Tonight, Marty Brown sang Shania Twain’s “You’re Still the One” on America’s Got Talent. I thought it was a good choice to go with a band this time around on the large stage. The song is not one of my favorites, but the song selected by America’s Got Talent (not the performer) had the benefit that a lot of people know it.
Brown was a little choked up at the beginning of the song after seeing his father on the lead-in video and calling out a dedication to his father. But on watching the segment a second time, one may see Brown recovers pretty well. The judges were still tough on him, though mostly respectful. Howard Stern genuinely seemed to be rooting for Brown. Mel B mistakenly called Brown “Dave” and told the audience not to beat her up for it. But she showed less mercy for Brown, Tweeting a few minutes after the performance, “Ok.ok. I got his name wrong!! He blew it anyways, so what!!”
But it was Mel B who made the biggest mistake. Yeah, Brown’s voice faltered at the start of his song, but he showed something rare by giving the audience real emotion in a performance. The radio and Internet are full of Auto-Tune and perfect sounding meaningless lyrics.
What Brown did tonight was better than most “perfect” performances on these competition shows. With his heart on his sleeve, he showed how he felt after decades of struggle to finally be on stage in New York, thinking of his ailing father in Kentucky, his mom in the audience, and his wife dancing in her seat. The song’s words “looks like we made it” clearly had meaning for him at that moment. He gave real heart to the song, and that’s what we want out of our music. No matter what happens with the votes, Marty Brown is still the one.
Check out our post on how to vote in “America’s Got Talent.”
[Update: For a post on Brown’s entire run on America’s Got Talent, check out our post on The Great AGT Rebirth of Marty Brown.] How did you vote on America’s Got Talent? Leave your two cents in the comments.
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