'America's Got Talent': reflections on judging
I was talking to one of my coworkers about this week's America's Got Talent yesterday, and we agreed that the judges were way harder on local girl Julienne Irwin than most of the other singers. Robert Hatcher was kind of mediocre, and the judges heaped him with praise. Sharon Osbourne and David Hasselhoff had nothing but kind words for Jason Pritchett, and I thought he was flat his whole performance.
And they all went nuts for ventriloquist Terry Fator. It's ventriloquism. Even the word itself is creepy! (Cue up angry emails from the massive ventriloquism-fan community.)
Maybe the judges were trying to stir more people to vote by being more critical with Julienne. (I've certainly suspected that on American Idol.) Maybe they were really tired by the end of the show -- they were brutal to Sideswipe, the only act to perform after Julienne.
So am I overreacting on behalf of our local contestant, or did the judging seem a little unfair?
Comments
Alright, this is your first angry email from a ventriloquism fan. How could you not love Terry Fator and the turtle puppet that did his imitation of Kermit the Frog? If you can bash puppets, there's just no end to the darkness in your soul.
Posted by: Trish | August 3, 2007 11:16 PM
I am totally with you on this...episode after episode, I have felt like the judges were on drugs! I don't think there has yet been a vocal performance by anyone (except perhaps Cas Haley) where they haven't had MAJOR pitch problems - and sometimes, as in Pritchett's case, they are flat-out dull and...bad. But it seems like every time I hear a singer that I think is cringe-worthy, the judges gush all over him or her and tell them they're the "total package" or they have "it" - and then I wonder if I'm totally crazy or if I've just lost touch with what other people really like.
Posted by: Erika | August 7, 2007 10:25 PM