# Deaf Singer on AGT **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 9, 2017, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-singer-on-agt/788542 "2017-06-09T20:55:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-singer-on-agt/788542/1 "2017-06-09T20:55:13Z")
Did a season thread get created for AGT? We had a thread last week for Darci Lynne Farmer the 12 year old ventriloquist. This week the stand out star is Mandy Harvey. She is a trained 29 year old musician that lost her hearing at age 18. She performs barefoot and feels the music’s vibration through her feet. Muscle memory (reinforced with modern visual tuners) keeps her on pitch. She performed a song that she wrote. Winning Simon’s Golden Buzzer. [https://www.google.com/amp/www.billboard.com/amp/articles/news/television/7824759/americas-got-talent-deaf-singer-mandy-harvey-video](https://www.google.com/amp/www.billboard.com/amp/articles/news/television/7824759/americas-got-talent-deaf-singer-mandy-harvey-video) ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-singer-on-agt/788542/2 "2017-06-09T21:13:42Z")
The BBC profiled Mandy last month, before she appeared on AGT. She’s already recorded three jazz albums. Studio work is probably easier for her. She can feel the vibrations without the distraction of performing live. She does tour with a band. I’m in awe of what she’s doing. I certainly don’t have any excuses for getting discouraged with my own music studies. > **[Singer finds her sound after going deaf](https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-39901298)** > > Mandy Harvey is a successful singer-songwriter despite losing her hearing as a teenager. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-singer-on-agt/788542/3 "2017-06-09T22:55:31Z")
Did anyone really think she sang exceptionally well, or that Cowell fell for what one of my Deaf friends calls “inspiration-porn”? Personally, I thought she was singing in the waif-sing voice that I hate. Anyway, if anyone cares, the Deaf community is “Meh.” Deaf people who were born Deaf, or became Deaf very young don’t care about music, and trying to make hearing people understand their “whatever” attitude is sort of like trying to make people who go to _Star Trek_ conventions understand that most people don’t know much about _Star Trek_, or care, but think it’s nice they have a hobby. However, some of my Deaf friends are worried that now this AGT performance is going to make people think that any Deaf person can sing professionally, including their born-Deaf children. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-singer-on-agt/788542/4 "2017-06-09T23:15:05Z")
Mandy benefited by learning music in childhood. She was a music Major in college when she lost her residual hearing. There are things she can’t do on her own. There’s no substitute for hearing the music you’re performing. I’d guess she relies on other musicians to critique her recordings. Sing this passage softer, this one louder etc. I’m not sure how well she’ll do on AGT. She’ll be at a disadvantage learning new material quickly. Dancing With the Stars had a deaf person,Nyle DiMarco win. His pro cued him through the dances with subtle touches and hand gestures. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-singer-on-agt/788542/5 "2017-06-09T23:45:59Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Did anyone really think she sang exceptionally well, or that Cowell fell for what one of my Deaf friends calls “inspiration-porn”? > > Personally, I thought she was singing in the waif-sing voice that I hate. > > Anyway, if anyone cares, the Deaf community is “Meh.” Deaf people who were born Deaf, or became Deaf very young don’t care about music, and trying to make hearing people understand their “whatever” attitude is sort of like trying to make people who go to _Star Trek_ conventions understand that most people don’t know much about _Star Trek_, or care, but think it’s nice they have a hobby. > > However, some of my Deaf friends are worried that now this AGT performance is going to make people think that any Deaf person can sing professionally, including their born-Deaf children. My sister and her friends seemed to like it - I thought it was interesting because, again, they generally don’t have an opinion on music (except one friend that was THE LOUDER THE BETTER, in his car). She likes stories about Deaf people, anything that shows a little bit of her world, or someone she can relate to, on that level. ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-singer-on-agt/788542/6 "2017-06-09T23:52:01Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Did anyone really think she sang exceptionally well, or that Cowell fell for what one of my Deaf friends calls “inspiration-porn”? > > Personally, I thought she was singing in the waif-sing voice that I hate. > > Anyway, if anyone cares, the Deaf community is “Meh.” Deaf people who were born Deaf, or became Deaf very young don’t care about music, and trying to make hearing people understand their “whatever” attitude is sort of like trying to make people who go to _Star Trek_ conventions understand that most people don’t know much about _Star Trek_, or care, but think it’s nice they have a hobby. > > However, some of my Deaf friends are worried that now this AGT performance is going to make people think that any Deaf person can sing professionally, including their born-Deaf children. I had a feeling she was going to get a golden buzzer before the fact although I don’t think the performance was golden buzzer worthy. I mean to take nothing away from her, but I don’t think being deaf should be a qualifier for how well someone does or doesn’t do. On another note, the little girl that sang, I can’t for the life of me think of her name, she blew me away and I was very surprised she didn’t get a golden buzzer. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2017, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-singer-on-agt/788542/7 "2017-06-10T00:06:59Z")
I’d say the little girl was more talented. Cowell may see her as a draw for the future shows. The Golden Buzzer just gets her past the prelims that are only there because they put too many people through. The mind reading guy was incredibly unimpressive, I can’t believe the judges are actually astounded by such acts. ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2017, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-singer-on-agt/788542/8 "2017-06-10T17:25:34Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I’d say the little girl was more talented. Cowell may see her as a draw for the future shows. The Golden Buzzer just gets her past the prelims that are only there because they put too many people through. The mind reading guy was incredibly unimpressive, I can’t believe the judges are actually astounded by such acts. Good point, about keeping some acts in each week to draw for upcoming shows. I agree completely about the “mind reader,” the act was boring and reminded me of the couple last year that made it to final three. There was something about them I just didn’t enjoy and I’m getting the same vibe from this guy. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2017, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-singer-on-agt/788542/9 "2017-06-13T08:28:22Z")
That waif voice is quite popular, or people wouldn’t keep using it. She was on pitch throughout, and sounded like pretty much every other singer I’ve heard use that voice. That’s good enough for marketing purposes, which is what these shows are all about. I do not think sympathy played any role in this. I do think maybe she was given credit for overcoming her disadvantages, but that’s not sympathy. It genuinely takes more talent to do that. And this is a talent show. ---
**Author:** ![Donegal\_Dragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Donegal\_Dragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donegal_Dragon)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2017, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-singer-on-agt/788542/10 "2017-06-13T12:34:42Z")
Actual talent is only one of the ways you are successful on this show. It is an entertainment show. Getting you to tune in each week so they can sell advertising. Having an interesting back story is actually more important than talent and if you can inspire strong emotion (from tears to horror) you are definitely in. This is especially true in the early rounds. Got to have a hook. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2017, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-singer-on-agt/788542/11 "2017-06-13T15:18:24Z")
I don’t watch the show, but the glurge about her is making me want to throw up. And I’ve heard the segment at least 3 times on various radio stations. 1. The song itself wasn’t that good. Some of the rhymes were iffy and the tune was…ok. Plus the theme of the song was “Try” which…well…yeah, but it’s not really taking a strong stance on something. 2. Her voice (though much better than mine) was waif-y and warbly. She sounded like she was being autotuned while she sang (I don’t think she was, but that’s what it sounded like) 3. I’d have been more impressed if she performed the tune _first_, let the judges vote and then told her sooper-inspirational story. As it is, it was clearly an attempt at grabbing the judge’s heartstrings. 4. Rivka’s term “inspirational-porn” or “Sympathy-porn” is exactly the way I felt about it. ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2017, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-singer-on-agt/788542/12 "2017-06-13T16:14:56Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Did anyone really think she sang exceptionally well, or that Cowell fell for what one of my Deaf friends calls “inspiration-porn”? Thanks for prompting me with your post to google “deaf capital d.” I’d heard a bit about the concept of “Deaf culture,” but didn’t have any sense of its complexity, nuances, controversies, etc. Ignorance fought – or, more accurately, diagnosed.