Hi Vegas fans,
I've been watching America's Got Talent on NBC. As you may have read in some of my other blogs, I'm not huge on reality shows. However, I do like talent shows and great stories. And there are plenty on this show.
From the fun to the fantastic, there will be a lot of amazing acts in Las Vegas. Tonight I was really moved by a number of stories behind the acts. But the one that really stuck in my mind was the last one, Andrew De Leon. Dressed in all black and looking very goth, Andrew cited Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie as influences. So of course he sings... opera! He had never sung in front of anyone before, and he belted out a beautiful Puccini tune "O mio babbino caro" ("Oh my beloved father") and was just fantastic.
He was a young man with very little confidence, saying "I'm not good at anything." And now he's going to Vegas on a talent show. We've all heard the cliches before... If you can dream it, you can do it. Dream big. Follow your dreams. But until you believe in yourself, and until you pursue your goals and persist in them when the chips are down, they don't seem real.
I always talk about Vegas as an escape. But of course it's about dreams, too. Dreams of winning big, of putting a few dollars in a slot machine and hitting it big. True, very few people walk out of a casino with the jackpot, and most of us lose more than we win. But we believe, so we go back. And we'll keep going back.
"It's not that you are good at something..." Howie Mandel said to Andrew, "you are great at something." True. Good for you, Andrew. Best wishes. We'll see you in Vegas.
Viva,
Mike
