America’s Got Talent has officially reopened it’s YouTube challenge. Any act can submit a video of themselves performing via this page and have a chance to skip past the judges and all of the preliminary rounds (which are filming now) and land themselves only a handful of weeks before the finals. For those with short memories, this was how Dan Sperry got on the show last season. We asked America’s Got Talent producer Jason Raff to give anyone who would like to submit some pointers on how to present themselves:
Do something that makes you unique and different. We all know there are only so many illusions. But what makes your performance unique? What is your personality or stage persona? For Nathan Burton is was humor and a little bit of an edge, for Dan Sperry is was… well Dan — that mysterious goth style…Antonio mixed illusion with fire . If you are going to do metamorphosis — is there a way you do it that’s different that how others do it. My judges are jaded — they have seen so many magicians in the past years and many of the same illusions. The “average” magicians don’t stand out to them. The ones that tend to do well combine personality and technical competence along with a unique presentation — they are true entertainers.
It is true that those who enter the You Tube contest have some advantages — they get to bypass the original auditions and the Vegas week. In fact since America votes for one to be put right onto the live show automatically – they bypass the judges altogether. But there are only 12 spots on the You Tube show as opposed to 48 for the live quarterfinals. Also America gets to know the Top 48 a little bit better than the You Tube acts – perhaps that’s why Jackie (the child did not win. They are just two different paths to the semifinals — both have their pros and cons.
Jason Raff is an executive producer on America’s Got Talent. You can follow him on Twitter at @Jason_Raff