Should a "Professional Performer" have won America's Got Talent? Options

[stefftnt]

If you want to talk about professional performers - check out The Duttons website. They have their own theater on the main strip in Branson, MO (which includes The Dutton Theater, The Dutton Hotel and Dutton Deli).

[Baba-Booey]

I hope Springsteen tries out next year. Or, maybe the Stones...

Just shut up.

I'm sure Cas has performed in public before. Does that make him a professional?

The two guys that have been doing magic shows for years? Were they professionals?

Sideswipe has a business where they practice and teach kids tricks. How do they make their living?

Stop whining.

[soljarag]

I think if a majority of America hasn't ever heard of them before, then professional or not, it's fine if they are in the contest

Have you ever heard of Terry or Cas before you watched this show? I havent

[creese]

This show is a complete joke. A ventriloquist wins? Wha? The show should be called: America's Got Retards.

[Baba-Booey]

Very creative of you.

At least 5 people have already made the "America's Got _____" joke.

[RealityShowFanat...]

I hope Springsteen tries out next year. Or, maybe the Stones...

I've heard this remark or ones very similar to it sooo many times, and it's completely ridiculous!

The question is not whether they are professional or not; the question is whether the people will be swayed to vote for them or not because they're famous! Hypothetically, if Paris Hilton went on, one of the MOST untalented people in the world, it would STILL be unfair because so many people know who she is, and some would vote according to that. What if William Hung went on? Wouldn't that STILL be unfair? He's not even a professional. Why not? Because he's WELL KNOWN in the majority of the peoples' eyes.

So again the question is, should professionals be allowed in? What if someone who wasn't professional has 50 years of experience, but someone like, say, that Taylor Swift girl from last night has 1-2 years of professional training. The contestant who has 50 years of experience probably has an advantage over Taylor. Should he be disqualified for being more experienced, even though he's not professional? No. Should Terry be disqualified for being one of the more experienced contestants? No again. You can't determine whether someone is professional or not because there are varying degrees of professionalism.

So that being said, I think the issue of Terry Fator is spoken for. He's not 'famous', therefore there was no harm in him trying out.

[Nitronick]

While it's obvious that tonight's winner of NBC's "America's Got Talent" (Terry Fator), is quite talented, it doesn't seem very fair that a "professional performer" should win a contest filled with primarily amateur "talent". A quick search of the web, one will find that Terry Fator belongs to the talent agency of "Liz Gregory Talent & Productions". To quote from the Liz Gregory web site:



Hmmm....is it any wonder why Terry wasn't too impressed with the bonus prize of getting to perform in Vegas???

Perhaps you should do a little more research before you post.
Terry's agent is Encore Entertainment. Liz Gregory Talent & Productions is just one of many booking agents hired by fairs, festivals, and other such events that book him into events. He is even on my website.

Not one webpage, advertisement, etc., have I seen where America's Got Talent was only open to, or billed as an amateur competition. That is quite obvious with the likes of The Duttons, Julianne Irwin, Butterscotch, Cas Haley and many, many others on the show.

What? You don't think those others are professionals?

The Duttons have their own theater in Branson, as has been stated numerous times on this board. I'm quite sure Butterscotch makes money doing what she does. The same for Julianne Irwin. Just because she is a kid doesn't mean she can't earn money singing. Cas mentioned several times that his wife works hard so that he can play his music. Do you think he just sits around in his garage plucking on a guitar? He is out playing in public earning money.

This show is just a way for the contestants to hopefully be discovered.

[trans]

True. The show does not say anywhere that professionals are excluded. The Hoff can be seen in promos putting on his dumb wide-eyed Hoff face and saying as much: "ANYBODY CAN TRY OUT."

But also True: comparing Julienne Irwin and Terry Fator isn't exactly fair. Maybe what's simply needed is for some creative network exec to say, "Hey, let's steal AMATEUR HOUR" rather than "Hey, let's steal THE GONG SHOW and put X's...."

Jim Thorpe had his Olympic medals taken away because he played semi-pro ball. Now, professionals are allowed in the amateur Olympics, mostly because Communist countries didn't play fair and subsidized their athletes so they could train and not turn pro (most glaringly, Teofilo Stevenson, who for years beat the crap out of amateurs much younger and less developed than he).

So times have changed...and perhaps the talent pool's become so shallow people really can't tell a pro from an amateur, and nobody's making much money getting up on stage anymore. It's not like we heard of any of these people, although some of the magicians, ventriloquists etc. clearly had expensive and professional props.

Terry won fair and square. Why slam him for being a ventriloquist...over what, a fat guy with a tuft of Brillo who mimics reggae singers in the same one-note way every time?

Given that anybody could compete, the show did surprisingly well in balancing cruise ship performers, corporate show performers and rank amateurs and silly eccentrics into one pretty entertaining show, just as it balanced three very different judges (and their fake Vince McMahon-style feuding)

[DereksMyDanny]

terry was the best one! thats why he won! i think its unfair that a singer won last year and that a singer almost won this year! they can go on american idol when people like terry dont have a show just for ventriloquists! terry deserved to win and im sure we could come up with a reason why every single person shouldnt win so just stop

[lupielady]

A lot of people don't realize when their favorite star is "discovered" they have already been working hard at their craft for years. Lot's of times it's been in movies nobody has ever seen or perhaps stages all over the place. Of course the competition should be open to everyone.

[Musicalhands]

terry was the best one! thats why he won! i think its unfair that a singer won last year and that a singer almost won this year! they can go on american idol when people like terry dont have a show just for ventriloquists! terry deserved to win and im sure we could come up with a reason why every single person shouldnt win so just stop

A singer did win this year.

Also, the producers are mostly worried about ratings, so they will compromise fairness. The way television is set up these days, there is no way that principal wins out.

[olandir]

For the love of all that is good and decent... shut up about this... I'm so sick of people coming onto this forum and stirring up the same crap that we've already beaten into the ground OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN!!!!!!!!

If you had a problem with it, you should've shown up on here back when you first saw Terry on AGT... not after he won the whole thing... because it just sounds like sour grapes now.

[jaxjohn]

This show is a complete joke. A ventriloquist wins? Wha? The show should be called: America's Got Retards.

Judging from your post, America clearly has.

[jaxjohn]

For the love of all that is good and decent... shut up about this... I'm so sick of people coming onto this forum and stirring up the same crap that we've already beaten into the ground OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN!!!!!!!!

If you had a problem with it, you should've shown up on here back when you first saw Terry on AGT... not after he won the whole thing... because it just sounds like sour grapes now.

Refer to my earlier post

[pchawk2]

Early on, I was voting for Cas because his style was so unique. But then, he just became a singer to me like the cruise ship country singer. I don't think I would enjoy an hour concert performance by Cas.

Now, Terry Fator, I would definitely enjoy seeing perform live and hope that his Bally's gig is in the spring when we're contemplating a trip to Vegas.

I had never heard of Terry Fator before and agree with many who have posted before that as long as the performer has not achieved widespread fame for their talents, they should be allowed to compete.

[Terastas]

I hope Springsteen tries out next year. Or, maybe the Stones...

If they're dumb enough to give up the millions they are making on a weekly basis just for a chance to win one million, then by all means, let them.

That's really the only criteria as far as I'm concerned: A personal estimate of the risk compared to what is being given up. Terry Fator, the Duttons, Kevin James etc. were all "professionals" in the literal sense, but they all must have determined at one point or another that they weren't making as much as they thought they could win. Nobody that's already making millions will enter a competition like this, but hey, if they're dumb enough to, sure, let them.

[JoeCool]

I agree with this but I also acknowledge the other professionals, as noted in several responses, in the program as well.

Can you imagine college football or other NCAA sports if they allowed professionals to participate?

Think of AGT like the Olympics. Maybe the Olympics was amateurs originally, but now professional athletes compete against non-professional. This debate has been pounded into the ground in the past. The bottom line is that this is the show with no rules--anyone can enter the competition. Also, these shows do extensive background checks, so I'm sure they know all of the for pay jobs that these contestants have done and are okay with it.

There was a big thread (actually there have been several) about The Duttons with their theater in Branson, MO. The whole subject is getting old, but if you want to read more about it, do a search through the forum.

[JoeCool]

If they're dumb enough to give up the millions they are making on a weekly basis just for a chance to win one million, then by all means, let them.

That's really the only criteria as far as I'm concerned: A personal estimate of the risk compared to what is being given up. Terry Fator, the Duttons, Kevin James etc. were all "professionals" in the literal sense, but they all must have determined at one point or another that they weren't making as much as they thought they could win. Nobody that's already making millions will enter a competition like this, but hey, if they're dumb enough to, sure, let them.

I'm sure that if these acts leverage things correctly, the exposure gained by being on the show could very well be worth more to them in increased earnings than the million dollar prize (especially when you consider that it's not $1,000,000 up front, but $25k a year for 40 years). To buy as much prime time advertising on NBC as they got on the show would probably cost them more than a million. All of the top 20 are much better off for being on the show than had they not, even though only one of them won.