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America’s Got Talent Season 12 Champion Crowned, Vegas Show Line-Up Announced, and an Interesting Observation…

A huge CONGRATULATIONS to the newly-crowned America’s Got Talent Season 12 champion, Darci Lynne Farmer! Check out the Access Hollywood interviews from last night and this morning below! (Love how Terry Fator pops in to congratulate Darci!)

Darci will be headlining this year’s AGT Live! On Stage show in Las Vegas this November 3-4. The pre-sale for tickets is happening now with the code TALENT. Darci will be joined in the show by Season 12 runner-up Angelica Hale, third place finisher Light Balance, and top 10 finalist Preacher Lawson.

Can’t make it to Vegas? Tomorrow I’ll be doing a roundup of other upcoming performances from some of the Season 12 contestants, in addition to a countdown of what I thought were the very best performances of the season. But for now, something has come to my attention I think might make for some interesting discussion. Right after the Season 11 finale last year, Sophie (who you may remember from the livestream we did together last week) posted the following theory on Reddit:

Now, ventriloquism – let alone singing ventriloquism – is not the most common talent. Yes, it’s the second-most common winner category on AGT, but we haven’t had nearly as many ventriloquists on the show as, say, singers or magicians. I think the rarity of it might be the reason people tend to latch onto the ventriloquist acts on AGT, since it’s one of those skills we don’t see many other places in mainstream entertainment. Still, Sophie correctly predicting such a niche act winning Season 12 (before auditions for the season even started) makes me wonder if this “10 year cycle” theory may prove to be true. Let’s look at the winners from Seasons 3-10 to see what might be in store for the next eight years! (And yes, at this rate I do think the show has a good chance of sticking around for that long. Ratings were UP this season; that almost never happens in television these days!)

Season 3: Neal E. Boyd (Pop Opera Singer)
Season 4: Kevin Skinner (Country Singer)
Season 5: Michael Grimm (Singer-Guitarist)
Season 6: Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. (Jazz Singer)
Season 7: Olate Dogs (Dog Act)
Season 8: Kenichi Ebina (Dancing Mime)
Season 9: Mat Franco (Magician)
Season 10: Paul Zerdin (Ventriloquist)

If the pattern continues, it looks like we’re in for a few more years of singers winning, which I’ve kind of been expecting anyway, since so many people are itching to sing for Simon and possibly get signed by SYCO. I think as long as he’s on the judging panel, there will continue to be a lot of singing acts who audition for AGT. At least it’s looking like they’ll come from different genres for the most part. 😛

After that we’d have a dog/animal act win, which would also make sense; Sara & Hero were one of the biggest underdog acts (hehe) going into the live shows this season and they made it all the way to 5th place. And then we’d have a really unique and “out there” winner, followed by another magic act (I seriously can’t believe we’ve only had one win the show so far) and then a fourth ventriloquist champ (I guess by that time the cries of “ventriloquists always win!” will have died down).

Of course, this is all speculation, but it’s kind of an eerie coincidence Season 12 played out just like Sophie said it would! What sort of acts do you think we’ll be getting on AGT in the coming years, and which types do you think the audience might get behind to win?

September 21, 2017 I Written By

I'm obssessed with the entertainment industry, especially offbeat and nerdy things as well as those that involve live performance. The only thing I love more than geeking out over the things that entertain me is sharing in my excitement with others who share the same passions. America may have talent, but Canada has an up-and-coming blogger who is ready to take the internet by storm!

Donald Braswell and Eli Mattson to Perform at Carnegie Hall with Tim Janis

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

November 24, 2010 I Written By

EriAm Sisters Update

Looks like the EriAm sisters are going to be performing in a number of locations. Here’s a list of upcoming shows:
Moore Theatre Seattle, WA Fri Dec 04 09 07:00 PM
San Jose Parade San Jose, CA Sat Dec 05 09 06:00 PM
San Jose Parade San Jose, CA Sun Dec 06 09 02:45 PM
Olympic Peninsula Port Angeles, WA Thu Dec 10 09 08:00 PM
Glendale country club Bellevue, WA Fri Dec 11 09 07:00 AM

If any of you are in those areas and get a chance to go to their shows, we’d love to hear about your experience. You can find more details about the EriAm sisters shows and music on ReverbNation.

Here’s some more information on the San Jose Parade:
We are pleased to announce that the EriAm Sisters will appear as special guests at the San Jose Parade 2009. The EriAm Sisters are scheduled to perform at the main stage on the following days:

SATURDAY: INFLATION CELEBRATION PERFORMANCE – 6:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Inflation Celebration is a pre-parade show with entertainment and the inflation of three giant inflatable helium balloons. Inflation Celebration is located at the corner of Park Avenue and Market Street, in front of the Tech Museum of Innovation, directly across the street from Christmas in the Park.

SUNDAY: PARADEFEST @ CHRISTMAS IN THE PARK – 2:45 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
In addition to being a special guest on the Parade rides in the morning, the EriAm Sisters are scheduled to perform after the parade from 2:50 p.m. – 3:20 p.m.
The EriAm Sisters are scheduled to sign autographs/meet and greet with fans from 3:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

December 2, 2009 I Written By

Donald Braswell to Perform at Carnegie Hall

I just got an email from a fan of Donald Braswell saying that Donald will be performing in Carnegie Hall on November 27, 2009 at 8:00 PM. He will be appearing along with Tim Janis, who is an accomplished musician. This is very cool. Carnegie Hall is an epic place and I’m really happy for Donald.

Word has it that Donald’s second CD will be out in December. You can buy Donald Braswell’s First CD on Amazon.

November 4, 2009 I Written By

Interview with the EriAm Sister from America’s Got Talent Season 4

By Pure America’s Got Talent fan request (and with their help), I was able to get in contact with the EriAm sisters from America’s Got Talent season 4. I was really excited to interview the EriAm sisters, because they were the only act that really moved me this last season. When I saw their first performance I was hooked on these girls. They were awesome and were sent home far too early.

I hope you enjoy the following email interview I did with the EriAm sisters.

Why did you decide to audition for America’s Got Talent?
The experience and exposure you can get by being on a show like AGT is huge and we found out they were coming to Seattle a week before they did and we thought it would be fun to audition. We didn’t really expect or intend to win or go as far as we did we just thought it would be a great opportunity that had the possibility to really accelerate our music career and we are SOO happy we did it.

What were the judges like in person?
Sharon, Piers, David are very sweet people, despite what many people may say. Once all the glamour and TV is over, you find really simple and nice people. Mr. Morgan can be very tough on the contestants and speaks out his mind, as everyone knows, 🙂 so we were always afraid what his next comment will be after our presentation but we are very happy with all of them. Their criticism and comments has helped us to learn a lot in our performance abilities.

What was the craziest thing that happened to you because of America’s Got Talent?
Hugging Nick Canon was our craziest moment. One of Salinas 3 dreams in life is to meet Mariah Carey and with hugging Nick she came very close to it. She said “when I hugged Nick, I could smell Mariah Carey” :-

What was the best thing that happened to you since America’s Got Talent?
We all know music inspires people. But before America’s Got Talent we we never realized how much of an impact we could have on so many younger kids who have big dreams. We get tons of e-mails and messages from young kids who write “they now believe they can achieve their dream because we inspired them”. It is such a great feeling to know that something that you did is inspiring another person and making them think ‘hey, if they can do it, I can do it.” That is the most rewarding thing that can happen to us. But to be really specific, receiving the “key to the city” of Renton, Washington our hometown was by far the biggest and best thing that happened to us after AGT. We want to thank our community and all our supporters for supporting us, throughout all of our careers.

Your website has said you were coming out with an album for over a year. When will be finally get an EriAm sisters album?
Yes, we have worked very hard to record our first album with producers Andrew Lane, John Silva, DJ Freestyle and Kevin Gardner a year ago but for various technical and business related issues, we were not able to release it on time. Now, since we have grown and our vocals have changed so much we want to re-record some of the songs and touch them up before release. We promise the EriAm album is coming very soon. 😀 Stay tuned. Meanwhile, we do have a single “My BFF” on Itunes, Amazon everywhere 🙂

Will you be participating in the America’s Got Talent Live shows in Las Vegas with Kevin Skinner?
No, we were not called to participate in the AGT Vegas show. To be honest, the live show would have been a little hectic to go straight from Hollywood AGT to the Vegas show. We are very happy that we were relieved from the Vegas show and are able to enjoy home until the next wave comes. We do hope to go see it sometime when they begin 🙂

Are you planning a national concert tour? (one fan in Massachusetts wants to know if you’ll be performing there too)
It would be awesome to do a national and international tour to promote our album. At this point, it is too early to tell what is in store for us. However, we hope that 2010 will be a great year and when we do have our tour we promise we will work hard to have one in Massachusetts where we have great fans. 😀

Your YouTube channel has a variety of song types: R&B/Pop/Rock. Can we expect your album to have a similar mix of music?
That is a good observation 😀 We have a hard time finding one type of music that we can be labeled with. We love so many different types of music we can never stick to one. However, a mix of Pop and R&B and some soft Rock is what you could expect from us in the next album. The album has some really amazing songs written by renowned song writers and we hope people will love it as much as we do 😀

Who was your favorite contestant on America’s Got Talent (besides yourselves of course)?
There were so many great act and we really made such good friends with all of them. Barbara, Voices of Glory, Mia, Drew, Recycled Percussion, Kevin Skinner, Erik and Rickie 🙂 are just some of them we had so much fun experiencing AGT with everyone and going out to shop, eat, enjoy Hollywood with them, we bonded so much. We miss everyone so much the contestants and staff were what made this experience so great.

What advice would you give those who want to be on America’s Got Talent?
Well when you open a business people, it is all about Location. Assuming that you have great singing talent, when you audition for singing, it is all about selecting a song that shows your talent. We had the challenge of selecting a song that shows the talent of each one of us and ultimately, we believe the song selection and presentation are the two important aspects of your audition. And in general, just have fun, have confidence in your talent and really try to have fun because if you have fun, what more could u ask for?

Much Love,
EriAm

October 21, 2009 I Written By

Interview with the EriAm Sisters – Submit Questions

Many of my regular readers will be very excited that I was able to get in touch with the EriAm sisters. So, I’m planning to do an email interview with them. In true blogger fashion, I’m asking readers of this site to submit questions that they think I should ask the EriAm sisters. Of course, if none of you have questions, then I’ll make a bunch of my own since they were my favorites.

So, leave a list of questions you’d like me to ask the EriAm sisters and I’ll try to include them in my interview of the EriAm sisters.

October 8, 2009 I Written By

Kevin Skinner Wins America’s Got Talent Season 4

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!

September 16, 2009 I Written By

One of These Things Is Not Like The Other…

Remember that segment on Sesame Street called “One of these things is not like the other…” It was one of my favorites. Let’s play that game here:

Shakira
Leona Lewis
Rascal Flatts
Cirque du Soleil
Susan Boyle

I’ll admit that I’m impressed that America’s Got Talent was able to get these many big names on the show. However, one of the people on the list is just really out of place. I’ll give you a hint. I put her name in bold. Seriously, all of the others sell out concerts all over the world. The other one had one nice performance on BGT.

Either way, I really enjoyed Rascal Flatts performance and Shakira’s body moved in ways that I didn’t know were possible. WoW!

I Written By

America’s Got Talent Winner – Kevin Skinner or Barbara Padilla

I’d been thinking this for a while, but the voting on my poll for the America’s Got Talent Winner just confirmed what I was already thinking and just didn’t want to admit publicly. I think I can safely say that the winner of America’s Got Talent season 4 will be either Barbara Padilla or Kevin Skinner. Everyone else has either fallen off the map (Lawrence Beaman), not had enough exposure (Drew Stevyns), or they just don’t have the wide ranging popularity of these two.

Don’t ask me why these 2 are so popular. They are both really really nice individuals, but they are far from the most talented people on America’s Got Talent. However, they’ve done what you have to do most on America’s Got Talent which is win the hearts of the American people.

Since I’m in the predicting mood, I’ll even go on to predict that Kevin Skinner is going to win America’s Got Talent 2009. Yes, it stings for me to say that since he’s a pretty bad singer. Yes, I couldn’t even bring myself to type that he was a pretty good singer. I had to stick with pretty bad. I think people just love Kevin Skinner’s chicken catcher story. I know I laughed really hard the first time I heard it. I like many Americans also love to see someone come from a chicken catcher to shocking America with a win. That’s the beauty of America and Kevin Skinner seems like a really good guy so at the end of the day I don’t have a problem with him winning. It’s just unfortunate that other talent couldn’t have won.

My question for all of you is assuming I’m right and Kevin Skinner wins, will you be coming to Las Vegas to see Kevin Skinner perform in America’s Got Talent Live? Should we all plan a day to go to the show and we could throw a Pure America’s Got Talent party somewhere in Las Vegas? I’m game if enough people are interested.

I Written By

Vote for America’s Got Talent 2009 Winner

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.

September 14, 2009 I Written By