Welcome to Pure America’s Got Talent

A little more information on The Wright Kids: Sage (mandolin/fiddle) is 12, Baruch (guitar) is 9, and Levi (bass) is 6. They have an audio CD called Playing On The Job which has the following songs (with links to download The Wright Kids songs on iTunes)
Fisher’s Hornpipe sung by the Wright Kids
Windy and Warm sung by the Wright Kids
Three Men On The Mountain sung by the Wright Kids
Star of the County Down sung by the Wright Kids
Wayfaring Stranger sung by the Wright Kids
Two Little Boys sung by the Wright Kids
Talk About Suffering sung by the Wright Kids
Jerusalem Ridge sung by the Wright Kids
Where the Old Red River Flows sung by the Wright Kids
Gospel Plow sung by the Wright Kids
You Need A Dose sung by the Wright Kids
Mill Towns sung by the Wright Kids
God’s Coloring Book sung by the Wright Kids

In this video, 4 year old Levi Wright sings You Are My Sunshine with 7 year old brother Baruch and 10 year old sister Sage at the world’s largest and oldest fiddler’s convention, the Galax 71st annual Old Fiddlers Convention August 7, 2006. The Wright Kids captured 1st place in Youth Band category.

Here are the Wright Kids doing “Wayfaring Stranger” at the 2007 Galax Old Time Fiddlers Convention in Galax, VA.

Here’s a video of the Wright Kids competing during the 2007 Galax Fiddlers Convention and performing “Mule Skinner Blues”

In a little more casual setting this video is The Wright Kids playing at pops:

Eli Mattson has to be one of the most talented performers to ever show his face on America’s Got Talent. He’s just truly a talent that America’s Got Talent is lucky to have.

Searching a bit on the internet, I found the following videos that are basically soundtracks of Eli Mattson singing.

The first video is Eli Mattson singing 7?

The second video is of Eli Mattson singing All I’ll Be (the sound is a little low on this one and takes a little bit to get going)

I always love to check out the YouTube tribute videos that people create for reality TV stars. This tribute video for Eli Mattson is a funky song, but very appropriate:

Of course, Eli Mattson’s first “Walking in Memphis” performance is still the best performance I’ve seen him do.

I’ve been searching for everything I can find about Jessica Price (and other contestants on AGT, but she’s my favorite) and I found a bunch of cool videos of Jessica Price before America’s Got Talent. Here’s my collection so far (let me know if you find any more):

I really really liked this video of Jessica Price, because it shows that Jessica Price really can perform and own the stage. Something she hasn’t been able to do very well on America’s Got Talent because she’s always been so nervous. Let’s hope she can calm down and just enjoy the show like she does in the following Jessica Price coffee house video:

This is a nice casual video of Jessica Price doing a little acoustic guitar while she sings. I like these videos, because you can see it’s really just see that singing is something she does effortlessly. I could see myself just chilling with her for hours listening to her singing:

I found this video of Jessica Price and her band playing an original song. Her band features Mitch Myers on guitar (stage left), Derek Sisson on guitar (stage right), and Johnny Price on bass. The sound and video quality is pretty poor, so take it for what it’s worth:

I also found a nice video interview of Jessica Price with a local Michigan TV station when she returned from taping the show. Interviews like this just make me like Jessica even more.

I’m sure many of you have been frantically voting for your favorites from tonight’s America’s Got Talent. The problem is that you don’t get to find out the results of your votes until next week.

So, vote in the following poll for which acts will be the final 5 acts to make it to the America’s Got Talent top 20 (vote for your favorite 5)

Feel free to leave a comment below on who received your votes and who are your favorites.

Tonight, they announced the next 5 to make it to the America’s Got Talent top 20 (currently only 15 members). I previously posted the videos from AGT Semis part 3 and all the music from AGT semis part 3. Take a look at those to see their full performances. Below you’ll find my personal thoughts about each AGT act.

The 5 members that made it into the top 20 are the following:
Sarah Lenore - Fabulous talent with a huge voice. I have no idea why they gave her the dress she did, because it did nothing but bad for her. However, I still have a little boy crush on Jessica Price. I’m not sure America will vote for both of them.
The Taubl Family - I wasn’t so impressed with them before, but their semifinal performance really was a breathe of fresh air and I could honestly almost see their act as one fit for Vegas. Too bad it’s just almost. I’m not sure they’ll go past the top 20.
Jonathan Burkin - Good old Baton Boy. I wanted to hate him at the beginning of the show when he first performed. He impressed me then, but his act needed some work. His semifinal act was just awesome. It was amazing he never dropped it. I still prefer fire knife dancers to Jonathan Burkin, but he has definitely surprised me with what he’s done.
Joseph Hall - I was so glad that he stayed. I usually hate Elvis impersonators. Maybe because there are so many of them here in Las Vegas. I’m not sure Joseph can really be super successful as Elvis in Las Vegas, but the guy definitely has something about him which is fun to watch.
SickStep - I’ll admit that I was hoping that Michael Strelo-smith would make it over SickStep. They weren’t bad, but after watching so much So You Think You Can Dance and America’s Best Dance Crew this summer, SickStep just seems a step below in my book.

The 5 members who got sent home were:
Michael Strelo-Smith - Michael does talk to much, but I would have loved to see him perform some more. I thought his song selection was horrible, so if only for that I’m ok that he’s gone. He should have sung something that featured his voice and he’d probably still be around.
Texas State Strutters - Horrible outfits. I expected much more, but glad their gone because they aren’t even close to the best sports dancers I’ve seen. Trust me, I’m an expert on sports dancers.
Bruce Block - He really disgraced magicians with this performance. Not even close to previous AGT magician standards
Shequida Hall - Shequida’s shocking talent is to sing the male and the female part of the opera. Shequida’s semifinal performance was so weak and annoying that I’m so glad we won’t have to listen to that singing again.
Matthew Piazzi - Some great voices, but the content and singing was off. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see Matthew Piazzi again somewhere down the road.

Below you’ll find a list of all the performances and music from the America’s Got Talent Semifinalists part 4. If you’re looking for the AGT Semis videos, you can find them here. Also, here’s a link to a list of all the America’s Got Talent music from previous episodes.

The fourth episode of the live performance semifinals broadcast from Los Angeles, California on September 3, 2008 had the following performances along with links to the music they used:

Dallas Desperados Dancers
General: The dance team of the Dallas Desperados Arena Football team.
Preliminaries, Week 5: Passed through
Las Vegas Callbacks: Performance was not shown. Passed through
Semifinals (Part 4):

Bryan Cheatham
General: Singer, a former Chippendale dancer
Preliminaries, Week 5: Sang “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” by Aerosmith .
Las Vegas Callbacks (Part 1): Sang Percy Sledge’s “When A Man Loves A Woman”
Las Vegas Callbacks (Part 2): Passed through
Semifinals (Part 4):

Flambeaux
General: Fire breather
Preliminaries, Week 4: Passed through
Las Vegas Callbacks: Only shown briefly in a montage. Passed through
Semifinals (Part 4): Received 3 X’s from the judges, who complained his act this time was boring, his timing was slow, and that in general his act was too scary.

Kaitlyn Maher
General: four year old singer
Preliminaries, Week 1: Sang “Somewhere Out There” by Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram
Las Vegas Callbacks (Part 1): Sang “When You Wish Upon A Star”
Las Vegas Callbacks (Part 2): Passed through
Semifinals (Part 4): Sang “What a Wonderful World” .

Dorae Saunders
General: transexual Tina Turner impersonator
Preliminaries, Week 5: Lip-synced and danced to “Proud Mary” .
Las Vegas Callbacks (Part 1): Performed to “The Best” .
Las Vegas Callbacks (Part 2): Passed through
Semifinals (Part 4): Performed to “Disco Inferno” .

Donald Braswell
General: Former professional opera singer, his vocal cords were severed in a freak car accident eleven years back. He was told by doctors he might never speak normally again, let alone sing.
Preliminaries, Week 5: sang “You Raise Me Up” by Josh Groban .
Las Vegas Callbacks (Part 1): Sang One Day I’ll Fly Away from the musical Moulin Rouge .
Las Vegas Callbacks (Part 2): Eliminated (Judges Wild Card)
Semifinals (Part 1): Won the Wildcard slot and returned to the competition.
Semifinals (Part 4): Sang “Impossible Dream” by Robert Goulet

Indiggo
General: Romanian twin sisters Mikaela and Gabriela
Preliminaries, Week 1: Sang “New York, New York” by Frank Sinatra
Las Vegas Callbacks: Montage shown singing “Viva Las Vegas” . Passed through
Semifinals (Part 4): Sang an original song.

The Tapping Dads
General: A large group of tap dancing dads.
Preliminaries, Week 7: Passed through
Las Vegas Callbacks: Performance was not shown. Passed through
Semifinals (Part 4): Performed to “Puttin on the Ritz”

Eli Mattson
General: Singer and pianist
Preliminaries, Week 2: Performed “Walking in Memphis” by Marc Cohn .
Las Vegas Callbacks (Part 1): Sang “Your Song” by Elton John .
Las Vegas Callbacks (Part 2): Passed Through.
Semifinals (Part 4): Sang “Nobody Knows it But Me” . Osbourne commented “No dancers, no fire, no backing tracks, just talent.”

Nuttin’ But Stringz
General: Sibling violinists Tourie and Damien. They combine classical music with hip-hop.
Preliminaries, Week 1: Passed through
Las Vegas Callbacks: Performance was not shown. Passed through
Semifinals (Part 4): Their performance earned a standing ovation, including the judges.

Here’s the final performances from the America’s Got Talent Semifinals. Feel free to take a look back at videos from part 1, part 2 and part 3 of the semifinals.

The following videos include performances by the following AGT acts: Dallas Desperados Dancers, Bryan Cheatham, Flambeaux, Kaitlyn Maher, Dorae Saunders, Donald Braswell, Indiggo, The Tapping Dads, Eli Mattson, and Nuttin’ But Stringz.

**Click on the arrows on the side of the video to skip to the next AGT video.

My full evaluation of these acts and who got kicked off the show and who made the top 20 coming soon.

I think the Tapping Dads is one of the nicest stories coming out of America’s Got Talent. I’m not the biggest tap fan, but I am a big fan of dads doing something they love. Dancer blog had the following to say about the The Tapping Dads:

The Tapping Dads, a group of 18 fathers of children involved in the Temecula Dance Company in California. They are under the direction of Jimmy Peters, the AD of Temecula Dance Co., as well as choreographer Katie Morel.

Who are the Tapping Dads? “These are normal dads who got involved in their daughters’ activities,” says Peters. “They work 50-60 hours a week, and when their families go to sleep, they go to rehearsal.”

Members include: Nick Almond, Rod Amstutz, Ron Broussard, Troy Buck, Ken Davis, Mike Fekete, Matt Greenberg, John Haschak, Greg Krohnfeldt, Greg Jones, Steve Moffatt, Ed Morel, Jimmy Peters, Dean Rickard, Don Sadlon, Dave Serrano, Seferino Soto, and Rice Berkshire.

An interesting fact about Tapping Dads: “We’ve lost 500 lbs as a group. One father lost 70 lbs himself,” says Peters. “He did it through dedication and hard work.”

So what drives the Tapping Dads, who are not trained dancers, to do what they do? “We don’t want to let our daughters down,” says Peters. “We have those little faces to go home to, and we have to be able to say to them, ‘We did everything we could.’”

Maybe The Biggest Loser should add tap dancing to their workout regimen.

Check out a short video of The Tapping Dads before America’s Got Talent:

Here’s a video of Jonathan Burkin - Baton Boy from the semifinals of America’s Got Talent.

Compare that with the incredible to watch and incredibly dangerous Polynesian fireknife dancers:

I saw the world championships of Fire Knife dancing when I lived in Hawaii and they blow both of these videos away. However, I’m going to have to give the fire knife dancers the edge over quite spectacular Jonathan Burkin. Mostly because of the knifes.

Most people know that Terry Fator is now a major headliner on the Strip in Las Vegas at the Mirage. Did you know that Terry Fator has written a book about his experience going from strugging performer to Las Vegas headliner? You can preorder Terry Fator’s book Who’s the Dummy Now?: Winner of America’s Got Talent

Also, for all those Terry Fator fans, you can check out Terry Fator’s CD Lucky Guy. Below you’ll find a list of all the music from the CD:
Lucky Guy from the album Lucky Guy (2007 Remix) sung by Terry Fator

I Do from the album Lucky Guy (2007 Remix) sung by Terry Fator

I Remember the Days from the album Lucky Guy (2007 Remix) sung by Terry Fator

Monkey Song from the album Lucky Guy (2007 Remix) sung by Terry Fator

(How Do I Say) Goodbye from the album Lucky Guy (2007 Remix) sung by Terry Fator

Can You Fix a Broken Heart from the album Lucky Guy (2007 Remix) sung by Terry Fator

‘96 Neon from the album Lucky Guy (2007 Remix) sung by Terry Fator

I Can’t Believe It’s Over from the album Lucky Guy (2007 Remix) sung by Terry Fator

Christmastime from the album Lucky Guy (2007 Remix) sung by Terry Fator

Candi’s Got a Radio from the album Lucky Guy (2007 Remix) sung by Terry Fator