A year ago when I watched America's Got Talent, I must say I was surprised when I first saw Leonid the Magnificent. To be honest, his act didn't seem that polished when he first started the competition. Further, Leonid and I couldn't be greater polar opposites in many ways. But, after his performance, I saw something in Leonid that I admired, qualities that I admire perhaps most of all--courage, raw emotion, pride and dignity. It was a strange mix, but when I saw Leonid the Magnificent face the judges and literally demand that they recognize him for who he is, I admired him and respected him.
I also felt that America had come a long way in respecting individual differences and even though he did not win the competition, the fact that he progressed for a while in an America that seemed to embrace him, restored some of my faith in mankind.
Tonight, there was a failure, not Leonid's but that of the judges. I felt that many of the contestants that advanced had far-less star quality and I also had hoped that Leonid would be given a chance to show America that he was the winner of the competition. I felt that the judges should have forgotten about creating a balanced finale and given Leonid a chance to compete to the end, giving America the opportunity to vote to decide if he was perhaps the greatest talent present.
--The Clever Cynic
