America's Got Talent Review (Season 5)

     In the age of reality television and "underdog stories", people are always on the lookout for the next big star.  It all started with the enormous success of American Idol, the massively popular talent search show that has reigned as the number one show in America for half of the last decade.  Similar shows have launched to find the next great model, fashion designer, and even chef.  One of these shows in search of the next big star is one on my guilty pleasures, America's Got Talent.  What separates America's Got Talent from other talent competitions is in its sheer scope.  While other shows feature a distinct occupation, such as a "model" or "chef", there is no limit to the kinds of "talent" that can be featured on America's Got Talent; which produces a madness that is incredibly entertaining.

     While America's Got Talent is nowhere near as popular as similarly themed talent competition American Idol, it has managed to reign supreme as the number one summer show for the past few years.  For people unfamiliar with the format of this type of a show, America's Got Talent is a talent competition, in the simplest definition of the word.  People from all over America travel to certain cities in order to display their talent.  If they make it past this stage, they get to audition before three celebrity judges, more on them later.  If the judges like the act, they will vote them through to Las Vegas, and if not, they are sent home.  The acts that make it to Las Vegas compete for a spot in the "Top 48", and a chance to perform on live T.V. in order to win the grand prize of one million dollars and headline show in Las Vegas.  At this point, the judges stop and America takes over.  After each episode, viewers vote for their favorite act, and only a certain number of performers can make it through every week.  The Top 48 is ultimately filtered down to 4 finalists to a smaller and smaller number, until only one act remains: the winner.  The journey in between the auditions is often wacky, thrilling, disgusting, repulsive, wonderful, beautiful, hilarious, heart-breaking, boring, exciting, and even sometimes...magical.



      This season, promoted as "the biggest season yet" (I can't wait until the day when a show promotes their "Smaller-than-last-season" season) truly was big in every way.  Big in talent, big in spectacle, big in disappointments, and big in entertainment.  The audition process featured the usual big talent, and the big blunders.  Nothing different then previous years here.  There was no big "Susan Boyle" or "Kevin Skinner" discovery this year, but there was still quite a wide variety of talent.  Some of my favorites include Prince Poppycock (Male Operatic Singer), Taylor Matthews (Male Singer), Antonio Restivo (Fire Illusionist), Airpocalypse (Air Guitar Band), Jeremy VanSchoonhoven (Extreme Cycist), Haspop (Dancer), Carlos Apponte (Male Operatic Singer) and Fighting Gravity (Blacklight Performers).

      The Las Vegas Callbacks were mostly uneventful.  Another change in the format of who makes it through to the Top 48 this season.  Ten acts went straight through without a second performance while the remaining acts were split into two groups.  The first group, the "judges picks" were given the first chance to perform for the remaining 38 spots.  The second group was allowed to perform for whatever spots the first group didn't fill.  I liked this, because it gave all the groups a second chance to make it to the live show, instead of automatically sending some home like they did last year.  The worst part of this part of the show was the fact that they sent one of my favorite acts, Carlos Apponte, home.  I think he would have done very well in the competition, and I will never forgive the judges for sending him home.

    Speaking of the judges, what is a talent competition without the wacky celebrity judges?  Piers Morgan returned for his fifth season as America's Got Talent sharp British tongue, Sharon Osbourne returned for her fourth season as the sweet motherly judge, and Howie Mandel replaced David Hasselhoff (Thank God) as the hilarious witty and sarcastic judge.  Piers Morgan is my favorite judge because, just like Simon Cowell, he is unafraid to tell it like it is.  If an act is good, he'll let them know, and if they suck he'll let them know.  America pretends to "hate" Piers Morgan, but everyone knows that his opinion is the only one that matters, and once an act wins Piers' approval, then they are in good shape.  Sharon is indifferent, and I just love her cookiness.  Howie other, is a bit of an enigma.  On one hand, he replaced David Hasselhoff, so for that he will forever have my gratitude.  He is also hilarious, and he brings some modern sensibility to this group.  I love his "rivalry" with Piers, and it's becoming one of the best judging teams on television.  That being said, I think Howie Mandel is an idiot.  Granted, this was his first year as a judge, so he is a little inexperienced at this kind of thing.  However, he is a poor judge of talent, and his advice to the contestants was either obvious or....pointless.  His criticism of dancing duo Anna and Patryk was completely inexcusable.  Now that he's gotten some experience on judging, I really hope that he is a better judge next year, because he is truly very funny.  He is just a poor judge of talent.

    The Top 48 was appropriately diverse.  While some acts did not belong there and were only placed there in the name of "diversification" (I'm looking at you Ronith), there were a lot of quality acts in the Top 48.  They narrowed down the Top 48 down to the Top 16, which weeded out a lot of the extraneous acts who couldn't handle the pressure or just weren't good enough for the show.  Then they did the YouTube auditions, which can be marked as successful since it introduced the world to Jackie Evancho, who will probably be the greatest star that show ever produces.  They had a "Judge's Pick" week, where they gave eliminated acts a chance to return for another spot on the show, which was great, because it meant that dynamic dancing duo Anna and Patryk got to return and eventually make it to the Top 10.

     One thing that I enjoyed was during the results shows, to help increase the length of the show, they would bring in various acts in to perform.  Sometimes the act was just whatever popular singer they wanted to bring in, but often times they brought in successful Vegas acts to come in and perform, which is one that makes this show stand out.  Some even included former acts, such as one of my favorites from last season, Recycled Percussion.  It just goes to show that you do not to need to win this show to go on to have a successful career.

    The finale was appropriately entertaining except for one thing....Michael Grimm won.  Don't get me wrong, Michael Grimm is a very talented singer with a wonderful soulful voice, and a great stage presence as well.  But, there is absolutely no way that he beat Fighting Gravity AND Jackie Evancho.  Fighting Gravity was the most original Vegas-made act this show has ever had, and Jackie Evancho was perfection, the pinnacle of American talent.  These two acts represented and reflected the American dream, and deserved to win.  Michael Grimm, was a singer, very similar to last year's humble winner, Kevin Skinner.  I do not see how this was possible, and I might be starting to believe that this show is rigged in someway.  In any case, Fighting Gravity will go on to have a Vegas show, and Jackie Evancho will go on to be a superstar.  I wish Michael Grimm the best.
    Some people may question why I watch this show.  It seems pretty silly and cheesy,and overly sentimental.  And probably rigged.  Let me tell you why I watch this show.  I watch America's Got Talent because I believe in dreams.  I am a big dreamer, and a fervent believer in a following one's dreams.  As exploitive and heart-crushing as this show can be, it also gives a select group of people an extraordinary chance at making their wildest dreams coming true. There is something magical about that that just touches the dreamer in me, and that's why I love this show.  Despite all the misused opportunities, all the poor judging, all the stupid talent, and all the negative aspects of this show, I can't help but love watching people's dreams come true.  And that, is what it is all about.
"Ya know, I want to say to every kid out there that feels picked on and feels like an outsider, I want you to believe that life is magical and I want you to look at me right now and understand that dreams can come true" - Prince Poppycock