Review of America’s Got Talent
Like most of America, I admit to getting caught up in the “American Idol” frenzy. That’s why I was somewhat looking forward to seeing Simon Cowell’s brand new offering, “America’s Got Talent” on NBC. This program is supposed to be more of a throwback to the old variety-type shows like “Ed Sullivan” and “The Ted Mack Amateur Hour,” where you could have as many acrobats and fire-eaters as you could singers, dancers and comedians.
By its description in the weeks proceeding its debut, “America’s Got Talent” seemed to be like an updated version of”The Gong Show,” so I was quite curious to see it. We middle-aged folks often get a nostalgic longing to see things that remind us of our younger days, so I was hoping that this would bring me back to the kind of shows I watched “back in the day.”
I was right there in front of the tube for the first two shows on June 21st and June 29th, praying that this would be all I needed it to be. At the conclusion of both episodes, I was somewhat disappointed.
While I love anything that encourages people to fulfill their dreams, there were only a few acts on “America’s Got Talent” that impressed me. Of course, we all know that what we live for is the staggeringly awful auditioners, just like on “Idol,” but when there are too many such contestants of this ilk, it can become tedious to watch.
The participants consisted of bad jugglers, mediocre ventriloquists, animal acts, the obligatory host of freaky individuals and talentless-folks-in-denial. There were, thankfully, some who were genuinely gifted, such as some young children who might be future star vocalists in the making.
My greatest complaint about this show is that the occasional sleaze factor that gets through is totally inappropriate for the child participants who are part of the audience. I mean, come on, the network has to know that a 70-ish year old male stripper stripping down to his thong during the first week’s auditions and the female stripper who wriggled down to her barest fire-engine red micro-undies during the second week were not the kind of “entertainment” that ought to have been presented before an audience that included several minor children. Any club or person who allowed this in “real life” would be prosecuted.
If “America’s Got Talent” is going to persist in allowing more adult-appropriate acts to perform, then they need to make sure, in my opinion, that any kids who might be in the audience, are put in another area. I suggest perhaps a room backstage, where they can sit with an adult guardian and still be able to hear their name called when it’s time for them to go on, but without being able to see the visual portions of the show that might be considered vulgar.
As far as the judges of the show- R&B pop princess Brandy, former “Baywatch” star David Hasselhoff and Piers Morgan, British media personality- they are no Randy, Paula and Simon. Morgan has the accent, but none of the delicious nastiness we all love in Simon. So far, they have only managed to ignite a slight bit of irritation in me. My hope is that they don’t allow personal sympathy to influence them on letting less-than-stellar contestants through, since the pivotal word in this show IS supposed to be “talent,” right? I’d like to see Simon come on as a “surprise” guest judge.
Perhaps this show will grow on me, in the weeks to come, but, so far, I have seen nothing that makes it any better than a local Kiwanas Club fundraiser show, except that it has Regis Philbin as the host.
If this is supposed to really be America’s”most talented,” we are in BIG trouble!
