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7/2: America’s Got Talent’s Atlanta auditions finally air
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This third episode of summer’s biggest show on NBC “America’s Got Talent” features auditions in Chicago, Dallas and Atlanta. Dallas first. And one of the first promising talents is actually from Georgia: Holly Harden, a country singer from Rockmart. She’s like our local version of “American Idol” contestant Kellie Pickler.
She’s small town, blonde, cute (though not quite as cute) and just a wee bit dippy. Her singing? Not quite as good as Kellie but she’s got something about her. And her sweater/fur get-up is not flattering. Nonetheless, she has something about her that makes you want to watch. Sharon was not a fan. Piers was all for it. David was on the fence. “She’s got potential,” Piers said. And I agree. She goes through thanks to David and the audience.
Dallas overall had the usual mix of painful and pleasurable. The good including great acrobats, an 11-year-old pianist, Chinese warrior dancers, a whopping 22-person dance troupe and a spot-on 72-year-old Frank Sinatra impersonator.
Chicago gets the middle third of the show. There we get a great brother-sister salsa team, a nauseatingly theatrical, overly chipper singing married couple wearing bright yellow shirts and a truly sickening 7 foot 3 inch self-described “freak” who runs a twisty straw through his nose, then blows fireworks off his chest.
Atlanta gets the final 30 minutes out of two hours, which tells me they didn’t quite get as interesting a crew of folks as the other cities. Shots of the Varsity, the skyline and the lines at Cobb Energy Center, with a James Brown singing in the background. Jerry Springer mentions the world’s largest aquarium the Georgia Peach, and the fact the Hoff grew up here.
They then show shots of folks waiting days earlier at downtown’s AmericasMart, as if the two are happening at the same time. Same trick they do with “American Idol.”
Annoyingly, the show does not identify a person’s city of origin so I have no clue who is from Georgia unless otherwise identified.
First up: 18 year old Alistair McQueen. “I spent years upon years rehearsing. I’m ready!” He is a stripper. Yes, a male stripper. Not gonna do it for this crowd! Sharon doesn’t X him so he is down to his skivvies. “If you’re going to do this thing, you need the right equipment,” Piers said. “You are severely lacking. I commend you for your bravery. I’d pack it in mate— literally.” “You need to eat,” the Hoff said.
Colburn Hartsell is yet another stripper. Michelle and Katie do pole dancing, which just looks painful. “It looked like two donuts attacking each other,” the Hoff said.
The Atlanta group Southern Belles bring back clogging, which made the top 20 season one. They dance to Jet’s “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” and get a huge response from the Cobb Energy Centre crowd. I wrote about these women nearly five years ago. The leader Blake Bartlett was hardworking and very very serious about clogging. A version of the Southern Belles were finalists on ABC Family’s “Dance Fever” in 2003. Interested in clogging at their studio? Check out their Web site.
The most memorable act I got to see live a few months back was Dan Meyer, a sword swallower from Hartsville, Ala. The guy was scary good and he is in all the promos. “I can’t even watch this,” David said. He takes a two foot long sword and literally swallows it. Then he puts three swords in at once. It’s crazy! The Hoff buzzed him, “almost killed him,” Springer said.
“I think the audience would run away,” the Hoff said. “I don’t know if it will sustain the show and do an hour of this.”
“This show is about variety,” Sharon said. “It just amazes me!”
“It’s a very uncomfortable thing to watch,” Piers said.
Here’s a video from YouTube of his work:
The final few minutes feature an autistic nine year old David Militello (city not identified). It left him silent his first three years but then started singing. He sings “Ben,” that Michael Jackson about a love of a pet rat. He’s just okay, not nearly as good as that four year old girl from two weeks ago who sang “Somewhere Out There.” But he gets a standing ovation from the Atlanta crowd. “You sang that really beautifully,” Sharon said. “You just won the hearts of America,” David Hasselhoff said.
Comments
By Dan Meyer
July 3, 2008 2:08 AM | Link to this
Thanks for your review and posting my video clip.
Slight correction: That was SEVEN swords at once that I swallowed - in order to top the FIVE swords that almost killed me in an injury in 2005.
When I punctured my stomach in 2005, it created an injury with fluids around my heart and lungs. I almost died, and considered giving up. Instead, I decided to pursue my passion of inspiring people to do the impossible in their lives, and I quit my car sales job to pursue my passion. It was my dream to swallow SEVEN swords at once for America’s Got Talent for a total of 10 swords in :90 seconds - this was incredibly difficult to do at that speed in under :90 seconds (it is very important to carefully line up all the swords so they don’t splay or scissor sideways and puncture the esophagus!). I prayed a prayer before I slammed the 7 swords down my throat, and am so glad nothing went wrong and I survived! Watch to see what I do to top this!
Thanks for watching!
Dan Meyer Sword Swallower