Last Words about America’s Got Talent, Season 2

A few weeks ago I reviewed America's Got Talent in total disgust. I thought that I had canceled the record options on our Myth TV, but the show taped the following week, which Dan commented on. But, I've been hooked into watching all of the semifinal rounds. I was disappointed that of the 8 semifinalists, all but one are musical acts. I do have to say that two of the singing acts are individual- Butterscotch with her beatboxing and Terry Fator with his ventriloquism. I think that they stand out from the normal singers that could compete on American Idol.

I don't like that the format of the show is different than last year. It leaves the audience not knowing how to the show is going to work. For example, the judges "picking" songs for the finalists. That automatically discounts the one musical group in the mix, Sideswipe, which I love to watch. How is that fair?

Cas Haley has been my favorite the last few weeks. One week I even broke down and called in to vote for him 10 times. He just looks like he is having such a great time and I admire his family values. He is someone I could buy a CD and listen to all the time.

Butterscotch is great too. I love her jazzy style and I'm impressed with the beatboxing, but I hate when she does the two together. Her ability to do it amazes me, but I think that it sounds awful since the beats cut off her sustained singing notes anf ruins the quality of the sung words. I loved her performance when she beatboxed and played the piano at the same time. She definitely is unique in her talent.

As I said earlier, I find that Terry Fator has a unique talent involving his music. He's funny too! Maybe I like him because I used to do puppetry. He can do impersonations, sing, use comedy, and puppeteer. He's good. I don't know if he will win, but I'm sure that he will have a great career ahead of him. I think that I have a hard time relating to his acts because half the time I don't know who he is impersonating (because I'm so young or maybe too secluded).

Julienne Irwin is a good singer, but she is not the best in the competition. She reminds me a lot of LeAnn Rimes when she started out, but unfortunately Julienne doesn't seem to have much in the way of individual style when interpretting songs. I was disappointed last year when Bianca Ryan won. I think that Julienne is in the same boat. With some voice coaching, she could go on to win a competition like American Idol. America's Got Talent is not the venue for solo singers, in my opinion. They tend to edge out other talents out there.

I don't know who to say should win. In my eyes, it's between Cas Haley and Terry Fator.

A few notes on the semifinalists that didn't make it tonight:

• Sideswipe: They deserved to be in the final four, especially after their performance last week. They included martial arts, drama, dance, and even their students. I thought that they were awesome and I hope that they go far.
• The Glamazons: I love what these women stand for, being a plus-size girl myself. They bring sexy to the big girl. I like their stage presence and their choreography, but they are not fantastic singers. The redhead is the best of the four- I really liked her solos. The four of them together don't always get the harmonies right, and it ruins the whole performance.
• Jason Pritchett and Robert Hatcher: I found these guys pretty plain. They sound like other guys on the radio. There was no real personality in their performances. When either of them came on the TV, I didn't look up from my book or the laptop because they never brought anything too exciting to the screen.