It’s that time of year, again — “America’s Got Talent” is finally back on television. It’s difficult to put a finger on what makes this show so popular and why people enjoy this particular television talent show more than others. The format is pretty simple: acts audition in front of a panel of celebrity judges and a full audience and if at least three of the judges say “yes,” that act moves on to the next stage of the competition.
After auditions and a couple of rounds of cuts, performers take part in the live show, where their fate is left in the hands of the viewing public. Viewers vote in real time, choosing the acts they want to stay in the competition and the act that they hope to win. Voting is easy, done by text, phone, or a convenient app on your smartphone.
It may seem that it is the “audience participation” aspect that keeps people entertained by “America’s Got Talent,” but I think it is the acts themselves. All of the acts in the final rounds are extraordinarily talented, but the ones that do the best have amazing stories. They are people that the audience relates to and agrees that they are not only talented but deserving of the amazing money and prizes that go along with winning the show.
This year, though the first round of auditions has only just begun, the show has produced some amazingly talented acts and some beautifully touching stories. One of those is a band called “We Three,” a group of siblings that were inspired by their own father’s sibling band. Their parents were supportive of their musical goals, but sadly, their mother passed away from cancer and was not able to see their audition — a performance that brought an entire audience to tears and had them standing on their feet.
As they perform, Joshua, 27, sits at the drums and keyboard while Bethany, 24, and Manny, 21, sing and strum guitars. For their “America’s Got Talent” audition, they chose an original song they wrote themselves. “Heaven’s Not Too Far Away” was penned as a tribute to their mom, and is written as if their mother is speaking directly to them. Obviously, this is a heartbreaking inspiration for a song, but the trio bring all of their emotion to their performance, and it showed in the reaction of the audience and the judges.
Watch the emotional audition in the video below.
