America's Got Talent
Fifty percent American Idol. Fifty percent The Gong Show. One hundred percent spectacle. That's the crib notes summary of America's Got Talent.
The talent side of things borrows heavily from American Idol's format (no surprise, given the fact that former Idol judge Simon Cowell is an executive producer). And it boils down to this: An oddball collection of risqué, heartwarming, shocking and outright bizarre performers parade in front of three judges, whose hands are poised on buttons that light up a giant "X" if they're not pleased. (Viewers get to vote once the judges have whittled the field down a bit.)
Per the inviolable Idol formula, one judge must be a sharp-tongued, acerbic Brit; in this case, it's Piers Morgan. The kind, nurturing female perspective is fleshed out by Ozzy Osbourne's wife, Sharon. As for the unpredictable wild card slot, it was filled for the first four seasons by David Hasselhoff, who often spouted off responses as wildly inappropriate as the performances themselves. For the show's fifth season, comedian and game show host Howie Mandel has taken over those duties—dishing feedback that's perhaps not as unpredictable as the stuff "The Hoff" served up, but often equally unfortunate.
Toss in a likeable host—Mariah Carey's affable husband, Nick Cannon—and you've got yourself an instant reality competition. Just add ratings. And fans have certainly done that, regularly pushing this NBC show near the top if not to the top of Nielsen's rating chart every summer since it 2006 debut.
As for the competitors themselves, well, they bring along a little bit of everything. Over the years, the show's producers have let everybody know that they're aiming for as broad an audience as possible by blending acts that tug hard at heartstrings with what David Letterman would call "stupid human tricks." But they don't stop there. Also interjected are moments of raw, unapologetic "sexiness"—from a Snow White look-alike-turned-stripper to a sword-balancing Siberian transvestite dressed in nothing but a loincloth, angel wings and dabs of glitter.
For the record, the sword-balancer was sent home by the judges, but show producers kept bringing him back for more exploitative "second chances." Add "run of the mill" backup dancers sporting suggestive moves and skimpy costumes, and, well, you end up with a competition that caters every bit as much to viewers' baser instincts as it does to their hearts.
When we originally weighed in on the competition several years ago, our reviewer Bob Hoose wrote, "I had a quirky aunt whose idiosyncrasies always made everyone laugh. But inevitably she'd launch into a story about her wild weekend in the Adirondacks with a male model. Mom would turn red and usher her out of the room. … Like [that] entertaining but bawdy aunt, America's Got Talent wants to be invited into your living room each and every summer break. Think twice before letting her in. She may be amusing, but do you really want the kids around when she swigs from that whiskey flask strapped to her thigh?"
That question still holds.
Episode Reviews
Minneapolis
In Minneapolis the contestants perform a typical, mixed bag of acts. A boys-and-girls dance team presents a beautiful routine in silhouette. A very large and filthy, barely dressed guy also does a dance of sorts (and gets booed). A man who builds kinetic sculptures from wood claims he practices "safe sticks." Another man appears in drag. Still another is shown wearing something that looks like a Speedo.
A woman pushes large needles through the skin on her legs and back. Another sings "Ave Maria" beautifully. The camera zooms in on the buxom chest of a woman who jumps up and down. And a female little person wearing a bikini does a partial striptease, hamming it up and encouraging the cheering crowd to laugh at her.
Houston
This Houston "try outs" show highlights quite a bit of flesh—and usually women's. They're seen wear skimpy bikinis, short skirts and low-cut tops that also expose midriffs. Several men are briefly shown wearing very tight spandex. A 6-year-old break-dances, making suggestive pelvic thrusts that the judges and audience applaud.
In a white-knuckle Wild West show, knives are thrown dangerously close to a woman's body. Balloons are also shot inches away from her head. A man dives into 12 inches of water from a height of 26 feet. An acrobat performs dangerous jumps. A flamboyant young man sings Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance." Britney Spears' sexually suggestive song "3" is played as background music at one point.
Bad language includes several uses of "h‑‑‑," "frickin'" and a misuse of God's name. In flashbacks to previous episodes, an electric drill is briefly shown penetrating one contestant's nose and another's mouth while a man's eye sockets carry the weight of bricks that dangle on hooked chains.
This "results show" episode includes footage that re-airs many of the preceding performance episode's problems, as well as host Nick Cannon's repeated use of the word "a‑‑." God's name is also misused. Disney star Selena Gomez and her band, The Scene, perform; she wears a fairly short dress and sports a few mildly suggestive dance moves. Much more sensual are the lingerie-clad backup dancers for two singers from the Broadway hit Rock of Ages. A member of the air rock team Airpocalypse says of his stay in L.A., "While we've been here, it's been all models and bottles."
Best performance? Two sisters singing Rascal Flatts' "God Bless the Broken Road." Lots of other moments, though, aren't so good or so clean. Howie Mandel describes a group of martial arts performers as "Power Rangers with no shirts and eye shadow." Scantily clad female dancers writhe suggestively during an air band's performance. Other women act out strip club-like moves while silhouetted behind screens. After a 5- and 10-year-old break-dancing act concludes, Howie quips, "What a waste, your youth, because you could have any woman you want." When a 75-year-old evaluates her performance by saying, "My inner kitty cat is purring," Howie responds, "Sally, you're a dirty girl." A woman who's determined to inject sex appeal into art paints a portrait of Piers Morgan—while she's underwater and the camera is zooming in on her cleavage.
A daredevil plays with fire, earning Nick Cannon's warning, "Kids, do not try this at home." He also says "kick some a‑‑" or "kick your a‑‑" a couple of times. God's name is misused.