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America's Got Talent in Kevin Skinner

      The hoopla that has risen over Kevin Skinner has caused me some consternation, so I did a little research. And I have come to these conclusions about him and about our society.

      Kevin is what you see. A country boy, married, he's part of a close family that works hard and loves music. He and his brothers and sister and father all make music. One brother has a college degree in classical piano. His sister is in a band with him, called Kevin Skinner and Friends. He writes songs, including one about his grandmother who died two years ago. He was very close to her and wrote the song as therapy for himself. When he told the AGT "camera" about mud bogging and sitting on the porch to count the stars, he was serious, and he thought they were good answers, not humorous things. The people in his hometown really do those things. His wife is well-spoken and poised and just an every day person, a solid citizen like Kevin. People back home who knew him are really excited that a "homeboy" is making good. They're excited that someone they've known, gone to school with, or worked with is getting the limelight. He's enjoyed a good reputation and really seems to be a good guy. He's not an actor or a plant in the show like so many have claimed.

      He's different from Susan Boyle. I don't like the comparison, first of all because it isn't being very nice to her, treating her like some object of ridicule still. But Kevin is intelligent and so far seems to be able to handle the pressure better. His main crime is that he came from western Kentucky and speaks not only with a Southern accent, but with the particular version that comes from that part of the state. It's unfortunate that he's been unemployed. Prior to that he had an honest job helping to put food on America's table.

      When he first encountered those judges and their rudeness and then the laughter of the audience, my heart broke, not just for him, but for all Southerners who've ever been judged as slow or stupid because of slowness of speech and/or a drawl. I prayed, "Oh, God, please, let him be good.". And he didn't disappoint me, and I loved seeing those rude, prejudiced, narrow-minded judges having to do an about face.If his feelings were hurt, he kept it hidden. He remained poised, and calm, and polite. He not only showed us his talent, but his good heart, and deep character.

      We saw for ourselves the shallow character of the entertainment industry as represented by the emcee and the judges. But what about the audience?
Why would anyone laugh when a person says he's unemployed at any time, but especially in this economy? What if he had hungry or sick kids at home; would that be funny? And what's wrong with being a chicken catcher? I wouldn't want to do it, but I don't want to be a plumber, or a cable installer, or any number of jobs that have to be done. Honest work is a good thing, not a joke. And who says that being a judge on a talent show is more important than providing chickens for those judges to eat in their expensive restaurants? They not only laughed at Kevin, they laughed at millions of people who have to do dirty jobs for a living. What does that say about that audience or about our culture?

      (If I really wanted to do some low blows, I might say that Kevin Skinner has never been filmed by his daughter, drunk eating a sandwich off the floor like"The Hoff",  or that he doesn't live with a burnt out drug addict and grown kids who have a ton of problems. So who should be laughing at whom?)

      Yes, Kevin has talent. He sings with emotion, and from his heart because that's the way he is. He has an artist's heart. He feels things deeply and expresses them through music. It puts a lump in our throats when we hear him sing a soulful song. Let's hope they don't let the background tracks overwhelm him, which almost happened in the quarter finals. It's always good news to see a deserving person succeed. But the big news here is that we have become a crass, unappreciative, judgmental society, and that the entertainment industry is so unconnected to the real world. We need more people like Kevin who can remind us to get back on track.