‘America’s Got Talent’ finalist spotlight: Sal Valentinetti
Going into this season of “America’s Got Talent,” Sal Valentinetti was one of the few contestants we were familiar with. We saw him on “American Idol,” but in between what we saw of him on that show and then here, it’s pretty clear that this is the right show for him. We don’t think that he is stuck in the lane of having to perform Frank Sinatra / Dean Martin covers his entire life, but for the sake of this show, that could be the right path for him. After all, just look at how Michael Buble became known to some for standards, but has since gone on to create some pretty solid original music of his own.
Below, we’re going to do our best to figure out whether or not the man nicknamed “The Voice” has got a real shot now of winning that grand prize and getting a chance to skyrocket himself to the next phase of his career.
Path to the finale – Sal started things off great with a golden buzzer from Heidi Klum. Then, he took a big risk in doing “Story of My Life” done in his signature style. It didn’t quite work for the first live show; we do think certain contemporary songs could handle this makeover, but this wasn’t one of them and it took some help courtesy of a Dunkin’ Save to get him here.
Strengths – Nostalgia. That’s the reason Sal probably needs to look at something like a “Fly Me to the Moon” or another track that’s extremely well-known (just not “Feeling Good” — we’re tired of it). He needs to play to the viewers who love the classics, especially since Brian Justin Crum and Linkin’ Bridge will probably do something more modern while Grace VanderWaal will go with an original. He needs to utilize that big voice of his, and also showcase more of his humor and personality. If he does that, he’ll have a shot.
Weaknesses – His vocals are going to be consistently good, so he is one of those performers who really has to pick the right song and have the right connection. That’s a lot of pressure on just a couple of elements. The other potential problem spot for Sal is that with so many other singers, there’s a chance vote-splitting will impact him more than some non-singing acts.
Odds of winning – As of right now, moderately low. Needing the Dunkin’ Save on an occasion makes us feel like his base is smaller than a few other finalists. Ultimately for him, we don’t actually think it makes that big of a difference if he wins. He just needs to get some good business people around him, do some touring, and really build up a base while getting some albums out there.
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