America's Got Talent?

Last night I was flipping channels and wound up watching a half hour of a show that I'm not sure why I was watching it. The show is on the Bravo network and is called America's Got Talent. It's kind of a knock off of American Idol, but not really (if that makes sense). There are three judges, some British guy I have no idea who he is (read Simon Cowell wannabe), Brandy (read Paula Abdul), and David Hasselhoff (yes, I said David Hasselhoff). There is also a host... that would be Regis Philbin. The part of the show I caught last night was the audition phase. Every fifteen minutes or so Regis calls up new people from the audience to do their act. Now, this is not strictly singing like American Idol, so the acts range in everything from singing to gymnastics, to shadow dancing with a pony. There's some really good stuff and some really wacky stuff (i.e. shadow dancing with a pony). Each of the three judges have a buzzer with an X and during the course of each act, they can hit their buzzer to show their displeasure. The act is done when all three have buzzed the person out or when the person/people are done. If they don't get buzzed, the three judges then vote whether or not to let the act advance to the next round. So "American Idolesque" but not quite.

I have to admit that I'm not quite sure why I kept watching it. Part of it was, I suppose, that nothing else even remotely interested me. I think another part was I wanted to see what wild crazy act was going come next. There was one guy who was a retired nuclear engineer who claimed he was the oldest male stripper... they let him go and David Hasselhoff didn't buzz in just so he would see how far the guy would go. I've never actually seen American Idol and am not even really interested in that show or the format which is another reason why I wondered why I kept watching. I also kept thinking about the sad state of American television and society that such shows find popularity. They have David Hasselhoff judging talent for crying out loud. =) There is also the problem of how badly people want to be famous. Some of these acts were simply not entertaining and many were outright embarrassing. But people were more than willing to get up there and make fools of themselves thinking that they were going to be the next big thing. Some were even angry when they were voted off for a lack of talent (which was usually painfully obvious). Some people were talented, but not in a way that would be suitable for the show (like a harpist - she was good, but not what the show is looking for). How badly do we want people to know who we are? To be set apart from everybody else as somebody special? What if I said that we are already set apart? That's part of our baptism. We are called, we are set apart, and in a way that is way more meaningful than being famous among people. But I guess being famous can be way more gratifying now and is more appealing.

Oh well... I have a feeling I won't be watching that show anymore... not unless there is nothing else on and I decide I want to watch some really crappy TV. =)

Kate