What is it about train wrecks that so appeals to our morbid curiosity?

Is it just me or is there something subtly disturbing beneath the surface of America's Got Talent/Britain's Got Talent? Maybe it's the fact that Jerry Springer and David Hasselhoff are involved, both represent something twisted in their own way. But, it sometimes feels more like a freak show at a carnival then a real talent competition. Is it supposed to? I watch it and I am simultaneously amazed and nauseated.

I will confess that I was moved when I saw Paul Potts sing opera for the first time. Hearing such a huge voice come out of so homely a vessel represented to me the spark of divinity that exists in even the most humble. Yet, somehow this show profiting off this idea, it seems dirty. I've never actually watched the show, I've only seen clips on youtube, so I suppose that I have only been exposed to the most extreme of the acts, but what gives?

Check out some clips if you haven't seen it or am wondering what I am talking about.

Paul Potts



6 Year Old Connie



Indingo / Dracula Sisters



Bianca Ryan



Quick Change Artists



Contortionist



Another Baby Singer - The comments on this one are great (not part of the original show)



The most Annoying



I don't know, is it just me? Does the whole thing feel a bit unseemly? What do you get when you mix American Idol, the Gong Show, The Jerry Springer Show, Toddler Beauty Pagents, and Baywatch? Summer Primetime Television.