Inspire the Fire Inspires the Crowd in the AGT Tampa Auditions

“Honestly thought I was watching a production on Broadway, but it was urban at the same time” – Sharon Osborne
“I hate Glee, but I love you” — Howard Stern
“This was not corny, it was great” — between Howie and Howard

The first performance in the Tampa auditions received the comments above from the judges and a huge applause from the audience. Inspire the Fire, who some claim are similar to Glee, definitely lit up the stage and were my favorite act of the night. I was actually reminded of Glee with the song choice, Lean on Me, since that song was featured on the show Glee once. However, I was very entertained by this group. I mean, I’ve heard better vocals and seen better dancing, but I loved the act, and the meaning of the organization, Inspire the Fire. Here is their audition from the other night:

As it was introduced during the audition, Inspire the Fire, a non-profit group based in Charlotte, North Carolina,  was created to help youth, particularly those who are under-privileged. The website for Inspire the Fire describes the group as follows:

The youth we serve are ages 10-21. Statistically, this age range has been more likely to engaged in juvenile crimes . . .  The central purpose of the program is not to develop professional artists. Rather, the program strives to raise awareness and appreciation of artistic abilities of all students and to recognize and develop the outstanding talents of many students who would not be identified as gifted and talented through academic tests or other traditional means.

Participants in the program have to get a certain amount of community service hours in order to be in the group. Besides singing, there are a bunch of different activities that the members can participate in. The group also give a few performances a month.

Overall, this just seems like a great group with an awesome purpose. I’d like to see some more of what they can do. Even if they don’t win, maybe they could make a a guest appearance on the next season of Glee. What did you think of this group?