Welcome to Pure America’s Got Talent

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.

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.

The first episode of the live performance semifinals was broadcast from Los Angeles, California on August 26, 2008. Below you’ll find a list of all the music that was performed on the live America’s Got Talent performance of these 10 contestants.

If you’re looking for the video of their performances, you can find it here. Otherwise, you can look through America’s Got Talent music.

Acts that were eliminated include:

* Derrick Barry
o General: Male Britney Spears impersonator
o Preliminaries, Week 1: Performed to “Toxic”.
o Las Vegas Callbacks (Part 1): Performed to “Gimme More.”
o Las Vegas Callbacks (Part 2): Passed through
o Semifinals (Part 1): Performed to “…Baby One More Time” , received an X from Piers for not “wowing” him
o Semifinals (Part 2): Eliminated

* Ronny B
o General: Ron Belala, singer and dancer
o Preliminaries, Week 6: Danced and sang to “All Night Long” by Lionel Richie . David disliked his performance, saying “This is a talent show, not a freak show.”
o Las Vegas Callbacks: Performance was not shown. Passed through
o Semifinals (Part 1): Performed “She Bangs” by Ricky Martin . Hasselhoff said in an interview he had “0″ talent.
o Semifinals (Part 2): Eliminated

* The DC Cowboys
o General: All-male dance troupe
o Preliminaries, Week 2: danced to “Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)” by Big & Rich.
o Las Vegas Callbacks: Performance was not shown.
o Semifinals (Part 1): Performed to “Footloose” by Kenny Loggins.
o Semifinals (Part 2): Eliminated

Acts that are still in the competition are:

* Extreme Dance FX
o General: contemporary young clog team
o Preliminaries, Week 1: Passed through
o Las Vegas Callbacks: Performance was not shown.
o Semifinals (Part 1): Performed to “Push It by Salt-n-Pepa”
o Semifinals (Part 2): Passed through.

* The Cadence
o General: Stomp-style percussion group made up mostly of college students.
o Preliminaries, Week 7: Passed through
o Las Vegas Callbacks: Performance was not shown. Passed through
o Semifinals (Part 1): Performed to “Beat It” as made famous by Michael Jackson
o Semifinals (Part 2): Passed through.

* Jessica Price
o General: 24 year old singer
o Preliminaries, Week 3: Sang “I Can’t Make You Love Me” by Bonnie Raitt
o Las Vegas Callbacks (Part 1): Sang “Teardrops On My Guitar” by Taylor Swift.
o Las Vegas Callbacks (Part 2): Passed through
o Semifinals (Part 1): Sang “Time After Time” by Cyndi Lauper
o Semifinals (Part 2): Passed through.

* Neal Boyd
o General: 32 year old insurance salesman and opera singer
o Preliminaries, Week 1: Sang “Nessun dorma” from the opera Turandot.
o Las Vegas Callbacks (Part 1): Sang “Unchained Melody” in Italian.
o Las Vegas Callbacks (Part 2): Passed through
o Semifinals (Part 1): Sang “Somewhere” from the musical West Side Story . Was declared the “Michael Phelps” of the competition, and the man to beat.
o Semifinals (Part 2): Passed through.

Only one of the Wild Card acts was a singer. The following is the music for that one Wild Card Act:

* Kyle Rifkin
o Preliminaries, Week 4: R&B singer. Sang “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” by The Temptations
o Las Vegas Callbacks (Part 1): sang Boyz II Men’s “I’ll Make Love To You” Passed through.
o Las Vegas Callbacks (Part 2): Eliminated (Judges Wild Card)
o Semifinals (Part 1): Eliminated again, did not get the Wildcard slot.

Tonight’s episode of America’s Got Talent, they sent home half of the 10 performers from last night’s semi finals. In case, you missed it, you can watch the videos of these AGT semifinalists here.

Now to take a look at who was sent home and who was saying. I’m going to put my own personal rank of who I think has the best chance of winning the competition (not necessarily who I want to win since you already know I want Jessica Price to win).

Here goes…my rankings of the first 5 contestants making it to the top 20 of America’s Got Talent:
Neal Boyd - Knockout performance, great story and seems like one of us.
Jessica Price - Incredible person with a really wonderful voice. Needs to show a bit more of her personality and America will fall at her feet voting.
Extreme Dance FX - Great commitment and their leader does a great job being the spokesperson for the group and sharing their story. Maybe not the best dance group ever, but great fun to watch.
James Gang - Really failed in their performance last night, but now they’re given a second chance. Their performance is so unique it’s hard to compare them to something else.
Cadence - Not as good as blue man group and I think that will catch up with them unless they pull the proverbial rabbit out of the hat.

Now some thoughts on those acts who got sent home tonight:
Elite - Very sad to see you go. I hope that Treasure Island does approach you. Only problem is that the scale of the pirate show is so big that they wouldn’t really see you. Plus, that show has gone nearly adult entertainment so I’m not sure how a little kid fits into their program.
Shimshi - Disappointing finish. I would have liked to see him do some more. Can he come back next year?
Derrick Berry as Britney Spears - Glad to see you gone, but I’ll be incredibly surprised if you don’t get either a gig in Las Vegas or being a body double for Britney Spears herself.
DC Cowboys - Glad I will probably never see this group perform again.
Ronny B - If I can just make it through the replays that include him, then we’ll be ok. Hopefully he enjoyed his time on the show, because I really didn’t.

The best part of this all is that I think America got it all dead right. The correct five are in the top 20 and the correct five were sent home. Plus, Elite and James Gang were just meant to be 5 and 6. America loved Elite more because she was cute and entertaining to watch, but James Gang had more potential for the future of the show.

Feel free to agree or disagree with me.

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.

I think that Jessica Price did really well in her semi final performance on America’s Got Talent. I hate that AGT tries to make her look so old. They need to get someone knew in makeup, hair and wardrobe for the younger girls. She looked beautiful, but I just think she could have been even more attractive with something a little more her age.

Regardless, her talent (singing) was awesome and let’s hope she keeps going. Enjoy the video of Jessica Price’s semifinal performance on AGT:

Also, I thought a lot of people would be interested to know that you can find Jessica Price on myspace. She has a nice little bit about the things she likes and some of her music on the page. Here’s her description of herself (remember this is from myspace):

okay so basically what we have here is i guess im suppose to write up a lil sumthin sumthin for ya’ll. So here i go… I grew up in a small town called Freeport, MI, “represent” and i still live there today, its pretty much the smallest town ever, i just looked it up on some population thing the other day and there are 444 people. yep. I sing and lead worship at my church in Hastings MI, and also sing at the occational local fair or coffee shop but thats about it. Oh my word i just got back from Sydney Australia almost a year ago now. I lived there for a year and attended Hillsong International Leadership College. school is not for me but i did meet a lot of cool people from all over the world. Theres really not much to do for fun in Michigan besides go to movies or go tubing down the river with my little brothers and cousins, but the last time we did that, we got eaten alive by mosquitos. I love hanging out with my brothers (i have four of them) and my sister. We are all really close. So maybe you wanna know my favorite things or something? my favorite things are… the olive garden, new shoes, mint choc chip ice cream, the office, laying on the beach, flying(on a plane), ariel, red licorice, black coffee, sleeping, pulling all nighters, the buckle, forever 21, my sun roof, cup cakes, my grandma(nonnies) stories, conan obrien, fishing…. I listen to music all day long, i mostly like mariah carey, the eagles, pat benatar, heart, jewel, alanis, bonnie raiit, eva cassidy, lily allen, sneaky sound system, family force five, toby mac, blondie, scissor sisters, MUSE, timberland, mindy smith, stevie nicks, jared crump…..yep i could keep going but ill stop. oh and im pretty much obsessed with the little mermaid, if you walked into my room you would think that a little girl lived in there. if theres anything else you wanna know??? holla back youngin and Yes!! i am the girl from Americas Got Talent

So down to earth and real.

As most of you know, Jessica Price is my favorite singer on America’s Got Talent. I think that I fell in love with her when she was able to show the jaded Brit, Piers, that not all American girls are like Britney and Paris. I’m not sure that she’ll be able to win, but I’d be so happy if she does.

Well, today I came across a story of someone who attended the same church as her. Here’s their story about Jessica Price.

I can’t believe she’s in the top 40! Okay, I can, because I remember the first time I heard her sing. It was at church and right after American Idol first premiered. She started singing a praise song, and my mom and I looked at each other and were like, “She could make it on American Idol.”

Even on the ride home, instead of talking about the churches message we spent the entire ride home talking about how she had a better voice than most people who we hear on the radio. She was probably sixteen at the time, and my mom said, “I bet if she tried, she could be big.” And as silly as this may sound, I said a quick prayer for her right then and there, asking God if he could bless her in a music career. Wouldn’t it be cool if he did?

I wonder if Jessica Price new that people were praying for her to win and be successful. Regardless of whether Jessica continues on from here, God has certainly blessed her music career. Looks like at least a partial if not complete answer to prayer to me.

Someone has compiled a nice short video of America’s Got Talent top 40 results show. It’s in 2 parts and shows almost all of the top 40.

Part 1 - America’s Got Talent Top 40

Part 2 - America’s Got Talent Top 40 (starts with my favorite contestant Jessica Price)

Here’s the list of acts in the top 40. I’m missing a couple of them, but this is what they showed on the results show:
Jonathan Arons, New York, New York (dancing musician)
Indiggo from New York, New York (twin singers)
Nuttin’ But Stringz, Jamaica Queens, New York (musicians)
Kaitlyn Maher, Ashburn, Virginia (four-year-old singer)
Slippery Kittens, Salt Lake City, Utah (burlesque dancers)
Jonathan Burkin, Clyde, Ohio (baton twirler)
Derrick Barry, Modesto, California (Britney Spears impersonator)
Sick Step, Los Angeles/ Orange County, California (dance crew)
Extreme Dance FX, West Covina, California (dance group)
Neal E. Boyd, Silkeston, Missouri (opera singer)
Eli Mattson, Door County, Wisconsin (singer/musician)
The Taubl Family, New Haven, Connecticut (musicians)
D.C. Cowboys Dance Company, Washington, D.C. (dance group)
Joseph Hall, Lincoln, Nebraska (Elvis impersonator)
Beyond Belief Dance Company, Mesquite, Texas (dance troupe)
Paul Salos, Garland, Texas (Frank Sinatra impersonator)
George the Giant, Bakersfield, California (giant/side show performer)
Jessica Price, Freeport, Michigan (singer/musician)
Alex “Elite” Pyles, Galax, Virginia (martial arts)
Sarah Lenore, Plymouth, Michigan (singer/musician)
Flambeaux, New York, New York (fire performance artist)
The James Gang, New York, New York (performance artists)
Texas State Strutters, San Marcos, Texas (dance troupe)
Ronny B, Honolulu, Hawaii (singer/dancer)
Queen Emily, Stockton, California (singer)
The Cadence, Springfield, Missouri (drummers)
The Tapping Dads, Temecula, California (tap dancers)
Shimshi, Las Vegas, Nevada (magician)
Matthew Piazzi, New York, New York (impressionist)
Kazual, Columbus, Georgia (boy band)
Shequida (Gary Hall), New York, New York (operatic drag queen)
The Wright Kids, Rocky Mount, Virginia (family band)
Michael Strelo-Smith, Castro Valley, California (opera singer)
Spc. Daniel Jens, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (singer/musician)
Bruce Block, St. Joseph, Michigan (performance artist)
Dorae Saunders, Columbia, South Carolina (Tina Turner impersonator)
Bryan Cheatham, Dallas, Texas (singer)
ZOOperstars, Louisville, Kentucky (acrobatic dance troupe)
Dallas Desperados Dancers, Dallas, Texas (cheerleading squad)

Now we’ll just have to wait until after the Olympics to see them.

Tonight’s America’s Got Talent was great. I love the semi finals, because that means that all (or almost all) of the acts are talented and entertaining. I must admit that no one really blew me away. I still wish that Tina Turner and Britney Spears were off the show, but they’ll be gone soon enough. There’s no way they can make the top 40.

I’m honestly not sure that anyone really blew me away on tonight’s show. There were a bunch of good acts and it was great entertainment. However, I don’t think there’s anyone that really stood out far above the rest of the crowd. That could be the nature of America’s Got Talent. At this point there still telling stories. Once we reach the top 40 we have a little better chance to see their talent in full force.

Despite tonight’s show barely showing her talent, my personal favorite has got to still be Jessica Price. Don’t ask me what it is about Jessica, but I absolutely love her. Yes, just like I loved Julienne Irwin before. I really hope that she gets to stick around to the top 40. Here’s her short clip at the very beginning of her singing.

Yes, and I also was sad to see Holly Hardin go home too. I thought she did quite well and she really does have the cutest little personality. I hope to see Holly again, but I’m afraid that we probably won’t.

Also, here’s a link to look back at other America’s Got Talent videos I’ve posted. I’m sure I’ve missed some, but I’ve got most of the best ones from 2008.