Published: July 05, 2007 12:03 pm            

He’s Got Talent

Son of local woman on ‘America’s Got Talent’

LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Terry Fator could soon be a millionaire. A famous millionaire.

Terry, the son of local realtor Marie Sligh of Key Ranch Estates, has made it to the “Vegas Callbacks” on the NBC-TV program, “America’s Got Talent.”

The “callbacks” were selected from thousdands of auditioners hoping to advance to the next round. The “callback” shows will air at 7 p.m. next Tuesday, July 10 and 8 p.m. Wednesday, July 11 on NBC. The Top 20 finalists will be named at the end of the July 11 show.

Marie hopes her son is among them.

Terry appeared on “America’s Got Talent” June 19 and advanced to Las Vegas. A renowned ventriloquist, he and one of his ventriloquial partners, Emma Taylor, performed the Etta James song "At Last.”

At the first note, Judges David Hasselhoff and Sharon Osbourne stood and applauded. The performance even got a smile and compliment from Judge Piers Morgan, who generally does not like ventriloquists.

According to Marie, when Terry was in the fifth grade, his teacher gave an assignment to write a report on Valentine’s Day During his search for books on Valentine’s Day, Terry ran across a book on ventriloquism. A few weeks later, Terry dipped into his savings and purchased a "Willie Talk" dummy from the Sears catalog and began his ventriloquist career.

All during Terry’s childhood, he not only kept his friends and family amused with his ventriloquist abilities, but also with his impersonations of actors and singers. By time he was 20, he was lead singer for a show band. One of Terry’s ventriloquist "sidekicks," Walter T. Airedale, became a popular regular on the show.

A couple of years ago, Terry’s manager suggested he incorporate his abilities to impersonate singers into his ventriloquist act. After purchasing several new ventriloquist figures and puppets, Terry began doing ventriloquial impersonations and now has over 100 voice impersonations in his vocal library.

Bringing the variety format back to the forefront of American culture, “America’s Got Talent” showcases a colorful array of hopeful future stars — singers, dancers, comedic performers and unique acts of all ages who have a chance to strut and perform in front of a panel of celebrity judges. Among them are actor/singer David Hasselhoff ("Baywatch"), UK TV personality Piers Morgan and the queen of rock 'n roll management Sharon Osbourne ("The Osbournes").

In the first four audition episodes, the judges selected the best acts who will advance to the “Vegas Callbacks.” The acts that make it through the “Vegas Callbacks” will then move on to the semi-final performance episodes, There, the judging will be turned over to the American viewing audience who will vote each week for their favorites.

The series will culminate with a live finale where one act will walk away with a one million dollar prize.

"America's Got Talent" is produced by FremantleMedia North America and Cowell's SYCO TV. Simon Cowell, Ken Warwick “American Idol”), Cecile Frot-Coutaz ("American Idol"), Jason Raff (“Three Wishes”) and James Sunderland “Dancing on Ice”) are the executive producers.



Talent seems to run in Marie Sligh’s family. Chris Sligh, the nephew of Marie’s husband David, made it into the Top 10 on the hit show “American Idol.” The Top 10 will begin an extensive nationwide tour starting July 6, performing 59 shows across the country through Sept. 23. Texas appearances include July 15 in Houston and July 16 in San Antonio.

        

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