Americas Got Talent (AGT) has proved to be an influential show for some who seek to show off their talent on live television, what with having genuinely great acts on their show. The talent is impressive and I find myself thoroughly enjoying the acts as they perform.
This is not why the show deserves a 3/10. This is what gives it the tiny amount that it has. This is the 3 star aspect of the show.
What AGT fails to do is to be genuine. It feels like you're watching some beautiful cake get iced over a thousand times than necessary; the show has its cheek turned away from talent and toward view count, and it's obvious. The judges, who aren't real judges, are celebrity people who are well known by many. The acts have their stories unfolded out to you before their act, with more emphasis on stories that are sad. Most of the show revolves around back stories and really dumb stories about the judges; very little revolves around actual talent.
Although AGT is, admittedly, a television show, the reason this is so frustrating is because it's a competition as well. America casts their votes in based on who they think "did best." That means genuine talent gets booted off just because America felt that another contestants story was touching, and they wanted to support it. It's a serious flaw because it biases the votes. It wouldn't be as bad if AGT didn't soak up these kind of stories and, instead, just left them out.
The Hunger Games made fun of such television by having these over- the-top crazy dressed characters dictate the show and color the contestant stories to impress the audience; it's very sad to say that such a thought is not far from the concept of this show, where 1) As long as you have a decent act and 2) A good story, you win the heart of your audience.
There really is no competition in this. It's all the dirty business of getting the highest view count; it's all in the money.
