I am sure that Mara Justine Platt, who was eliminated from the America's Got Talent TV show this week, is a very nice girl; she certainly seems to be on TV. I'm not going to be particularly kind in this post, but it should never be construed as directed toward her, or even her singing skills, which some day may be very good. I wish her the best and hope that she is able to get the training a 12-year-old should get to determine if she actually has a really exceptional talent, since you really could never tell from the performances on the show.
Full disclosure: I have my own history with AGT, believe it or not. A few years back, 2008 or 2009, a group with which I sang for many years was invited to audition and compete on the show (yes, there are invitations). That group was a men's chorus of 80-100 at the time when all were on stage, and were four-time International Chorus Champions, so it can be assumed that we were really good, with or without me. The first audition was in National Harbor in the Washington, DC area, and I could not attend due to conflict. Due to, or despite my absence, we passed the audition and were next to compete in New York a few weeks later for the actual judges, who at the time were Piers Morgan, Sharon Osborne and David Hasselhoff.
This time I could perform, and about 75 of us bussed up to Manhattan late at night, were housed in a depressingly cramped hotel, and rehearsed a condensed version of "New York, New York" complete with our typical choreography for the piece, to fit a 90-second mandated window. We went on for the judges in a large theater that was almost empty, save the judges, and did our thing in white tie and tails. Morgan was not impressed, referring to it as "cheesy" which, in fairness, 75 guys in tailcoats singing and dancing certainly was. Mrs. Osborne pointedly noted, however, that "I like cheese with my hamburger" and voted "yes", as did Hasselhoff, though without any similarly pithy statement. Two votes out of three, and we were through to the next round, which would be in Las Vegas.
Here's where I must dismiss your thoughts of "sour grapes." The chorus as a whole consisted almost totally of men who worked for a living -- military, contractors, professionals, corporate executives, dentists, etc. -- who would have had a bit of difficulty aligning our schedules even to all be in Las Vegas for two days, let alone drop our professions and relocate there to be an "act", were we to have won. We knew that, surely the producers knew that, and among ourselves we wondered aloud about that part of it once we went from "Hey, neat, they want us to sing at National Harbor" to "We made it to Vegas!" We were not an act, per se, we were a very well-trained local chorus that just happened to be comparable in talent, as a unit, to those acts which also were going through.
Some time later, we were notified that no, we would not be invited to compete in Las Vegas. We weren't told precisely why, but we assumed that they recognized that we were structurally not a real candidate for what they were looking for, and had we won, they realized that maybe only 20% of us would have been able to relocate and proceed. Having in truth gone as far as we would have wanted, we breathed a collective sigh of relief and went on our merry ways; I retired from the group in 2009.
This brings us all the way around to Mara. Miss Platt made it even this far only because of a judges' save -- have you noticed that the viewer voting seems to get the right talents put through, but the judges' saves invariably pick the wrong act? If you have not seen her, she is a 12-year-old girl singing songs whose lyrics are better sung by a 25-year-old, and that is really the point of this piece. First, we have to distinguish hard among the girl's actual talent (her singing ability), her presentation of the song (songs are stories with a theme, whether a lyrical one, a rhythmic one, etc.), and the choice of song.
As a performer of long standing, I am maddened by the people who told her what to sing and how to sing it -- or let her choose. Much like the eminently forgettable 12-year-old who actually won the first AGT, Mara's performance was overwhelmed by:
(1) Facial expressions portraying emotions that no 12-year-old girl has the experience to feel
(2) Voice inflections and range choices that obscured the lyrics and distracted the listener (and no, I'm not even talking about the sound system in the semifinals)
In show business, the relevant term is "suspension of disbelief." This is the principle that when you sit in an audience, you start by knowing you're in an audience. Since the performer is conveying a story to you, you will innately disbelieve them until they bring you into the telling of the story, "suspending your disbelief." It is suspended until the performer loses their hold on you, which needs to be after the end of the performance. If something happens to distract you during it, your disbelief kicks back in and you are left with an unsatisfying experience.
It is up to the performer to maintain the suspension of disbelief and eliminate the distractions. This is where I cannot forgive the judges for their elemental lack of understanding of the principle. Mara has some things going for her, such as a strong vocal instrument and at least the knowledge that a performer has to show some passion. Unfortunately, the distractions in her performances repeatedly re-inject disbelief into the audience, whether the very low pitching of large parts of the songs into ranges she does not yet command or, more tragically, the attempts to show emotions of pain, love disappointment, whatever, that a 12-year-old cannot credibly portray.
I cannot tell you what she should have chosen as a competing repertoire, but that wasn't it. Her songs had lyrical themes, and the lyrics did not apply. Matching the expressions and somewhat immature vocals of a 12-year-old against more sophisticated emotional content is one of those distractions that leave us disbelieving.
I do not condone the celebration of this presentation of her abilities. If American music has descended to a point that any portrayal of the X most talented Americans includes an under-developed voice accompanied by what can only be called age-unsuitable visuals (hey, I know a lot of words but this one stumps me), so be it, but it is hard to support. The first season's winner (still can't recall her name) was the same type of performer, except that not only were her visuals appallingly unsuitable for her age, but her vocals were full of "huh, huh, huh" sounds. She was clearly coached by someone to imitate some pop tart of 2005 or whatever year it was, but any talent she actually had was obscured by the attempt to be something she was not -- 25 years old.
I have other criticisms of the show itself, but I'm willing to sit back and be entertained by the stage that it is -- a competition that should be among immensely talented performers heretofore hidden in the bushes or backwoods of America, for the heart of the people. Let the performers grow up a bit first.
Postscript ... As those of you who actually watch the show are aware, there is another 12-year-old who actually was put through to the finals by the American vote. His name is Quintavious Johnson, although there should be a law against tacking that name onto a poor, defenseless baby. That said, I am at a loss to explain why young Mr. Johnson bothers me far less than young Miss Platt; in fact, while I wouldn't pay to see his act, I do enjoy his performances. Both are 12, both are singers performing lyrics too advanced for their age as far as being able to emote them without distracting the audience. Yet Mr. Johnson has gone through, Miss Platt has not, and it feels quite right that this was the outcome.
I can only surmise that while Mara was trying to be 25 and failing at it, Quintavious was trying to be a 12-year-old imitating a 25-year-old, and succeeding. I hope that makes some sense to you as I try to clarify. Quintavious was playing the role of a 12-year-old, while Mara was being a 12-year-old. There's a difference, possibly in the sense of self-mockery as entertainment. We reacted to him playing the role of the juvenile singer, so we were not distracted by thinking he was trying to be 25. I wish him luck, and hope that he spends the next few years quietly learning his craft so he can perform excellently for decades.
I do wish the same for Miss Platt, but I hope concurrently that she is able to attract a completely new set of advisors who will keep her out of the spotlight until she matures to the point of visual credibility -- and pitch her songs in a range she can actually produce. I do like her and think she is a very polite young lady. But if I'm going to listen to a singing 12-year-old, I either want to see amazing precocity or an act. Mara did not have either, and America voted properly. God bless her.
Copyright 2014 by Robert Sutton
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