MY GREATEST MOMENT WATCHING TV

The final performance in the first night of America's Got Talent Season 14 was the show-stopper of all-time, rivaling Susan Boyle from Britain's Got Talent, which occurred a decade ago.  You think you have a tough life.  Then along comes people like Helen Keller, who at the age of 19 months became deaf and blind...but attained worldwide acclaim.

Now, 22-year old Kodie Lee, who not only is blind, but is autistic, here with his mother.  Watch him perform Donny Hathaway's A Song for You.  If you don't draw tears of joy, you are just not human.  He got a golden buzzer from Gabrielle Union.  According to Kodie's mother, music and performing are why he is alive:

"I'm a new judge this season and I'm also a new mom this year," judge Gabrielle Union said. "It's the toughest job I've ever had and the most rewarding job I've ever had. You just want to give your kids the moon, the stars and the rainbows ... and tonight, I'm going to give you something... 

Kodie and his family live in Temecula, California.  He was born with optic nerve hypoplasia and was also diagnosed with autism at the age of 4.  In his early years he had tantrums 30 times/day.  However, he might be a musical savant, for he plays six instruments, has mastered classical works as well as pop and loves to tap dance.


He is best friends with 16-year old Makayla Phillips, who was an AGT semifinalist last year, who also won a golden buzzer.  He supported her during her run, and she's with him this year, hoping for a long run.

Maybe this program should be called America Draws Talent, for they come from all over the world, including, this time, 28 in a dance group from the slums of Mumbai.  America's Got Talent (AGT) might well be my favorite program on television, reinforced by Ranker, which also selects it as the best talent show ever.

A quick history:

• There was the Major Bowes Amateur Hour on radio from 1934 to 1945, and Frank Sinatra was a contestant.
• A TV first in 1948 was the Ted Mack Original Amateur Hour, and here is Gladys Knight (of the Pips) at the age of 7.  Other participants have included Pat Boone, Louis Farrakhan (playing the violin) and Jose Feliciano.  Elvis Presley tried, but missed the cut in 1953.  So did Wayne Newton and Tiny Tim.  The greatest grand prize was a finale, worth $1500.  America's Got Talent winners get a million dollars.

Maybe the most extraordinary performance I've ever seen came from China's Got Talent.  Lou Wei, at the age of 10, lost both arms touching a high-voltage wire while playing hide-and-seek.  He still wanted to learn how to play a piano, but his piano teacher in Beijing quit, so he decided to teach himself.  Said Wei:

"For people like me, there were only two options. One was to abandon all dreams, which would lead to a quick, hopeless death; the other was to struggle without arms to live an outstanding life," he said.

He won the first China's Got Talent in 2011 by playing You're Beautiful.

Why I'm particularly impressed is that he played a piano with his toes.  I more recently in AGT2017 saw Jokgu (a chicken) playing America the Beautiful on a piano.  So I made a quick search to see how this was accomplished.  There was a clip of this chicken playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and the secret was that the keys lit up when they had to be tapped.  

I have a special and sad memory linked to that tune and a keyboard, which underscores my particular dedication to overcome.  I thought, I could do what Jokgu did, so the next day went online and bought a 61-key Electronic Keyboard, which comes with 128+ instruments and 4000 programmed songs (where the keys light up).  Let's see, now, two years later, and I still can't perfectly play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  A common joke at 15 Craigside is that someday I'll put on a theater recital.

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