Audiences are often skeptical of reality competition shows. The Internet breeds all kinds of rumors and conspiracy theories, and people often gather to speculate about whether a particular show is fixed or if the judges are pulling for a certain contestant. I still remember the throngs of people who were convinced that the American Idol puppet masters were angling for David Archuleta to win season 7, which didn’t end up happening.
The latest rumor floating around is that opera singer Neal E. Boyd has been picked to win season 3 of America’s Got Talent since entering the competition. BuddyTV caught up with AGT judge Piers Morgan on the red carpet of the NBC Fall Premiere Party, and he was happy to shoot the theory down with his usual sharp wit.
I’ve never put stock in the theory that Neal E. Boyd is a ringer, but I have mentioned it a few times in my America’s Got Talent recaps. It’s a theory that some BuddyTV readers subscribe to, with one person claiming that Piers admitted the entire competition is fixed while drunk at some party. This is, of course, complete hearsay that cannot be trusted, but it’s these types of comments that get everyone on the Internet talking.
The rumors about Neal E. Boyd started after viewers realized his story is similar to that of Britain’s Got Talent winner Paul Potts. Potts was a cell phone salesman who went on to win the competition with his operatic voice, while Boyd is an insurance salesman who’s also an opera singer. That alone was enough to get the rumor mill spinning, but Piers Morgan thinks the conspiracy theory is ridiculous.
“Paul Potts sold cell phones, and Neal Boyd sells insurance,” Morgan points out in our interview. “They’ve all got to do something. None of them are professional singers … Paul Potts was great in Britain, and a great singer, but a different kind of singer actually to Neal, and a different story. I think there’s no need to explain it. He got there on merit, he’s your version of Paul Potts, you should be proud of him.”
When asked about the similarities between the two men, Morgan adds, “We can’t have an opera singer in America because we had one in Britain? Come on, that’s ridiculous. BuddyTV needs to sort itself out. It’s not a fix, and he may not even win.”
For more of Piers’ comments about this season of America’s Got Talent, check out the exclusive red carpet interview we conducted with him and Jerry Springer:
In case any viewers still have doubts about the validity of America’s Got Talent, Piers sets the record straight one last time at the end of our interview. “Just to help BuddyTV,” he says, “man did land on the moon, Diana died in an accident, Elvis is not alive, and all the other conspiracy theories are probably untrue as well.”
– Don Williams, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of NBC)
Staff Writer, BuddyTV
