What is Wrong with America's Got Talent

Daniella Nicole
Daniella Nicole, Yahoo! Contributor Network
Sep 1, 2010 "Share your voice on Yahoo! websites. Start Here."
There are many wonderful things about the show, America's Got Talent. Some of the acts over the years have been truly amazing. However, several things prevent the show from being the truly outstanding talent-finding show it could be. The following are five things that are wrong with America's Got Talent, in no particular order.

1- Non-American Judges

While Piers Morgan (Irish ethnicity; born in England), Sharon Osbourne (Brit) and Howie Mandel (Canadian) all bring some form of expertise and entertainment to the show, with the theme being "America's" Got Talent, should not that talent be judged by Americans? Say what you want about David Hasselhoff, but he was, at least, American, familiar with the American entertainment industry and all the nuances associated with Americans and our humor, likes and dislikes.

2-Judging Based on Sick Humor; Personal Amusement

The worst offender in this category is Howie Mandel. He has repeatedly passed through odd, non-talented acts in order to amuse himself further, with no consideration for the truly talented acts who are there to get the chance they most assuredly have earned via their auditions and performances. Shame on you, Mr. Mandel, for taking well-deserved opportunities away from talented people.

3-Victim Card Passes

Passing through acts based on their sob story is yet another offense against the purpose of the show. Piers continually harps on the point that it is a show about finding true talent and yet the judges (especially Sharon Osbourne) put through acts based on their sob story. The worst offense by Sharon so far has been putting through the singing sisters from Idaho over the kite-flying boy simply because (her words) she would rather break one heart than two (Season Five). Shame on you, Ms. Osbourne for forgetting the show is not "America's Biggest Sob Story" but "America's Got TALENT".

4-Singing and Dancing

There are already shows dedicated to finding talented singers (American Idol) and dancers (So You Think You Can Dance) in America. Why, oh why, are these categories featured and so heavily inundated on America's Got Talent? Why not stick with the categories that do not have other venues, thereby giving them an actual chance?

Every winning act of the four completed seasons has involved singing, so far, including ventriloquist Terry Fator (Season Two winner) who sings with/via his puppets. Some truly talented acts have lost out to singers of varying levels of talent, including Kevin Skinner (Season Four winner), who, no offense to the man, should simply not have won.

Recycled Percussion was one of several strong acts that deserved the win. Kevin Skinner has had limited success since winning the show while Recycled Percussion (took third place in Season Four) got a show in Vegas, performing at The MGM Grand, August 30 - September 30, 2010. Thank goodness some people recognize true talent.

5-Not Recognizing Talent Worthy of Vegas

The biggest issue in this category is the judges putting through acts that, while talented, are simply not Vegas-show-worthy. If the whole point is to give the winner a show in Vegas, no one should be put through unless their act can capture and entertain an audience in Vegas, bearing in mind, also, the price of tickets for such shows.

Would you pay big money to see someone play the harmonica for an hour? Fly a kite for an hour? Paint for an hour? Talented and entertaining, these acts are just a few that may not really be able to sell Vegas show tickets on their own, but might work well for a variety show, combined with some of the other true talent that isn't really geared for an entire show.

However, the prize is not to be part of a variety show, but to have your own show, in Las Vegas, that your act must carry. The judges continually forget or ignore this in some of their choices.

What do you think is wrong with America's Got Talent and what do you think they should change, if anything? Express your ideas in the comments section.

Sources:

Links: NBC show link http:// www.nbc.com/americas-got-talent/

Recycled Percussion http://www.mgmgrand.com/entertainment/entertainment-schedule.aspx

Published by Daniella Nicole

Syndicated blogger for The Fritch Show. Writer of web content, reviews, multiple showcased & featured articles, blogs, more. Published contributing author. Contributing editor. Niches: dating, relationships,...   View profile

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  • It's American's Got Talent. Shouldn't the judges be American?
  • Every winning act of the four completed seasons has involved singing.
  • No act should be put through unless they can capture and entertain an audience in Vegas.

1 Comments

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  • Annia 9/1/2010

    I agree with you about Sharon lets her heart rules her head. I also would like to point out that this is in the end, is a variety show, the same format as BGT, where the top ten will be perform @ THE ROYAL VARIETY SHOW, for, well, you guess it, the British Royal Members. It is safe to say that AGT will do the same thing here. I can guarantee you that they will not let, say, a kite flyer flying his kite for an hour. Even an idiot knows that. Furthermore, according to the poll that was taken by the show earlier, it showed that Americans preferred singers over other acts. The least preferable was the dancers, which surprised me a great deal. To me, the least entertaining is Comedy, unless the contestants are George Wallace, Rodney Dangerfield (God rest his soul), Jay Leno, Joe McHale, and George Carlin. The singer sisters are gorgeous to look at, but they can't sing, well, the younger one can't sing a lick, let alone attempting to hit a high note. Come on, she fell into the same

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