Piers Morgan Buzzed Prince Poppycock

On September 14, at a time when Prince Poppycock was poised to complete yet another of his repertoire of operatic arias, America's Got Talent judge Piers Morgan applied the buzzer to indicate his disapproval. This time the performance was for the prize and Poppycock fans and non-fans alike seemed to be aghast over Morgan's behavior and words.

Even though I do not own a television, when the Final Four were announced last week, I determined to watch each act's past performances via the internet, both on the America's Got Talent website and on YouTube.

When the final acts were to be aired, I found the message board for America's Got Talent and read reactions made by those watching the show. I can not repeat some of the words leveled by viewers after Piers Morgan dropped his buzz bomb.

I did watch each of the Final Four performances as soon as they were posted on the official NBC AGT site. The first I viewed was that involving Prince Poppycock.

Song Selection
The Prince of Poppycock selected "Nessun Dorma" as his final aria. He has performed this particular number in other places in a baudier manner but in this performance he chose a somber atmosphere as a backdrop for his voice.

In fact, that was one of the comments made by Piers Morgan: Prince Poppycock, who had built his AGT persona around a fanciful fantasy character who sang opera buffa, stepped out of character to take on opera seria. Prince Poppycock retained the lavish makeup, the costuming, and set which audiences expect from him but he was serious, not looking for the laugh.

I mentioned in my other article that Prince Poppycock is not Luciano Pavarotti. "Nessun Dorma" is one of the arias for which Pavarotti became famous. It is difficult to listen to any other singer, either operatic or not, and not compare their rendition with the definitive "owner" of this piece. Many have attempted, including Andrea Bocelli, Placido Domingo, Michael Bolton, Mario Lanza, and even Aretha Franklin and Deanna Durbin.

I think the selection of this particular aria by Prince Poppycock was risky but I do not believe he "blew it," as Piers Morgan stated. I say it was risky because of the Pavarotti connection to the piece.

Prince Poppycock could not sing the entire three or four minutes this aria requires. He was given ninety seconds, one and a half minutes, in which to make his claim to the title of America's Got Talent's best performer of the year.

Buzzer Timing
Many who bemoaned the use of the buzzer said Mr. Morgan should have reserved his judgment for his after-performance commentary. Even Sharon Osbourne stated that during the final competitions when America voted for their favorites the judges were not to use their buzzers at all.

He certainly should not have waited until the fourth note from the end to use his buzzer. As a musician, I know that even if you mess something up in the middle of a piece, if you have a good beginning and nail the climax and last notes of your song, your audience will remember it favorably. Why? Because those notes will be freshest in the audience's mind.

To his credit, Prince Poppycock did not lose his focus and poise when the buzz heard around America sounded.

Technical Problems?
There was, however, a slight loss of focus when something going on with the left earpiece monitor caused Prince Poppycock to put a hand to his ear and remove the earpiece. This occurred after Prince Poppycock removed his brilliantly plumed helmet and began to move across the stage. He did recover, though.

Even when Jackie Evancho began the "Ave Maria," there was a brief moment when she looked a little puzzled and glanced at something offstage to her right.

Was There Favoritism?
Viewers noted that comments made by Piers Morgan after the performances of each of the other acts continued to heap praise on Jackie Evancho's performance while finding fault with the others.

Statements like "a brilliant young opera singer" (referring to Jackie after Prince Poppycock's performance), "you just followed Jackie, who was perfect and for me, she still remains the one who should win this show" (said after Fighting Gravity finished their act), and "That was perfection, perfection" (after Jackie's performance) seemed an effort to sway opinions in favor of his own choice.

Even Piers Morgan's comments after Michael Grimm's performance were not as glowing as those he gave Jackie Evancho. He said, "Well, that is more like it. That is what I came to see in the final America's Got Talent, and unlike the previous contestant who I thought blew it . . ." Still hurling aspersions at Prince Poppycock while taking the focus off an equally flawless performance. He did say that Michael Grimm's talent could represent what America was about.

Sharon Osbourne's Reaction
You have to love a judge like Sharon who is not afraid to stand up and voice her outrage when she feels Piers Morgan has behaved rudely. This is not the first time the two have clashed over something Morgan has said.

In 2007, he and David Hasselhoff co-buzzed a nine year old wanna-be cheerleader called Breeze. What Piers said next enraged Sharon so much, she stormed off stage and began removing her makeup, threatening not to return. You can see that episode here.

After Piers buzzed Prince Poppycock and began his explanation of why he did it, Sharon called Piers "selfish, selfish, selfish," punctuating each word by slapping the desk in front of her with whatever she had in her hand. Nikita Kruschev could not have done better at expressing displeasure. (In 1960, Nikita Kruschev removed his shoe during a meeting of the United Nations and proceeded to interrupt the speech of the Philippine delegation representative by banging the desk with it.) Sharon followed up her comments to Piers by accusing him of being "self-indulgent" and taking himself too seriously, words Piers had just applied to Prince Poppycock.

She later swatted at Piers with whatever was in her hand when he made another disparaging remark about Prince Poppycock.

Viewer Suggestions
Some of the viewers have suggested things that should be considered, in my opinion, after this episode during the Finals this year.

One suggestion was to have a separate America's Got Talent for performers younger than eighteen years. This would be to counter the "child prodigy" awe effect that Piers Morgan and so many AGT fans had over Jackie Evancho and others who have adult performances but are still children. Several commenters have asked whether Jackie Evancho was popular because of her age and the voice which seemed grown up beyond its years.

The other suggestion was more anger-driven. One viewer asked that anyone who was offended by Piers Morgan's action during Prince Poppycock's performance call and write NBC to complain. The complaints were to demand Morgan's removal as a judge on America's Got Talent and request the buzzers be removed during the Final Four competition.

Piers Morgan is scheduled to replace Larry King as a talk show host on CNN when King leaves this December. Whether this rude episode will taint his reputation or help him to be a success on that show remains to be seen. Will AGT viewers exact revenge and boycott Piers Morgan? A number of comments on various AGT clips on YouTube suggest they may stop watching America's Got Talent as well.

Sources:
http://www.youtube.com/
http://www.nbc.com/americas-got-talent/
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/39060518/ns/today-entertainment/39131362 Piers Morgan to Replace Larry King