Behind the Screens with Joshua Maloni Arcadian Broad voted off ‘America’s Got Talent’ Performer has Island ties

Niagara Frontier Publications, September 10, 2009 As NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” heads into it final round next week, one performer won’t be competing for the top prize. Arcadian Broad, whose parents, grandparents, and aunts and uncles all grew up on Grand Island, was eliminated last week from the reality television competition. Though he didn’t win the $1 million grand prize, Broad’s grandfather, Sal SantaLucia, said his 13-year-old grandson has several opportunities in the works. As the show continues its summer run, contestants are bound to confidentiality agreements. Whatever Broad decides to do, SantaLucia says, “He’s got a lot of talent,” and will find success. SantaLucia and his wife, Marianne, now live in Florida. So, too, Broad and his parents, Kathy-Ann and Kevin, live in the Sunshine State. Each week, SantaLucia and co. would watch with great anticipation as Arcadian performed to a national audience of more than 10 million viewers. “It was awesome,” he said. “I had all my friends in all my circles watching.” In his last week on air, Broad ran into a bit of trouble with “AGT” judges David Hasselhoff, Piers Morgan and Sharon Osbourne. He claimed the show’s producers forced his final performance, a Disney-inspired number, upon him. SantaLucia said his grandson, who is both an accomplished dancer and pianist, had practiced a routine that incorporated both skills. But, after the judges told him to ditch the keys, “it changed his performance. It destroyed him,” SantaLucia said. “It’s not his style to dance with a cast.” The notoriously snarky Morgan, in a phone interview this week, acknowledged Broad’s talent, but didn’t appreciate his so-called blame shifting.

Arcadian Broad performs on “America’s Got Talent.” The 13-year-old has family living on Grand Island. (NBC photo by Trae Patton)

“Well no, I mean, I have got three sons and they are all around his age. And if one of them had come up with that ... excuse that Arcadian did at the end, I think I would have taken him home and off to bed with no tea, because I think it was ... a shame, because he is a talented boy.

“But I think whenever the acts turn on the producers you can be damn sure that it is just an excuse, because the producer’s only interest is always to work with the contestants to get them the best possible chance they have of progressing in the competition.

“And no one holds a gun to their head. If they really do not want to do something, they do not have to do it. So, once they accept what they are going to be doing – and most of the time it is their idea anyway – once they have accepted that, I do not think you can start blaming the producers for what in his case was a fairly ordinary performance.

“I mean ... he never really reached the heights of his first audition. And I think that it is what happens with these young acts, sometimes, is that in the first audition he was totally free. You know, he kind of danced with an abandon, which comes from a fearlessness of, you know, who knows what may happen.

“As they progress in the competition … some of the younger ones … they all start taking it a little bit too seriously. And their performances become a bit wooden and less free, and that is what happened with him. He is a talented kid but, you know, less of the backchat, more practice.”

Arcadian Broad was subject to “America’s Got Talent” judges Piers Morgan,
Sharon Osbourne and David Hasselhoff (NBC photo by Chris Haston)

Osbourne, who also participated in the phone interview, said age wasn’t a factor in Broad’s successful audition or late-season elimination.

“Age has got nothing to do with it, because it is down to the individual. And this kid has been trained to dance. He has been auditioning before. So he was well versed into what he was getting himself into. You know, he was not a rookie,” she said. “And I do not think he was too young or too opinionated. He did what he wanted to do and we gave the comments. And I think he took it quite well. I mean, it, you know, he showed his age at the end when Piers made a certain comment and it is like, ‘Oh it was not me that threw the brick through the window, it was him.’ That is when he actually showed his age.”

SantaLucia said he didn’t expect Arcadian to win – “It’s pretty hard (for a dancer) to compete with outstanding singers,” he said. But, he was hoping his grandson would finish in the Top 10.

Ultimately, “I’m so proud of him,” SantaLucia said.

Of the remaining “AGT” acts, Osbourne is happy with the crop America has kept.

“I think it is quite diverse, which I like, and I do not think they got it wrong at all. I like the diversity in our show,” she said.

Morgan, on the other hand, is less impressed.

“Yes, I am not quite as convinced. I mean I am very disappointed that, actually, Acrodunk did not make it,” he said. “And I think it is one of the problems of the show, when it gets to this stage, is that sometimes the American public do tend to veer towards the singing acts over what I think are very good variety acts. And there is not much you can do about it. I mean, singers always have an advantage. You know, everyone can connect to a song in a way that they cannot do to a basketball act or a magician act or whatever.

“But I think it is important for the show that we do continue to attract very strong variety acts to the show. And I hope they are not deterred by the fact that, you know, again it is a little bit singer top heavy I would say.”

The season finales of “America’s Got Talent” airs Monday and Wednesday at 8 p.m. on NBC.