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 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:

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

Today I came across a great little picture of Jessica Price from someone who knows her. It’s kind of nice to see what some of the America’s Got Talent contestants look like in a more casual environment. Too bad we still have a couple weeks to wait to see Jessica perform again. Enjoy the picture.

NBC announced that they’d be ruining America’s Got Talent for another season. You can see Simon Cowell just licking his chops can’t you? Here’s an excerpt from the announcement as reported by Hollywood Reporter:

NBC has renewed “America’s Got Talent” for a fourth season.

“The production team has stepped up their game creatively as proven by the strong ratings,” said NBC’s president of alternative programming Craig Plestis. “This is the only show where truly unique and talented performers can achieve their ultimate dream.”

“Got Talent” is the most-watched show of the summer and ranked third among programs in the adults 18 to 49 demographic.

I for one am very glad that the show got renewed. I wasn’t really worried about it to be honest with you. I knew that the ratings were doing great. Despite allowing a number of untalented people into the top 40, it’s still very entertaining to watch.

I’d been meaning to post a list of all the music I could find from America’s Got Talent, but just never got around to it until now. So, time to play catchup. Below you’ll find all the music I could find from weeks 1 through 7 of America’s Got Talent. Here’s a link to find all the music from America’s Got Talent as I post each episode’s music in the future.

America’s Got Talent - Week 1
Aired on June 17, 2008, 2 hours. Auditions from New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles were shown.

Acts that were eliminated include:

* Serious Mysterious Bill Curlee sang and danced to It’s Not Unusual by Tom Jones.

* The Renegades, dance group performed to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”

- Original Michael Jackson Music Video

America’s Got Talent - Week 2
Aired on June 24, 2008, 2 hours. Auditions from New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles were shown.

Acts that were eliminated include:

* Victoria, the Singing Fairy sang “When You Wish Upon a Star”

* Michael Droll, the “Ozzman”, Ozzy Osbourne impersonator sang “Crazy Train”

America’s Got Talent - Week 3
Aired on July 1, 2008, 2 Hours. Auditions from Dallas, Chicago and Atlanta.

Acts that were eliminated include:

* Corky Duke - line dancer danced to “Cotton-Eyed Joe”

* Zane & Stephanie - married singers, sang “Unchained Melody” by the Righteous Brothers

America’s Got Talent - Week 5
Aired on July 15, 2008, 1 hour. Auditions from Atlanta, and Dallas.

Acts that were eliminated include:

* Michelle Wallace - sang “All by Myself” by Celine Dion.

America’s Got Talent - Week 6
Aired on July 22, 2008, 1 hour. Auditions from New York, and Los Angeles.

Acts that were eliminated include:

* Sweet-Lou Fusco - sang “Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough” by Michael Jackson

- Original Michael Jackson Music Video

America’s Got Talent - Week 7
Aired on July 29, 2008, 1 hour. Auditions from Myspace.

Acts that were eliminated include:

* Michael Trixx - rock and roll magician performed to “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’” by Judas Priest.

- Live Judas Priest version

In a recent article about Jessica price there were some interesting quotes from Jessica.

On being away from GR and her job at medical supply company PSI: “It’s hard being away from my family. My work has been really great; they totally support what I’m doing (and) let me have as much as I want off. That’s amazing; not a lot of jobs would let you do that.”

On fans: “Oh my gosh, it’s so great. (I’m hearing) from all over the world. People are sending encouraging e-mails. Someone even started a fan club.”

On what she do with the $1 million prize:

“I would probably buy my mom a new car. She drives like a $300 car (that) breaks down all the time. I would take my brothers on a trip; they have never been on a proper vacation. I would save a lot of it, and maybe go shopping.”

I just posted the video of Jessica Price’s semifinal performance. Then, I realized that I could post all of the videos from tonight’s America’s Got Talent in one post. Not too bad.

In the following video you’ll see the America’s Got Talent semifinal performances of:
Extreme Dance FX
James Gang
Derrick Berry as Britney Spears
Elite
Cadence
Ronny B
Jessica Price
Shimshi
Neal Boyd
DC Cowboys

Extreme Dance FX - I’m amazingly surprised by how much I liked this act. By the time the judges finished with them I was almost crying. Don’t ask me where that came from. I guess I just felt for them working so many hours to try and be successful. I hope they stick around for a while.
James Gang - I’m really surprised that this act wasn’t shown more on the previous episodes. I think that will be a major disadvantage for them. They definitely have something unique that I’d like to see more, but I’m afraid this performance isn’t probably enough.
Derrick Berry as Britney Spears - Just not my thing. Bad choice of song and I just don’t like Britney Spears so I’m completely biased.
Elite - Cute little act, but looked a little too fake for me tonight. A few cool little moves, but it looked too programed to me.
Cadence - Interesting and the water was a nice touch, but just hard to really really enjoy since I’ve seen Blue Man live and Blue Man Group is so much better of a production.
Ronny B - Complete joke of the show. The Kashif of this season and should have never made it through. For once, I agree with the Hoff.
Jessica Price - You already know she’s my favorite. You can read my other thoughts on Jessica’s semi performance in the previous post. I still love her.
Shimshi - A little slow to get to the point and he needed to explain the trick a bit more. I thought he tore the card and was going to put it back together later. It wasn’t until the end that I realized the tear was to just make sure he didn’t swap cards. If he cleared that up I wouldn’t have been as disappointed with the trick since I wanted to see the card go back together. I disagree with Piers. The card trick was fine if it had been executed correctly.
Neal Boyd - Quite the singer. Good choice of song. I wonder if all the high praise from Piers and the judges will stop people from voting for him. Wouldn’t be the first time the judges have ruined a great talent.
DC Cowboys - Not quite as much of a joke as Ronny B, but still not good. It seemed like guys trying to girls’ dance moves. Didn’t feel right. Didn’t look right. Let’s hope they’re done. I really don’t want to watch them anymore.