A Grimm Ending to America’s Got Talent

Well, another season of America’s Got Talent has ended, with yet another disappointing (or shall we say Grimm?) ending.

Yes, that’s right: the results of the show, once again, are poppycock… but unfortunately not of the princely variety.

Last year the talent-challenged Kevin Skinner (who I prefer to call Boomhauer) won the competition. I’m not sure what he’s done since — he does have an official website, but doesn’t seem to have released any albums or singles.

It’s a continuation of the trend that the world loves an underdog… especially in these financial times.

Because this year’s winner, Michael Grimm, may be a good singer…

For his soulful-bluesy style, he stands at least on par with the many singers from that genre that I saw perform during 15 years of bartending in top entertainment venues.

But he didn’t have the skill or showmanship of his competitor, Prince Poppycock, and he didn’t have the Vegas-headline appeal of Poppycock or the blacklight theater group, Fighting Gravity.

He didn’t even have the awe-inspiring talent and heart of 10-year-old opera singer Jackie Evancho.

However… Grimm was the underdog in the final four.

And that’s just what America (and the world at large) loves…

See, Michael Grimm has had a hard life. The Mississippi native was raised by his grandparents after his parents divorced, and the avid church-goers introduced the young Michael to country music.

Those grandparents lost everything they had in Hurricane Katrina, and Michael wanted to make some money to pay them back for everything they had done… which he can certainly do with the million-dollar prize money.

Here we have the making of a classic literary story.

And people love a good story, don’t they? Especially when the underdog wins?

It’s man vs. nature (the hurricane), man vs. man (the other competitors), man vs. himself (Grimm’s initial lack of confidence and inability to connect with his audience), and man vs. society (he had to convince the voting public that he deserved to win).

All around, Michael Grimm is what people like to call a “victim.”

However, that last conflict was not as hard to overcome as it may have appeared at first, because he was, after all, the underdog… and therefore, ironically enough, a shoe-in.

I’ll even support Barry’s thought that judge Piers Morgan was instructed by producers to buzz Poppycock’s final performance — something unheard of at that level of competition — to make sure that Poppycock would finish in last place, and not be crowned (pun intended) the winner.

I know, sounds like a conspiracy theory. But stranger things have happened.

And while I’m disappointed that Grimm won (any of the other three would have been more deserving, based solely on talent), I can’t say I’m surprised.

At least he, unlike many victims, decided to do something about his position… to step up and follow his dreams.

But I want to take this opportunity to say that, just like last year’s runner-up Recycled Percussion went on to greater things than Skinner, I predict Fighting Gravity will be headlining in Vegas long-term before Grimm does.

And I know that Evancho and Poppycock won’t have any problem getting work… it will just be interesting to see who Poppycock’s audience proves to be.

After all, the conservative public majority might embrace Lady Gaga, Cher or Madonna, but they seem to make more allowances for women.

I’ll be surprised if a man as flamboyant as Poppycock (who out-camps Freddie Mercury, Ziggy Stardust and even Ru Paul) will be zooming up the pop charts… and even more so if he’s a hit on the opera charts (if those exist), despite his amazing voice.

But if he does, I’ll be applauding him all the way…

Along with everyone else who chooses personal conviction and passion over feeling like a victim who’s owed something.

Dreams of the future and passion in the present should always trump history of the past.

Keep Unwrapping the Mysteries of Life!