I Am A TV Junkie

Global TV Talent Show Auto-Tune Crisis -- What Happens Next?

The British tabloids couldn't be happier. They love a good controversy and this one's as big as they come for a TV show. The image above is how the UK Mirror broke the story.

(Because it IS just a TV show, right? No? What is that you're saying? It's a viable employment search strategy? Only if you have very very tall hair and lots of energy and then you might just get a couple hit singles and a reality show but if you invest the proceeds properly it might send you to college.)

The thing is there are rules about such things because all these shows from Idol to AGT/BGT to X-Factor are ostensibly game shows and there are rules and laws that apply.

Now today there's word that Susan Boyle's first performance on Britain's Got Talent was manipulated to make her sound better which bring up the issue of the drama created when her second appearance on the show didn't go as well as the first. Basically it seems the show created the drama by manipulation of the performance alone, doesn't it?

AND ... if that's the case what happened in the finale (she lost to a dance crew) and afterward when there were reports of a tailspin in the fragile Boyle's psyche is particularly distressing.

This all broke in the London tabs because of this performance from Gamu Nhengu (CLIP) on the show this past week. On first listen I have to say that without knowing ahead of time I wouldn't have recognized the telltale signs of the Auto-Tune technology, that slightly robotic-sounding thing, especially noticeable during what Cheryl Cole calls her "quirky woo-hoo-hoos."

From the Guardian UK:

After Saturday's show viewers flocked to Twitter and Facebook to complain about the heavy-handed use of digital pitch effects – particularly on Gamu Nhengu's version of Walking on Sunshine, which she belted out with a spooky, computer-like precision, a bit like Mariah Carey impersonating Robocop. It seemed clear that Nhengu had been lined up as a favourite and this had been scripted as the big star-making moment.

I can see why producers (Cowell included) were interested in making her a favorite, she has a very compelling backstory (watch the clip for details).

Like everything in this world, it wasn't a problem until they got caught. Now it's a big problem, ethically, legally and if the audiences for these shows dwindle because of the news, financially.

And with Cowell working to bring X-Factor here for the 2011 season, someone better fix this.

Now would be a good time.

Video -- Li'l Opera Girl on America's Got Talent, Are You Lipsynching?

Because if I had to judge from this clip from the show, I would say that Jackie Evancho is not singing live.

Look for yourself, readers, click this link to watch it.

Of course, sometimes there's an audio sync problem with online video so I'll reserve some of my skepticism.

Still, something about this doesn't look right. And I'm not the only one to think so, check out the comments under the clip at NBC.com at this link.

The pianist from last night, though? He was outstanding. Check out Maestro Alexander Bui by clicking here.

Shaun White -- Would Love to Do Family Guy, Not So Much Dancing With The Stars

Talking to Marc Malkin at E:

Everyone's favorite ginger mop top also revealed, "I've been hit up by a couple of [television] shows, but I don't know what I'm going to do yet, so I don't want to say anything."

We wouldn't be surprised if Shaun hears from a certain animated series soon after we post this story. "I really like Family Guy," White said. "I love that show. It's unreal." (FYI: He's already got an in—a Family Guy writer wrote the script for his upcoming Ubisoft skateboarding video game.)

But not the dancing show on ABC, apparently. Something about not being stretchy enough and not really being into the costumes.

I get it, Shaun. Totally not my thing, neither. So, how do you write Shaun White into Family Guy? I say you bring back Carl (Jon Benjamin) from the Quahog Mini-Mart who reconnects with his friend Carl, then they double date with Meg and Connie D'Amico, Connie of course paired with the Olympic champion.

And Shaun gets Connie pregnant. Because it's Family Guy. 

Or, Shaun might be up for a little singer-songwriter action on America's Got Talent, he says. Checked YouTube, he hasn't uploaded any vids of his songs. Well, he IS Shaun White, not Rachel from Glee.

Cowell, are you out there? Cowell?

Video (US Only, Sorry UK) -- Susan Boyle on America's Got Talent Singing Wild Horses

No clip at NBC.com, no on YouTube, but for those of us handy with the Hulu.com clip editor it's a cinch.

Includes the pre-song interview package before her performance.

And it's after the jump.

Pre-order her album from Amazon by clicking the icon below. After the clip is finished you can click around the Hulu window and watch the whole 2-hr. finale. Winner was Kevin Skinner, singer/guitarist who we clipped out previously at this link.

Hear It! Susan Boyle's First Single a Rolling Stones Cover, America's Got Talent Appearance (Wednesday?)

Yes, it's a Rolling Stone song, but not Little T & A from Tattoo You. Though that would have been very funny.

No, it's a cover of Wild Horses, a great arrangement and she sounds amazing. You can either click here to listen to it at her new official website or you can click over the jump and hear it here.

Better quality at her site.

And, Susan's here in the States right now prepping for her America's Got Talent appearance this week and I'm sure a bunch of press interviews. She should be all over the place this week, from the Today show to Access Hollywood and I'm checking the late night shows right now, hold on ...

Well, apparently she won't do Conan, Jay or Jimmy. And I'm sure she's not doing Letterman or Craig, or Kimmel.

However, this Monday morning at 4 am eastern in the US, you can click here and be transported to Sir Terry Wogan's BBC Radio Two program where it says on Susan's site he will have "special Susan Boyle surprise."

No, I have no idea what it is.

I'm surprised, actually, that they aren't scheduling Boyle for the Monday edition of AGT which will be the lead in to the first episode of The Jay Leno Show. That would make great sense. Then again, it's NBC. What does good sense have to do with the suits in the tower at Universal City?

Presale numbers for Susan's debut album are outpacing for Jay-Z and Whitney Houston, btw.

I think we can all agree that it would be most entertaining to see Susan interviewed by Wendy Williams. Dontcha think? I hope that can happen while she's here. Susan and Wendy and Wendy's
"How You Doin'" audience? Together?

Now that's television.

Or, have Susan at the MTV VMAs dancing on a pole. Miley danced on a pole during an award show on Fox, why not Susan on MTV?

As if, huh?

Mariah Joins Hubby Nick on America's Got Talent August 5th, Her New Video Premieres Tonight

And, tonight at 9/8 central, tune in to AGT for the television debut of Mariah's new video for the single Obsessed.

From the NBC Press Release:

“Obsessed,” written and produced by Carey, The-Dream and Tricky Stewart, is the first single pick from Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel.  Memoirs was executive-produced by Antonio “L.A.” Reid.  The video for “Obsessed,” filmed in New York City last week, was directed by renowned filmmaker Brett Ratner.

AGT continues to command the best numbers NBC is seeing this Summer, with both Merlin and The Philanthropist failing to find audience. I'm disappointed that the family audience hasn't found their way to the former, but the latter for me just falls flat. Maybe because viewers just wanna haul off and sock James Purefoy right in the face.

I don't even know why I want to, he's nice looking enough, I just find the character abhorrent. Strange, what with all the good deeds he does during the show.

Hey, even hot guys can be unlikeable. I reference Big Brother as an example.

Back to AGT, they still haven't found that one performance that sends shivers up everyone's spine and makes a splash in the press. As I've said earlier, it just seems like the UK show has a direct line to your heart, while this one? Not so much.

Video -- America's Got ... Kevin Skinner, Singer and Probably Former Chicken Catcher

At least I hope he'll be a former chicken catcher after this.

Here's what someone wrote underneath the clip (which is after the jump) at NBC.com:

I can't stop listening to this guy. I would love to see him go all the way. This is what this show should be about ... finding talent in places nobody else would notice. Kevin shows you don't have to be educated or rich to be someone special and admired.

He sings the Garth Brooks song If Tomorrow Never Comes. It will for him, he's going to Vegas for the next round.

Andrea Reihar at Examiner Los Angeles:

There were quite a few really good acts on tonight's "America's Got Talent" but Kevin Skinner's "If Tomorrow Never Comes" almost made me cry. This guy is a country bumpkin chicken catcher from Kentucky and the judges and audience all laugh at him a good bit.

Then he starts to play his guitar and sing and it's just lovely and heartbreaking. Soulful and touching, he really knocks it out of the park.

I've never liked that phrase, "country bumpkin," it's condescending. Maybe the next time Andrea sees someone who fits that category for her she remembers Kevin, thinks twice and decides to hold her tongue, or pen, or keyboard.

And about people who work in food processing? If I had to do that for a living I am absolutely sure I would be vegan. It's only our distance from the process that allows us to consume as much as we do. So I give him and the other chicken catchers respect.

You watch Hasselhoff listening and you gotta wonder if he's thinking, "Man, I wish I could come off this authentically." It just might be too many years in the biz for him to have "that."

And I think what really hits you at the end of the song, and both my sis and I welled up in the final moments, is that this very authentic guy turns and looks right in the camera and sings ...

So tell that someone that you love
Just what youre thinking of
If tomorrow never comes

And that just does it. At least it did for me.

Clip after the jump. Outside the US? This YouTube clip link should work for you.

Video -- Thia Megia on America's Got Talent: Little Girl, Humongous Voice

Well okay now, we got something here. She's in the eighth grade, boys and girls, and listen to her.

BTW, you can also hear her all over the web, and she did this same song on Showtime At The Apollo in 2008, but that makes no never mind because this li'l girl has chops.

Even her mom looks surprised, and she's her ride to all these things she sings at, including a San Francisco 49ers game (image left).

You can read about her at Wikipedia (don't all 14-year-olds have their own Wikipedia page?) and visit her at Myspace.

(And I'm sure Myspace would appreciate the click. They're hurtin' these days.)

You can hear some of her music at the Myspace url. It's so strange listening to this really mature voice and then you remember that she's only 14.

Clip is after the jump.

Ellen DeGeneres "Duets" With the 'Hoff

Well, through the miracle of technology. Not high technology, just the same kind of technology you have at your house.

LINK

Ellen returns with new episodes on September 4. I know it sounds like I got this entire post from a PR person but I actually found all the components and wrote the snappy head all by my little ol' self, as per usual, except for sometimes when powers unbeknownst to me take over my being and slap Stephen Colbert clips all over the place.

Just a Thought About Taste, UK vs. US

Has anyone noticed that a ventriloquist won America's Got Talent and yet across the pond the winner of their version of the show sang Nessum Dorma from Turandot?

Does this say anything about us?

About them?

Comments? You know what to do.

Downmarket Cowell Clone from America's Got Talent Breaks Ribs in Segway Accident

This is the first time I have ever seen the phrase "Segway accident" in print.

From E! Online:

The British judge's appearance is a game-time decision after he busted some ribs in a weekend Segway mishap, an NBC rep said Tuesday.

"It's still up in the air at this point," Morgan, 42, told the New York Post, which first reported his Segway spill.

The former tabloid journalist was tooling around the Santa Monica Pier on Sunday when he failed to negotiate a curve.

"I broke two, possibly three ribs and I'm in quite a bit of pain," Morgan told the newspaper. "But I'm doing to try to do my best to be a part of it."

But, but but ... he can't miss the special performance from The 'Hoff, can he?

Pray for him, my babies, pray!

Internet Superstar Michael Buckley Works on a Holiday for You

LINK

FYI, The Glamazons' website is at this link.

So, you should really go over to Michael's YouTube page and thank him for what he does.

Michael watches all this crap (like America's Got Talent and that Ex-Wife, Ex-Girlfriend, Ex-Booty Call Gone Wrong Show and gives you just the giggly essence of it, which is all you really need to talk about it at work with your morning coffee.

Really, a couple of well placed comments and then exit, stage left, just like George Costanza.

Speaking of George going out on a high note ...

LINK

Remember this when Seinfeld season nine releases, I'm guessing for the holidays (?).

What the Buck?!? is Watching Britain's Got Talent on YouTube, Too!

Ah, great minds ...

There's stuff on Top Chef, Gordon Ramsay, "that dancing show on Fox," and more.

LINK

Stay till the end, Internet Superstar Michael Buckley sings from the Jekyll and Hyde score.

Catching You Up With Internet Superstar Michael Buckley

Michael is in the midst of some issues with the powers that be at the unnamed video sharing site he uses (it rhymes with ScrewCube), so I'm catching you up with the following two clips; one about Barbara Walters' chat with Paris and a review of the one of two competition shows (along with that dancing show on Fox) that claims they were the biggest hit of last summer, America's Got Talent (which, btw, turns out to be last week's highest-rated national show). Michael also checks in on Kathy Griffin (loves the standup, doesn't love the series).

LINK

LINK

Every one of the Nielsen top ten for the Southern California DMA were Spanish-language shows, which I bet were all new episodes, but I wouldn't know because they just talk too damned fast for me to really understand what they're saying.