Welcome to Pure America’s Got Talent

It’s been a little while since I’ve posted on this site. I’ve had a ton of things to say, but I just needed a little break after the show. Time to start kicking back into gear. The next season’s auditions will be starting soon and I’m planning on covering Britain’s Got Talent if possible too.

Enough about me. I think that most people would have to agree that Eli Mattson’s version of Walking in Memphis was one of (if not the) best performance on this year’s season of America’s Got Talent. Here’s Eli Mattson performing Walking in Memphis at the America’s Got Talent Las Vegas show:

Not the best video quality, but it was fun to remember how good Eli Mattson really was. He has a very nice voice and I hope he produces a CD really soon.

For a while I’ve been thinking how sad it was that Neal Boyd’s mom couldn’t be in LA to see him win America’s Got Talent. I believe that Nuttin’ But Stringz family couldn’t be there either (I could be wrong on this one). It really makes me sad when people as talented as these 2 aren’t able to share it with their families.

Well, I got the idea that I should leverage the viewers of this site for good when I read that the city of Sikeston, Mo put up his Mother’s plane ticket so that she could see Neal perform.

So, I’m starting the Pure America’s Got Talent fund. Assuming enough people donate, I’ll be using the money raised to pay for a family member of someone on next season’s show to fly out to see them perform live.

Here’s a button to donate:

I’ll be working on putting this in the sidebar of the site and to put up a meter so we can see how many people have donated to the cause. Also, in return for your donation, I’ll be working on a donation page where I can recognize all those who graciously donated.

This is the beginning of a series of posts with pictures of Jessica Price with a number of the other America’s Got Talent Contestants behind the scenes of America’s Got Talent.

The following are pictures of Queen Emily with Jessica Price and her family:

A very astute reader pointed out the fact that Faryl Smith from Britain’s Got Talent performed the same song as Jessica Price did on America’s Got Talent. They both performed Sarah McLachlan “Angel” .

Take a look at the following videos to compare the 2 performances.

Faryl Smith performing “Angel” on Britain’s Got Talent

Jessica Price performing “Angel” on America’s Got Talent

Both beautiful girls with beautiful voices. I think that Jessica Price definitely had a much better presentation. The white and the almost floating like an angel was awesome. They have such different style of voices that I don’t think it’s worth comparing. They were both great and I’d love to see both perform. I will say that my personal preference is for Jessica Price’s style. I’d love to just spend an evening listening to Jessica Price sing. Hopefully one day I’ll get that opportunity. Anyone heard what’s happened with Faryl Smith since the show?

Britain’s Got Talent starts in early 2009. I’m planning on posting about the show. Only question is whether I should post it on this blog or on a separate one. I’m thinking I’ll post it on this one. Any thoughts?

Looks like the America’s Got Talent poll was wrong in its prediction of the America’s Got Talent winner. I knew that the poll was skewed, because this site was getting hundreds and hundreds of Google searches sent to the site for the likes of Eli Mattson and Donald Braswell. Therefore, it made sense why Eli Mattson got more votes than the rest. However, I still thought that Eli had a good chance of winning. I guess it was close.

Instead, Neal Boyd is the winner of America’s Got Talent. I’m actually really surprised how disappointed I am with the result. I didn’t think I was that fond of Eli Mattson, but I was. Nothing against Neal Boyd, but I honestly don’t see myself buying a ticket to see him sing. Eli Mattson I would love to see in concert. America’s Got Talent is really smart to have the top 5 from this season perform in Las Vegas. The interesting question is whether people will go to the show more for Neal or for the other members of the top 5.

I’m kind of afraid to admit this, but before the results I told my wife that I thought we should get tickets to the show and go. However, now that Neal Boyd won, I’m thinking we probably won’t spend the money. I’d enjoy seeing him as an opening act, but I don’t see myself coughing up much money to see him be the headliner.

Time will tell if I change my mind in that regard. I don’t mean to take anything away from Neal. He has a great story, a very nice voice and something about his stage presence that really draws you in. He cries too much, but he’s a big teddy bear. Kind of reminds me of the big teddy bear that won American Idol (just forgot his name). I’m really happy for Neal and I think he can do well with a singing career.

Best of luck Neal Boyd and Congratulations on Winning America’s Got Talent!

America’s Got Talent announced that there would be special guest performers at the America’s Got Talent Las Vegas show. The question is who might those guest performers be. Here’s my projections:

Terry Fator - Just makes since. He’s right down the street. Only question is whether he’s allowed to under his contract with mirage
Bianca Ryan - She’s performing in Las Vegas already too. She’s be a crowd favorite to see again and could nearly walk over from the V theater.

I’d really enjoy seeing any of the trio Cas Haley, Julienne Irwin or Butterscotch. They’re all still performing too.

I’d also not be surprised at all if an act like the Quick Change artists or the dog routine (can’t remember his name, but he has a show in Vegas now too) as a nice little opening act or an act to give the winner of America’s Got Talent a break.

Outside of people from America’s Got Talent, how cool would it be if Elton John stopped by if Eli Mattson was the winner? What about Andrea Bocelli with Neal Boyd, Gladys Knight (who’s from Las Vegas too) with Queen Emily or Josh Groban with Donald Braswell. Any of an array of rappers could join Nuttin’ But Stringz and be quite the event.

Any other acts you’d like to see?

Go and Buy Your Tickets to the show today!

I previously projected who I thought would win America’s Got Talent. However, I thought it might be more fun to give my favorite 5 performers from this season of America’s Got Talent season 4. A really hard job to narrow them down to 5, but here goes.

1. Jessica Price - This is really a no brainer if you’ve been reading my blog. I really enjoy listening to her sing and Jessica Price’s first AGT performance will rank as one of my favorite AGT performances ever.

2. Russian Bar Trio - Turns out this is relatively popular, but the fact that I had never seen it until AGT shoots them near the top of my list. Probably the most exciting and jaw dropping act ever done on AGT.

3. Eli Mattson - He had me at Walking in Memphis

4. Junior & Emily - Some absolutely smokingly fast salsa dancing. I know how hard it is to go that fast. Exciting to watch since you can never look away. I would have loved to see what other performances they could have brought to the show.

5. Holly Hardin - What can I say? Not the best singer by any stroke of the imagination. I think I was stolen away by her accent, naivety and pure genuine goodness (or is that the same as naivety?). She wasn’t bad on the eyes either. Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed all of her performances.

I’ve been following the show quite religiously since I have this America’s Got Talent Blog and I am thoroughly entertained by the show. So, you can imagine I have strong opinions on who I think will be the winners of America’s Got Talent. Without further ado, here’s my America’s Got Talent winner projection along with my rankings of the America’s Got Talent Top 5.

Eli Mattson
Nuttin’ But Stringz
Donald Braswell II
Neal E. Boyd
Queen Emily

At the end of the day, none of these performers should feel bad since they are all great. However, this is a popularity contest and I personally think that Eli Mattson is the most popular.

Let’s see your rankings of the America’s Got Talent top 5.

In my previous post about Donald Braswell replacing the Russian Bar Trio on America’s Got Talent I got to wondering how the Russian Bar Trio is doing and what type of accident happened. You can just see Christine (beautiful name since it’s also my wife’s name) missing the bar on the way down. Can you imagine? Here’s the injury update from the Russian Bar Trio’s website:

Hello Every one.

We just want to say thank you for all your suport. Christine is doing well. She is recovering very quickly. For those who want to know what happened, she just twisted her ankle while jumping down the bar on the edge of this matress. Very stupid incident. So with a twisted ankle you will agree that it hard to jump on this bar. She will be ok probally just a little bit too late for the live final of AGT. So we have been forced to drop out. We are very sorry for all our fans. We promisse you that you will still hear from us. For now until Christine will be ready to be back, we have a backup Flyer. She is doing well. We are still playing in Spain with the backup till the mid of september.

Again thank you very much for your support.

The Trio, Christine, Marco and Yves

A simple sprained ankle from jumping off the bar onto the mat. I hope one day to get a chance to see the Russian Bar performed live.

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.