North Texas Got Talent is Setting The Stage for 4th Annual Event

Calling all performers: North Texas Got Talent returns this fall.

Presented by North Texas Performing Arts (NTPA), the 4th annual event is accepting online auditions from performers of all genres, ages and disciplines, now through Sunday, August 17. The competition is divided into youth (ages 10-17) and adult (ages 18+) categories. The video audition needs to be 2-3 minutes in length and can be submitted online. There's a $20 fee per act for individuals or groups up to four, or a $40 fee for groups with more than five performers.

The grand prize for the adult division is $1,000, while first place in the youth category will walk away with $500. Winners will be decided by a live all-star judging panel on Sunday, September 13, as finalists will perform at a live showcase at the Shops at Willow Bend in Plano. The event is free to attend and begins at 5:30 p.m. at the Neiman Marcus Court.

Only the NTPA will know who auditions for the illustrious prizes, but since there are still 22 days until the final submission deadline, we thought we'd make some suggestions.

Vocals Performance: Sam Cormier

Let's face it, the Got Talent franchise and its contemporaries are a game, and capitalizing on viewers' emotions is the way to win. We've seen it far too many times. Think of America's Got Talent's 14th champion, Kodi Lee, a legally blind and autistic savant who galvanized the judges with his feel-good story and unbelievable vocal range. You just naturally wanted to root for him, and to a different extent, the same can be said about North Texas songwriter Sam Cormier. Let's face it, "American Denim" is a legitimate hazard to hear live at this point. We are going to cry. It's fine, we've accepted it. Maybe the judges at NTGT will react the same, and Cormier will be $1,000 richer.

Comedy/Slam Poetry: Mike Nagel

You wouldn't know it from the exterior, but between Mike Nagel's unkempt hair and playfully neutrotic persona exists a fine speaker who knows how to own a room. We were first introduced to the Plano author and humorist last weekend at the Morning, Fuckers live reading at Deep Vellum Books, where he read excerpts from his latest work, Duplex. Personality goes a long way, but luckily Nagel's absurd writing does too, and it could be enough to take home the top prize.

Clowning: Flop School of Clown

You might not assume it, but Ely Sellers and Patricia Dos Santos quietly run one of the tightest-knit groups in all of Dallas. The Flop School of Clown is a semi-weekly class on the history, practice and philosophy of clowning. The group gathers at a small room inside Soar Creative Studios for evenings spent playing improv games and developing characters to use outside of the studio. This one is a curveball, we know, but we figure Sellers and Dos Santos have enough charm and natural chemistry to win the competition by sheer weirdness. Long live the clown.