Singing competitions have held a popular space within the reality TV market ever since American Idol blew up in 2002. Since then, shows like The X-Factor and The Voice have come along and offered talented singers the chance to make their dreams come true.
From Kelly Clarkson to Jennifer Hudson, many singing careers have taken off thanks to their participation in these shows.
However, when it comes to America’s Got Talent, viewers have lost the sense of fun a show like that needs to have. Online forums have become the hot spot for passionate fans to vent their frustration. In addition to the lack of fun, viewers are wondering what happened to one particular act whose audition stood out earlier in the season.
The TT Brothers Scored A Huge Win During Their Audition And Fans Never Saw Them Again
During season 19 of America’s Got Talent, Osada Shohei and Matsuo Shun, better known as the TT Brothers, performed a comedy routine.
The routine consisted of the guys each describing various everyday situations and ending it with a T-pose.
At first, the audience and judges seemed confused by what they were watching. However, as the routine went along, both the audience and judges were laughing. By the end of the performance, the audience was even doing the T-pose and chanting along with the brothers.
The judges, including Simon Cowell, were all won over. Howie Mandel, in particular, had the best response following the TT Brothers’ audition.
“You guys were terrific,”
Howie said
. “You know what that word starts with?”
The duo is from Tokyo, Japan and are also known as Chocolate Planet.
They played the roles of Hifumi Yamada and Yasuhiro Hagakure in select performances of Danganronpa: Kibō no Gakuen to Zetsubō no Kōkōsei the stage in 2016. This was a Japanese stage play based on the 2010 video game Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc.
Simon Cowell enjoyed their routine so much that he suggested a TT Brothers movie should be made starring the duo. Unfortunately, the TT Brothers weren’t selected to advance to the Quarterfinals, thus eliminating them from the competition.
However, their fate on the show was glossed over and not mentioned to viewers after their audition. This caused a lot of fans to speculate about what happened to their presence on the show. Fans of AGT were vocal in their curiosity due to how much the TT Brothers’ audition stood out.
“Not all acts put through from the auditions make it to the quarterfinals,”
one Reddit user explained
. “Judges’ cuts used to be televised, but now it happens behind the scenes.”
“They have shown the deliberations in the past on a special episode, but it seemed more like a made for TV thing rather than the judges actually making the decisions right then and there,” another person wrote. “The show had a two week break for the Olympics so they likely decided no special episodes this year. I recall one summer recently they had a special episode with Simon talking about his favorite acts instead of a real show.”
They continued, “It is clear that not everyone who gets four yes votes can make it to the quarterfinals.”
However, some fans had other theories regarding what led to their disappearance from the show.
“I could be completely wrong, but it could be scheduling conflicts,” a user speculated. “Chocolate Planet (the actual name of the manzai duo who created the TT brothers) is involved in a couple weekly shows in Japan, so they may not have been able to take time off again.”
The Overuse Of The Golden Buzzer, Stage And Judges Have Hurt America’s Got Talent, According To Fans
Another Reddit thread recently raised the question of why America’s Got Talent doesn’t feel fun anymore. The first user broke down why they believed the show had lost its sense of fun.
According to the user, the show hasn’t been as enjoyable due to the following:
- The new stage for the live show is the same one they use for the auditions.
- There are no judge cuts.
- The golden buzzers have become overused and no longer feel special.
- They miss Mel B, Nick Cannon, and Tyra Banks on the show.
Simon Cowell has a net worth of $600 million.
Other users agreed with their point about the golden buzzers.
- One user wrote, “What is even the point of the GB in auditions anymore? Before, they used to get you straight to the live shows, but I don’t understand their purpose this season other than those auditions usually being the ones that go viral.”
“Well they still go to the live show, that’s the only thing it does,” another user responded. “So many acts get cut behind the curtains, that’s the only guaranteed way to make it to the live show.”
A user replied, “But if you’re good enough for a golden buzzer, you’re good enough to get selected to advance anyways.”
“Yeah there are a lot of flawed systems,” another person wrote. “It doesn’t make much sense anymore.”
Sofia Vergara is making $400K per episode on AGT.
This is another component of the show long-time fans aren’t too happy with.
“I’m sorry, but were Alex Sampson and Yung Min really one of the best three acts last week or did they get voted in because of their followings on Tik Tok?” someone asked. “Was Adrian & Hurricane really better than Murmuration and the Ramadani Bros last year? Or Putri? Or heck, Anna Guzman? It’s become more a popularity contest or ‘what’s cutest’ rather than a talent contest.”
The same user also had an opinion regarding the golden buzzers and how they should be used.
“If you’re going to have GBs in the quarterfinals, don’t have them in the auditions,” they wrote. “Just have four for the season. Clearly, if you’re getting them in the auditions, you’re not getting them in the quarters, so now we have like 15 GBs. And while the GBs in the quarters have all been deserving, I don’t like that it’s based purely on where you’re performing. For example, Sabrina had no chance to get it last night because it went 4th and Heidi wanted to see the other acts.”
Fans Of America’s Got Talent Believe The Show Should Ban Singing Acts In The Future
While singing acts have been a staple on America’s Got Talent, it seems like viewers would rather see something else.
A fan of the show began a thread on Reddit explaining why singing acts should be banned from the show. They began by saying that since there are other competition shows devoted to singing, AGT should focus on other things.
“We already have The Voice,” the user began. “Any time I hear a singer on America’s Got Talent, I ask myself- would they have any shot at winning The Voice? If so, they should go on The Voice and stop wasting everyone’s time on a Talent show where there’s 50 million other people trying to use singing as their talent. I’ve never listened to a singer on America’s Got Talent and thought to myself ‘Wow, they deserve the win’ because singing is such a generic talent to compete with on that show.”
The user also criticized the way the show uses the singer’s difficult past as a way to manipulate people’s opinion.
“Most of those singers just use their tragic backstory as a means of trying to sway the judges and the audience regardless of whether or not their voice is any good,” they wrote.
Another user responded, claiming this ban wouldn’t happen if singing acts prove to drive viewership to the show.
“You know that talent shows are not about talent but just entertainment?” the user wrote. “The production doesn’t care who is good and who isn’t, just what’s keep the audience watching.”
“So everything goes, singers included,” they concluded.
One user admitted they rarely finish watching the entire season, because the singing acts usually make it to the finale.
“I watch on Hulu and literally fast forward thru the singers,” the user began. “The worst part is the singers always end up going to finales, so I usually stop watching each season shortly after auditions. I really don’t think it helps their views, I think there’s just a lack of diverse performance so they don’t have a choice but to use it as filler.”