Welcome to Pure America’s Got Talent

I must admit that I was a little bit disappointed by this wild card show. There were 3-4 acts that were fantastic and the rest a pretty big disappointment. Many of them actually seemed like they took a step back in their performances. Either way, those 3-4 were great to watch. Plus, the judges were in rare form. I think the Piers must have angered half of America in this episode.

The premiere of America’s Got Talent 2010 is tonight and so to wet your apetite for the premiere, check out these videos of Howie Mandel, Piers Morgan, and Nick Cannon answering fan questions. Some interesting insights for the show and just gets me excited for the show tonight.

Fan Questions with Howie Mandel

Fan Questions with Piers Morgan

Fan Questions with Nick Cannon

According to the NBCChicago.com, there are free tickets available for reservations at the following link.

Chicago has four opportunities to see a live taping of “America’s Got Talent” at the Chicago Theatre April 27-28, and the tickets won’t cost you a thing.

Host Nick Cannon and judges Sharon Osbourne, Piers Morgan and Howie Mandel will all be on hand for the show tapings, along with an array of singers, dancers, comedians, and performers of all age and style.

Simply go to the link, select a date and fill out your info… Hope to see you there!

Normally you’d find a nice discussion of the various contestants in the America’s Got Talent season 4 semi finals. Instead, you’re going to get a nice rant or two that just need to be said.

Arcadian Braod Calls Out America’s Got Talent Producers
First up is Arcadian Broad calling out the producers of America’s Got Talent for basically forcing him to do the High School Musical themed dance. This really is nothing new for those who read the site. We’ve long known that the producers basically force the contestants to do a certain song that they think will play well on the show. I hear they actually suggest a couple pieces, but there’s usually one that they really want you to do.

The funny part is that Arcadian Broad actually started to talk about this on the show. You could tell he wasn’t happy that he was doing High School musical. I’m glad he did. The producers should be held accountable for the choices they make if he’s going to be ripped by the judges. I think the mistake for Arcadian was actually having other dancers on stage with him. It basically showed that there are a lot of other dancers his age that are just about as good. Sure, he has a bit of the it quality in his face and performance, but it wasn’t all that different than the other dancers on stage. Maybe he should go back to the piano;-)

All of this said, Arcadian isn’t really the story here. He’s just the one who brought it up. I thought he performed well with what he was given. I wonder what the show will do now to ensure that something like this doesn’t happen again. I don’t think they like for America to know what involvement the producers actually have in the acts.

Now Piers Morgan the Shill…
In the past, I’ve always felt like Piers Morgan did a pretty good job of responding with his actual and natural feelings towards contestants. However, this show Piers felt like an absolute shill of the show. It was like the producers had written the script of their favorites and he was highlighting those favorites. Sure, Sharon and Hoff are going to pretty much say nice things about everyone. That’s felt scripted for a long time. However, I always use to feel like Piers could really say what he thinks. Too bad that ended tonight.

Let me give you some examples…
Piers can’t really like the 3 tenors. Once they all start singing together they don’t mix well at all. The blonde guy is a star and the other 2 are just ok. Piers would have pointed this out usually.

Voices of Glory would have been buzzed if they weren’t the most hyped story ever on America’s Got Talent. The brothers just aren’t good enough and Piers would have happily buzzed them if they were anyone else.

Kevin Skinner gave his worst performance and one of the worst performances by a singer in America’s Got Talent history. Yet, Piers raved about how he draws people in. That’s basically Piers trying to say something nice since he can’t actually say Kevin’s a good singer since he’s not. Piers knows he’s not, but felt like he was muzzled and couldn’t say it the way it was.

I could keep going. Let’s just say that tonight was a low point for me in America’s Got Talent. I’d like to say it jumped the shark. However, I’ll say that the judges have more than jumped the shark. Normally I’d hate to keep watching a show like this. If the performers weren’t so talented and entertaining I’d have switched the channel long ago.

Woo…
Glad I got that off my chest!!

Also…
The Fab Five were the most underrated by the judges. They were dead on and I hope they make it to the next round.

Today I was really sad to read a blog that said that Susan Boyle had been admitted to a mental health clinic. I can only imagine the exhaustion that Susan must be experiencing. Talk about a shock to go from a relatively anonymous person to global stardom like she did. I don’t think she had any idea what she was getting into. I think that Piers Morgan describes Susan Boyle’s challenge quite well.

I’ve had my own criticism of Susan Boyle, but I think I’ve taken a fair approach to analyzing her performance just like I would have done with any other performer on the show. What is disappointing to me is all the truly hateful people out there that just want to smear someone. I’m all for sharing opinions about talent. That’s part of the fun of watching these shows. I even want to share strong opinions. That’s why I think people visit this site. I try to provide something of value and interesting. However, I don’t ever try to make things personal and I never want to demean a person in the process. That’s just unfortunate and wrong.

My heart goes out to Susan. I hope that she can quickly learn to deal with the crazy people out there that have nothing better to do with their life than to try and hurt other people. The same blog I mentioned earlier says that she has signed a music contract and will record her first album in Prague. I look forward to its release and will do all I can to help promote it for Susan as well. Granted, I don’t think she’ll need much help promoting it.

I must admit that the first time I saw Susan Boyle I really enjoyed her story. I was a little disappointed when I found out some background information on Susan Boyle. However, the story of Susan Boyle is still really fantastic even if a bit doctored.

What is really disappointing to me is Susan Boyle’s semi final performance on Britain’s Got Talent. You can see it for yourself. Here’s Susan Boyle singing “Memory” from Lloyd Webber’s Cats

Simon Cowell was right about not wanting to be in Susan Boyle’s shoes. Susan did pick it up a little about half way through her performance, but the beginning of her performance was awful. If it was anyone but Susan, Piers and Simon would have both buzzed her off the stage. I think the problem is when the song goes high, Susan isn’t very good.

I’m not really upset with Susan. She is living the dream and many people have been inspired thanks to her. That’s a wonderful thing. I just can’t believe that Simon Cowell would give her a standing ovation after that performance. Maybe the standing ovation was for Susan’s media tour and not for her singing.

Now that I’ve sounded like a downer, I loved this episode of BGT. Almost every single act was incredibly entertaining to watch.

I know I’m a little late in actually posting this, but I needed to post a few comments about the second episode of Britain’s Got Talent. Basically, call this the cliff notes version of the second episode of Britain’s Got Talent. I’ll embed videos of these various talents (and not so talents) where possible.

I’ll be listing possible contenders on this season of Britain’s Got Talent, the joke acts that were highly entertaining and what I think was highly overrated by the judges.

Contenders:
Julian Smith – The nice part of this act is that it provides something other than a great singer. The show I’m sure is looking for more variety acts to compete with the singers on the show. So, this fits the bill. Kind of a bit like Kenny G, but with a look that’s 100 times better. I have a feeling the judges will like Julian a lot and so will much of Britain. See the BGT video on YouTube.

Shaheen Jafargholi – This was the closest we came to getting a Susan Boyle like act in Britain’s Got Talent episode 2. I felt like the 2 song thing was far too staged, but Shaheen was dead on in the second song and really was talented. There’s something about a cute little kid with a big voice that people love on these talent shows. Assuming he makes good song choices he’ll do quite well on Britain’s Got Talent. See BGT video on YouTube.

Jokes:
Singing Souls – This act was absolutely horrific. However, the interaction with Simon Cowell was awesome. My favorite line is when Simon says “you should be the mouthpiece.” Super funny. Check out their video on YouTube.

Overrated:
DCD Seniors – I’m pretty sure that DCD Seniors are going to have a few people that were entertained. It was pretty entertaining, but it didn’t really fit into the category of talent in my book. There wasn’t anything special about their act and that will absolutely catch up with them on this show. Check out the video of DCD Seniors and you’ll see what I mean.

Here’s a link to see the full Britain’s Got Talent episode 2 video. It was quite entertaining. The judges on it are so much better than Sharon and the Hoff. I do still like Piers, but Sharon and the Hoff are horrible on America’s Got Talent.

Sitting here across the pond, I’m glad that we can still watch the full episodes of Britain’s Got Talent here in America. Someone posted the full videos to YouTube for all of us American’s to be able to enjoy the amazing talent from Britain’s Got Talent. Not to mention the always entertaining judging by Simon Cowell and Piers Morgan.

If you don’t have time to watch the whole show you should at least watch Susan Boyle’s video on Britain’s Got Talent. Otherwise, enjoy the first episode of Britain’s Got Talent 2009:
Removed by BGT

If you’re having a problem with the player above, you can see the full BGT episodes on youtube unless BGT decides to take those down too.

I’d been planning to cover more of Britain’s Got Talent and just haven’t had the time. After watching the following video of Susan Boyle shocking Simon Cowell and Piers with her rendition of I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables, I think I might have to start making time. Check out the video of Susan Boyle on Britain’s Got Talent to see what I mean:

UPDATE: BGT has had all of the videos taken down.

From a never been kissed, awkward 47 year old to a singer that Simon Cowell actually really enjoyed. That’s what Britain’s Got Talent is all about.

Just hitting the wire is the announcement by NBC executives that Jerry Springer will not be hosting this summer’s season of America’s Got Talent. One release stated “The TV star said in a statement that he’s leaving the talent contest – which airs on NBC in the US – because of other commitments, including his syndicated talk show and a stage role.”

Replacing Jerry Springer will be musician, comedian, actor and producer Nick Cannon in what network chief Ben Silverman called the first of “multiple projects we are looking to do with Nick at NBC.”

I must admit that I really liked Nick Cannon on “Nick Cannon Presents Wild’n Out” and thought he did a good job with it. The good part about Nick Cannon is that I don’t think we’ll have to deal with much fake energy about someone who doesn’t have talent. Nick’s not going to tell someone they were good if they weren’t. That would ruin his image. He might end up saying nothing, but hopefully he’ll come up with some good questions and let them dig their own grave on the show.

Jerry Springer did an acceptable job even though a bunch of his stuff was so over the top it kind of got annoying. Nick Cannon should be able to avoid those annoyances and will be so much better than Regis Philbin was on the first season.

I also hope we get to see Nick Cannon do a little freestyle dancing backstage with some performers. Something like that would be a great little addition to either warm a performer up or to do a celebration dance with someone who just performed.

Looking forward to it Nick. Don’t let us down!

Sharon Osbourne, Piers Morgan and David Hasslehoff are reportedly remaining as celebrity judges.