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Sunday, October 12, 2008
10/12: “America’s Got Talent” winner Terry Fator at Cobb Energy Centre
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Most people who watched Terry Fator win “America’s Got Talent” on NBC last year saw him in three-minute snippets. But he proved at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre Saturday night he could sustain a nearly two-hour show, mixing humor, song and a cavalcade of puppets.
Emma does an impeccable version of “At Last” by Etta James. Yes, Fator as a guy can do great women’s voices, too. And he does both Natalie Cole and Nat King Cole in “Unforgettable.” PHOTO CREDITS: Rodney Ho/ajc.com
Fator, who has an incredible $100 million, five-year contract with the Mirage in Vegas starting in February, gave a couple of nods to Georgia artists, courtesy of his puppet Julius, who sang an impressive version of Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” and a snippet of James Brown’s “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag.” (Cee-lo — you try singing that without moving your lips!) Julius looked a bit like Atlanta native and “SNL” cast member Kenan Thompson.
Winston, above, is one of his most beloved puppets. With Winston, Fator does one my favorite impressions he does: Roy Orbison’s “Crying.”
And the most warped moment of the night: Fator dressed up as Michael Jackson to duet the country classic “Hey Good Lookin’ “ with his puppet Walter T. Airedale. (ABOVE)
He also happily gave the audience permission to take pictures (even with flash) and joked after one guy came up to play Cher to Fator’s Sonny Bono, “If you want to see yourself afterwards, someone will upload it on YouTube!”
I didn’t take video of that but did do so of his finale song with his turtle puppet Winston, “What a Wonderful World,” a reprise of what he did on “America’s Got Talent.” Fator sings Louis Armstrong while Winston does his best Kermit the Frog.
