America's Got Talent

Gary O'

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Location
Oregon
Been watching this show for a couple months now.

Tonight they're in some sorta finals.

If the old blind guy, Robert Finley, doesn't take it all, then sumpm's waaaay wrong with the voting crowd

That.....man...can......SING!

Ray Charles, BB King, and Al Green rolled into one ol' guy
 

The finals won't happen until September 18th. What's on, now, are various elimination rounds. Yeah, gets confusing.

Janet watches it, I sometimes will give it a few minutes. That fellow you mention, above, is pretty good. Thing is, with all of these competition shows, they are more personality contests, than talent contests. Often, the competitor with the most heart-tugging backstory and/or the biggest personality, will beat out the more talented competition.

Years ago, I watched a few of these shows, regularly. Being an excellent judge of musical talent, and dance skills, based on my years in the biz, I could easily determine who actually deserved to win, if talent was the deciding factor. After a few ridiculous outcomes, that saw sub-par talent win, I gave up on these shows.

One thing provided consolation to me, with the above: I always told Janet that the more talented individuals, who lost, didn't actually need to win the show to succeed. Time and again, I saw this to be true, as the "losers" went on to achieve more success than the individual, or act, they lost to. In one case, a former AI winner showed up, in Austin, some years after his win, in a very minor role in a very minor musical production. He had really lacked much musical talent, when he was on AI.

Your guy may not win against the blind, autistic, singing pianist, or other acts that seem very popular, to me, when I catch them on the tube, but he will, most likely, get a recording contract, have an album that sells well, make a small fortune, and live the rest of his life in comfort like he's never known, before. Good luck, to him!
 
Your guy may not win against the blind, autistic, singing pianist, or other acts that seem very popular, to me, when I catch them on the tube, but he will, most likely, get a recording contract, have an album that sells well, make a small fortune, and live the rest of his life in comfort like he's never known, before. Good luck, to him!
Yeah, I didn't see the piano guy tonight. Another of my faves.
But, yeah, win or lose, if they've got it, they'll do well in the industry.

Thanks for the input, TG
 

I've been watching that show from the beginning - one of my favorites. But I'm starting to like it less & less.
The judges will frequently praise a performer who has little or no talent but has a "touching" story. And those acts that are risky should never be permitted. Do we really need to encourage young people to do more stupid things?
The show should be re-named "America's Got Emotion."
 
I've been watching that show from the beginning - one of my favorites. But I'm starting to like it less & less.
The judges will frequently praise a performer who has little or no talent but has a "touching" story. And those acts that are risky should never be permitted. Do we really need to encourage young people to do more stupid things?
The show should be re-named "America's Got Emotion."

I stopped Watching Britain's Got talent a couple of years ago, for the self same reason!!
 
I'm curious about your opinions on one Golden Buzzer performer. I don't typically watch but I happened by it and paused for a 15 year old, Sophia Pecora, singing (rapping sometimes) a song she wrote herself about bullying. I liked her songwriting skills but she didn't strike me as a stand out performer.

Brad Paisley hit the Golden Buzzer. I was happy for her but very surprised. And unfortunately that made only six spots left after that for other performers to win who were probably better (I didn't see the rest). Do you think she deserved it? Is she still in the competition?

 
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Yeah, I didn't see the piano guy tonight. Another of my faves.
But, yeah, win or lose, if they've got it, they'll do well in the industry.

Thanks for the input, TG
I have heard that AGT Producers (Simon Cowell) have a contract with the contestants and you hardly if ever see them again. They do bring back some previous winners for the final show.
 
I have heard that AGT Producers (Simon Cowell) have a contract with the contestants and you hardly if ever see them again. They do bring back some previous winners for the final show.
This is true... not so much in the earlier days but certainly yes in recent years... very few have become world wide ''stars''..Susan Boyle while she was earning money for him is still pulled out of the closet when it suits, and a few others but generally the contestants get a little of what they're looking for and that's 15 minutes of fame.. from then they have to make their own destiny... ..and Cowell and Co go on making millions from the shows..
 
I often watch talent shows just because I love music so much but I can’t help noticing that ALL the contestants have sappy stories that get told just before they preform.

If these shows are judging merely on talent then that’s what they should do but they sure play to ones heart strings and I find it very pretentious.
It’s so obvious that they are playing the sob stories up to win all the sentimental voters but come on......... it’s OVERKILL!

In my opinion, not that ‘they’ care, 🙄 the producers are exploiting these contestants into sharing more than they perhaps want to. I’m not saying they are forced but the transparency of pretentiousness with some of them really takes away from some of the genuine talent.
 
I'm curious about your opinions on one Golden Buzzer performer. I don't typically watch but I happened by it and paused for a 15 year old, Sophia Pecora, singing (rapping sometimes) a song she wrote herself about bullying. I liked her songwriting skills but she didn't strike me as a stand out performer.

Brad Paisley hit the Golden Buzzer. I was happy but very surprised. That made only six spots left after that for other performers to win. Do you think she deserved it? Is she still in the competition?


She was certainly unique but there was so many more talented performers there.

It seems that the show itself is looking to score points more in the drama scene than the talent one.

The girl was quirky and touching but a ‘golden button?’

There were plenty of large dance groups with lots of kids really putting in some real blood, sweat and tears to stay in this competition so I can’t help but compare and it doesn’t quite seem fair.

🥺
 
One dance competition travesty that I remember: Bobby Bones won DWTS. It was obvious that he, himself, was embarrassed, winning purely on his popularity as a radio personality on the national scene. His dancing was about as good as an awkward high schooler in an intro dance class.
 
I've been watching that show from the beginning - one of my favorites. But I'm starting to like it less & less.
The judges will frequently praise a performer who has little or no talent but has a "touching" story. And those acts that are risky should never be permitted. Do we really need to encourage young people to do more stupid things?
The show should be re-named "America's Got Emotion."

Yeah, I could do without that crap
Still, Robert Finley is my guy
I'd buy his stuff

I have heard that AGT Producers (Simon Cowell) have a contract with the contestants and you hardly if ever see them again. They do bring back some previous winners for the final show
Well....now I'm tainted
 
Its true. Whenever there is nationwide voting its the kid with the most friends at his school, church, and community, who wins. Like Scotty McCreary and the girl who beat Haley Reinhart in American Idol...those are old ones when I used to watch it more.
Here's Haley right after she lost, singing "Bennie & the Jets"...
 
I'm curious about your opinions on one Golden Buzzer performer. I don't typically watch but I happened by it and paused for a 15 year old, Sophia Pecora, singing (rapping sometimes) a song she wrote herself about bullying. I liked her songwriting skills but she didn't strike me as a stand out performer.

Brad Paisley hit the Golden Buzzer. I was happy for her but very surprised. And unfortunately that made only six spots left after that for other performers to win who were probably better (I didn't see the rest). Do you think she deserved it? Is she still in the competition?

Golden Buzzers like her are what convince me that they are pre-arranged or staged beforehand. This girl should get a golden buzzer for having the least talent.
And, how can a judge decide a golden buzzer until he/she has heard ALL the acts?
 
I think they should re-name it "America's Got a Sob Story" or maybe "America's Got Talent, But Not Tonight". How about the strange couple where the husband sings (badly) and the wife plays the violin (meh) and lies on her back throwing knives (badly) at him with her toes? What the hell is THAT about and how the hell did they get this far?

The last couple of years, I've sworn I'm finished with AGT, but like any other addict I keep crawling back to watch it.
 
I think they should re-name it "America's Got a Sob Story" or maybe "America's Got Talent, But Not Tonight". How about the strange couple where the husband sings (badly) and the wife plays the violin (meh) and lies on her back throwing knives (badly) at him with her toes? What the hell is THAT about and how the hell did they get this far?

The last couple of years, I've sworn I'm finished with AGT, but like any other addict I keep crawling back to watch it.
LOL! You came up with a better name for the show than I did. Yes, some acts make me ask myself, "Why am I watching this?" Well, the answer is: "For the good acts that show real talent."
 
How about the strange couple where the husband sings (badly) and the wife plays the violin (meh) and lies on her back throwing knives (badly) at him with her toes? What the hell is THAT about and how the hell did they get this far?
Yeah. What a mystery
I just wade thru the dreck to get to the good stuff
The 'good stuff' is really good
 

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