America's Got ... Singers and Dancers
2006-08-16 22:10 - Rants
I've been, overall, enjoying watching the NBC show America's Got Talent. There have been some truly impressive acts, and some that were so bad they were laughable. Like I said, it was enjoyable.
There's one big problem though. We've already got American Idol for singers. And not to mention So You Think You Can Dance for dancers. Singing and dancing may be a talent, but they're not so impressive, and they've already been done.
But the public disagrees with me, as usual. Of the ten finalists, largely determined by call-in voting, there were four singing acts, two dancing acts, one purely musical, and one music and dancing act. That only leaves two other acts: Passing Zone (jugglers) and Quick Change (quick change artists). Quick Change was pathetic. It's 95% in the props. (Hint to those who haven't figured it out: She's just wearing a bunch of layers, of very thin fabric.) It's just not impressive, and every time they came back, it was exactly the same act, no variety, no originality.
Actually, I'm casting a wide net there above; the dancing act Realis was very impressive. It was acrotbatics as much as dancing, and undoubtedly a real talent. But as I said, the rest of the singing and music was very every day. Sure, two of the singers weren't even in their teens yet. Sure, they were good, but it goes to show how un-special singing is, if you can manage that by 11 years old.
The one real standout act was Passing Zone. Each act they did was fresh and new. They mixed in some comedy that was really funny, and they owned the stage. It's too bad they are up against cute little kids, and being judged by a doing-good-to-keep-from-drooling-on-themselves public.
