Nothing Sacred
Anthem
Il Gladiatore
Sonny Boy

Previous Neal E. Boyd Recording
Turandot: Nessun Dorma

Looks like Neal E. Boyd is trying really hard to make his singing career happen after winning America’s Got Talent. I wish him the very best of luck and hope to see him in Las Vegas at some point soon.

Tickets are now on sale for the Las Vegas America’s Got Talent show. My only question is whether the winner of America’s Got Talent will get to perform all 60 shows or maybe just a few of them. In fact, last year, the Las Vegas show was a bunch of members of the America’s Got Talent top 5 and the winner was just the “headline” act. I’m sure something like this will happen again for the other people on America’s Got Talent.

I can’t help but wonder if they might even expand the cast of performers to include some of Britain’s Got Talent like Susan Boyle. She certainly would sell a lot more tickets. In fact, I’m guessing that she’d be a bigger headline no matter who wins America’s Got Talent 2009.

It will be interesting to watch. I know I’m getting my America’s Got Talent Las Vegas show tickets.

I just got some more information about Neal Boyd going on tour with Paul Potts (Britain’s Got Talent winner). Here’s the list of Neal Boyd tour stops and links to buy tickets on ticketmaster:
July 6th: Grand Prairie (Dallas), TX – Nokia Theatre Buy Tickets on Ticketmaster
July 7th: Houston, TX – Verizon Theater Buy Tickets on Ticketmaster
July 9th: New York, NY – Beacon Theatre Buy Tickets on Ticketmaster
July 10th: Boston, MA – Berklee Performance Center Buy Tickets on Ticketmaster
July 12th: Clearwater, FL – Ruth Eckerd Hall Buy Tickets on Ticketmaster
July 14th: Hollywood, FL – Hard Rock Live Buy Tickets on Ticketmaster
July 15th: Atlanta, GA – Symphony Hall Buy Tickets on Ticketmaster
July 17th: Atlantic City, NJ – The Borgata Music Box Theater Buy Tickets on Ticketmaster
July 20th: Chicago, IL – Rosemont Theatre Buy Tickets on Ticketmaster
July 21st: Washington, DC – Warner Theatre Buy Tickets on Ticketmaster

Now if he’d only come to Las Vegas so I could go and see him. If you happen to go to one of his shows, I’d welcome a guest post about the experience and any pictures you might have taken.

I also found out that Neal E. Boyd’s debut album “My American Dream” will be coming out June 23rd. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that his album is coming out the day that America’s Got Talent 2009 premieres. I’ll post another update once the album is released and I think we should give away a couple of Neal Boyd’s cd’s along with our Terry Fator Biography and Winston the Turtle giveaways. Watch for those giveaways to start near the beginning of America’s Got Talent 2009.

America’s Got Talent winner Neal E. Boyd has a track from his debut album up on People.com. It’s nice to finally see Neal Boyd getting close to releasing an album. I wonder if it was deliberately delayed until the start of America’s Got Talent 2009. Sounds like a smart plan to me.

My first take of Neal E. Boyd singing “God Bless the USA” is that it was a nice rendition. I have a feeling he’s going to be invited to somewhere nice to sing for fourth of July. I’m sure that many people will wonder why he chose that song, but fans of Neal E. Boyd are going to love it I think. I personally don’t like the orchestration very much, but Neal does a nice job singing it. In fact, I think I like him better on this single than I did on America’s Got Talent.

Also, for those wanting to have Neal E. Boyd’s version of Turandot: Nessun Dorma it’s available on iTunes. It was the best song he performed on America’s Got Talent.

I hope he makes it to Las Vegas at some point. I’d enjoy seeing him live.

I just posted about my time at the Terry Fator grand opening at Mirage Las Vegas. My wife and I had a really great time going to the Mirage to see Terry Fator. At the end of the show as we were walking out, they handed us a gift bag. Check out this video where I show you what’s inside. Best part is that soon I’ll be giving everything inside away to some lucky Pure America’s Got Talent readers.

Enjoy the video (Disclaimer: I’m not a big video guy, but this deserved to be seen on video)

Excuse the low quality video. I didn’t want to pull out my video camera, so I just used my regular camera.

If you don’t want to wait to read Terry Fator’s biography, here’s a link to buy the book:
Who’s the Dummy Now?: Winner of America’s Got Talent

Watch for the Terry Fator biography and Winston giveaway coming soon. You can sign up for the Pure America’s Got Talent email and you’ll be notified of the contest in your email.

The most successful act to have ever graced the America’s Got Talent stage is by far: Terry Fator. We’ve written a lot about Terry Fator and his success after winning America’s Got Talent. The most important of which was my post about Terry Fator headlining in Las Vegas, along with his new book and Terry Fator music on iTunes.

Tonight, Terry Fator opened his new show at the Mirage Las Vegas. I was lucky enough to be able to go to the show and see Terry’s grand opening in the new Terry Fator theatre. Man, was it something else. 2 hours of Terry Fator was more than I would have ever imagined.

A friend of mine that works for some other shows on the strip just couldn’t understand why Terry Fator, a ventriloquist, had an entire show on the strip. Now that I’ve seen a full Terry Fator show, I know exactly why he has a show. It was funny, it was entertaining and then you are astounded every few minutes as you’re reminded that this is a ventriloquist doing the impersonations and singing.

Ok, so I took a bunch of pictures. I didn’t think I’d be able to take pictures, so I took my small camera which isn’t very good quality. Turns out Terry Fator told us at the beginning of the show that there were “No Rules” and that the flash photography didn’t bother him so we could take as many pictures as we wanted. So, I did. I’ll first post a few pictures before and during the show and then at the bottom I’ll have a gallery of all the pictures of Terry Fator’s grand opening at the Mirage Las Vegas.

When we arrived at the mirage at every turn there was a big Terry Fator Grand Opening sign with a pretty girl standing next to the sign. Of course, I couldn’t resist a picture of a pretty girl, so here she is. I also told her I’d post her picture on my website, so now she’s famous (kind of).

This is a picture of the Terry Fator Gift shop. It looked really nice and had some cool stuff in it. Watch for a video of a free giveaway I’m going to do be doing that relates to what you can buy in the Terry Fator gift shop.

Once we got into the theatre, this was the stage with a DJ up on stage entertaining us while we waited. Good thing, because it started at least 15 minutes late.

This is a picture of the Terry Fator theatre. A little smaller than I expected, but still a really nice theatre with no seats very far from the action. Although, the middle is better than the side.

Terry Fator opens and closes his act with Winston the turtle. Winston is by far the best puppet Terry uses. He’s just so lovable.

This is Terry Fator’s very nice looking assistant from Honolulu, HI. It’s vegas, so there has to be some hot girl who has little to do with the show, right? Well, there she is for all to enjoy.

The Commodores made a special guest appearance to sing a song for the grand opening of Terry Fator. They did a great performance that brought everyone to their feet. I think this was special for the Grand Opening. I wonder what other people will just drop in on Terry’s show. Would be cool to have some of the people he impersonates on the show.

The last one I’ll post here is Terry Fator saluting the audience after his grand opening at Mirage Las Vegas.

I’ll leave the rest of the pictures in the gallery below and I’ll hit some interesting points about the show before the Terry Fator picture gallery.

The funniest moment of the whole show was when Terry Fator was impersonating Michael Jackson and accidentally did Michael Jackson’s voice for the puppet. Terry just put his head behind the puppet. Then, when he came up he was laughing so hard he kind of lost track of where he was. It wasn’t awkward or anything, it was just funny. Terry recovered well with a joke about his puppets voice being high and thinking he’d had a stroke. The whole moment was absolutely hilarious. Then, Terry even swapped voices again at the end of the set just to be funny. It was great.

A lot of other really really funny parts of the show. I’m not sure if Terry writes his scripts or someone else, but he has some funny material. Sometimes it seems like they added some gratuitous sex lines that weren’t needed, but overall it was a clean show that was funny and entertaining. The most amazing thing is the incredible range of his voice (or whatever you call making sound as a ventriloquist). He did so many styles, volumes and ranges that it is quite unbelievable to watch.

As expected Winston did steal the show. I think he should ask for his name to be added to the Marquee.