America's Got Talent, The Season Premiere

I suppose the big question going into last night's season premiere of NBC's America's Got Talent was: Will Susan Boyle, the famously frumpy runner-up on Britain's Got Talent, make an appearance?

The bubbly, fun and incessantly lively America's Got Talent answered that question right away. "Not yet," although Boyle is now prominently featured in the show's opening credits (NBC's no dummy).

But, no matter, she'll probably make an appearance at some point this season. And, besides, the show, now in its fourth season, holds up on its own pretty darn well.

The format of the show is familiar to just about anyone who's had a pulse the past few years. And it's produced by the team behind American Idol, including that show's Simon Cowell, so it more or less follows the Idol format.

The first few episodes, like last night's, center on auditions.

Those began this season in New York, which at first were disastrous. Talent zipped over to Chicago lickety-split. And, later, Seattle. But, back to New York, the show wrapped up with the premiere's most touching sob story.

The people auditioning last night fell on the usual spectrum of bad to good, like a dance team from Chicago and The Voices of Glory, three siblings who sang "God Bless America."

Most of the fun came from the, well, less-than-spectacular, clueless talent.

Debbie Victor, a middle-aged woman from California, boasted of her talent, only to scare off the audience with her animal impressions.

And a dance duo from New York, who dance with fire, quite literally went up in flames.

Much of the fun on America's Got Talent comes from the juiced-up audience - both the live audience and the pumped-up soundtrack version of one. They scream and shout and boo and hiss.

It's all a bit insane, but in a fun way.

And judges David Hasselhoff, Sharon Osbourne and Piers Morgan are all good sports and a lot of fun to watch. Where American Idol judges can be cruel, Talent's judging trio is usually kind. And they don't suppress their emotions - they cry, they shout and they jump in their air.

In these times of economic woes, job losses and chaos breaking out around the world, America's Got Talent last night proved once again that it's a pretty good antidote to the country's woes.

Comments

[mavic v]

We love AGT in Canada. HOwever the show almost give me a headache each time because the camera view changes so fast. I really like to see the talent or no talent performances however the canera changes so fast that we cannot almost even see what the entire talent has to offfer. I hope that you will just focus more on the performers while theyre doing their acts. We dont need to see the hosts commenting on the side stage while the performance is going on. PLEASE ! take easy with your camera tricks. It makes me feel dizzy and annoyed after an hour of watching. I called all my relatives in Canada that your show is back. Some of them are already watching it, Some are so happy to know that you guys are back and will be watching,, And of course, we love to see the most elegant lady Osbourne.She has such loving sweet voice and David H. I am still lusting for you and the English dude, you and I share the same bluntness at least we are honest. Dont you guys quit this show. WE LOVE YAHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! Marvic of Edmonton, Alberta

[JSDKoeln]

I absolutely hate BGT and AGT. They are manipulatively edited for a person with a -40 IQ. EVERY episode has the same formula.... same judges mugging.... same manipulative sob story at the end. I tape this and fast forward to the 10 or so minutes of people actually performing. I would say, i am done with the show in 12. Watching the whole thing would be a complete waste of time and intelligence.

[stratdude]

I watched America's Got Talent for the first time. More like America's Cheesy Carnival Side Show. I love AI and So You Think You Can Dance. I'll never watch this sorry show again.

[ricardotoronto]

3 minutes of showtime for every 5 minutes of commercials made this show almost unbearable to watch. And network TV wonders why they are losing to cable.

[weeshee]

Try watching on Hulu. There are fewer commercial breaks, and what breaks there are are generally limited to 30 seconds. :)

[MartyPA]

Why not mention the fact that BGT nearly killed Susan Boyle?
She paid her dues, now leave her alone.
Why mention her name at all? BGT is OVER and she's supposed to be free of them now.
How dare they use her name. Where are her lawyers?

[baabaabooey]

The new host, Nick Cannon, makes the show unbearable to watch.

[Manx]

Trouble is, like American Idol, the reactions are almost never spontaneous but contrived.