The wives of service members from around the country have united to perform as the singing group "American Military Spouses Choir." The ladies have made it as far as the semifinals on the TV show "America's Got Talent." But Tuesday night's performance may be their last on the competition program.
The Kansas City Star reports the judges were less than enthusiastic about the Choir's Tuesday night performance of the Sarah McLachlan song "Angel."
Howie Mandel told his fellow panelists upon the song's completion:
“The thing is, we got to judge them on what they did, not who they’re married to.”
Fellow judge Howard Stern seemed to side with Mandel's take on the performance. He told the Choir:
“Of course I applaud you. You have a beautiful story and part of who you are is your story...
“But I like Howie’s point. I felt tonight’s performance was pleasant, like maybe more a USO tour than Radio City Music...
“I think now it’s the best of the best. I applaud you, I love you, I love what your husbands do ... but I don’t know if this was the best of the best.”
The history of the Choir is brief. Army veteran Victor Hurtado, who heads up The Center for American Military Music Opportunities (CAMMO), told The Military Times that the Choir came to be as a result of musician David Foster. Foster was performing at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. He wanted his backup singers to a choir made up of military wives. CAMMO put out the audition notice, and "American Military Spouses Choir" was born.
That Kennedy Center performance caught the attention of “America’s Got Talent” producers, and the Choir nailed the audition to make it on the TV program.
Hurtado said of working with the women in the Choir:
“We realize how the troops are able to do what they have done, with the spouses like these at home.”
