ISU student to try for 'America's Got Talent'

When he was eight, James Sale, a freshman music performance major, began his singing career in, of all places, the shower.

Now he plans to further his career by taking on performers from across the country in the upcoming season of NBC's reality television show "America's Got Talent." According to the show's Web site, "America's Got Talent" is a talent competition broadcast in NBC's summer lineup that has showcased various genres of performing arts in the past two seasons, including puppetry, singing, animal tricks, ventriloquism and magic.

The show also comes with a million-dollar cash prize for the winner.

"I watched the show and it inspired me," Sale said. "Lot's of people told me to try out for something.

Sale said his style of singing was comparable to singers such as Josh Groban and Andrea Bocelli, a style referred to as "popera," a fusion of the classical and pop music genre.

Sale plans to audition at the Chicago Navy Pier March 16.

Sale also said he wasn't worried about the show's television audience, the announcer, Jerry Springer or the judges: David Hasselhoff, Sharon Osborne and Piers Morgan.

I'm looking forward to hearing Springer saying that there are two million people watching," he said.

Sale has already chosen the song he will perform for his audition: "Beautiful," a song from the special edition of Disney's "Cinderella," written by Jim Brickman and performed by Wayne Brady.

Sale also has a Facebook group for others to join and support him and for people to track his progress.

"The first step in (a music career) is to get yourself out there," Sale said. "It would be the coolest thing to be broadcasted."