Yeah, I know this is a family blog and not a pop culture expose site, but there was something odd I noticed this week while watching the first episode of the new season of "America's Got Talent." I really enjoyed watching this show last year where a really talented ventriloquist/impressionist won first place, so I was interested to see what acts would be showcased this year.
The very final performance of this week's show, which is the initial auditions, featured a performance that had me feeling a very strange sense of deja vu. An overweight, somewhat pathetic-looking yet sympathetic salesman named Neal E Boyd performed an opera piece called "Nessun Dorma." The judges and crowd go crazy for his performance. (The song starts just after the 3:00 point):
Now compare this to a clip from a very similar show called "Britain's Got Talent" where an overweight, somewhat pathetic-looking yet sympathetic salesman named Paul Pots performs an opera piece called "Nessun Dorma." The judges (one of whom coincidentally also appears on "America's Got Talent") and crowd go crazy for his performance:
Coincidence? Paul Pots in Britain went on to win the whole competition. I can't help but wonder if somehow the producers specifically went out of their way to find the same thing on the US version of the show. I won't deny the guy from the US is talented, from my extremely limited knowledge of opera--though certainly not as good as the UK guy. However, it makes you wonder if he wasn't sought out and pushed through and spotlighted in the final segment of the audition show specifically to try and manufacture the same phenomenon here in the US. What really amazes me, though, is in this era of YouTube that the producers somehow think they can do the same thing on a different show and no one notice. Even Maria had seen the Paul Pots performances before, and she doesn't seek out clips like this like I do.
The very final performance of this week's show, which is the initial auditions, featured a performance that had me feeling a very strange sense of deja vu. An overweight, somewhat pathetic-looking yet sympathetic salesman named Neal E Boyd performed an opera piece called "Nessun Dorma." The judges and crowd go crazy for his performance. (The song starts just after the 3:00 point):
Now compare this to a clip from a very similar show called "Britain's Got Talent" where an overweight, somewhat pathetic-looking yet sympathetic salesman named Paul Pots performs an opera piece called "Nessun Dorma." The judges (one of whom coincidentally also appears on "America's Got Talent") and crowd go crazy for his performance:
Coincidence? Paul Pots in Britain went on to win the whole competition. I can't help but wonder if somehow the producers specifically went out of their way to find the same thing on the US version of the show. I won't deny the guy from the US is talented, from my extremely limited knowledge of opera--though certainly not as good as the UK guy. However, it makes you wonder if he wasn't sought out and pushed through and spotlighted in the final segment of the audition show specifically to try and manufacture the same phenomenon here in the US. What really amazes me, though, is in this era of YouTube that the producers somehow think they can do the same thing on a different show and no one notice. Even Maria had seen the Paul Pots performances before, and she doesn't seek out clips like this like I do.
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