Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-119.30.38.51-20170809235209/@comment-119.30.39.228-20170811102738

Grace VanderWaal? Grace VanderWaal? I'm still trying to think how Marisa is the same as Grace VanderWaal ...

They're both little girls and they sing? Well, even if you shoot Marisa in the head you still have a bunch of little girls singing in the semi-finals. Are they all Grace VanderWaals?

The comparison is so shallow you could let your toddler walk in it! If you really believe it, listen to Grace's "I Don't Know My Name"  and then listen to Marisa's "Broken Wing" and tell me if you really believe that they are similar. Marisa is a country and western singer and Grace is not. She plays a guitar not a ukelele. The voices are very different. The stage presences are very different.

Now on this issue of "too many singers" or "too many children", I have seen there is a lot of anger on this matter, on this and other websites: and it's not about Marisa. First, you can sign Marisa's petition to say she should be treated like the other children but not vote for her or any singer in the semifinals and finals. Those are the votes that count to decide the winner. Second, if you keep Marisa out you still have 11 singers out of 20 acts, so what did you accomplish?

Your problem is with the organization of AGT, which is a mess. It can't decide if it is a singing show, a magic show, a dog show, a get blown out of a cannon show, a play Donald Trump show or what. What they need is AGT's Best Singer prize, AGT's Best Magician prize, AGT's Best Acrobat prize,etc. If Marisa gets in maybe that will be my next petition. But it can't be done this year and keeping Marisa out does not get you one step closer to that. William Jennings Bryan said "You shall not crucify the American worker on a cross of gold" and  l say "You shall not crucify little Marisa McKaye on a cross of magicians".

I am very interested in knowing about the "debacles" of past country and western singers on AGT. No country and western singer has won since 2009 and Kevin Skinner didn't blow up the hall or take hostages.The judges told Kevin "You are what this show was created for". Country and western music is an important part of American music, liked by half the country, and it has not been given fair respect or representation. To say it is "America's" Got Talent with no country and western representation means it only represents part of America.

I hate to break it to you guys but a singer will almost certainly win this AGT. Cutting Marisa won't stop it because she is not the problem. There are 6 little singers and 5 big singers taking her place. Your problem is with the American people: nowadays, they like music.They don't run to the circus every weekend to see dog shows, acrobats and magicians. They will vote for singers. The best you can expect is that it might be a singer who is a clown or it might be a singer who is a ventriloquist.

Yet all of that is beside the point: the point is that Marisa is not the worst singer, she is a different kind of singer than the others and more than a singer: she is a musician and a songwriter (and we are pushing her to sing her own songs if she gets the wild card and not hide under the Covers). When you sign her petition you are saying that if the other 6 child singers are there Marisa deserves to be there too, not that you love singers. You can even write on the petition "I hate singers but if the other singers are there in such numbers then Marisa should be too".

I am sorry that this is long. I was not given the option to answer the 3 of you separately, so I had to answer all of you here.