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“America’s Got Talent” is a circus of a television show. It’s good, old-fashioned, P.T. Barnum-approved American cheese. Host Jerry Springer is right in his element as he extends his media lifetime by way of the nation’s top-rated network program.

But swimming strongly in the sea of cheese is at least one diamond — a three-piece, acoustic band of siblings called The Wright Kids, from Franklin County. Sage, 12, Baruch, 9, and 6-year-old Levi are potentially brilliant and already multifaceted musicians.

Just ask Roanoke-based jazz guitarist and teacher Cyrus Pace, who teaches Baruch and has recently worked with all three, helping them get their performances ready for Hollywood. Pace raves about the kids.

“They are a great group with a great spirit,” Pace wrote in an e-mail exchange on Thursday. “Their musicianship is their biggest asset, and they have an uncanny ability to capture the beauty of a song.”

Not only can they whip out some bluegrass, which is what got the band into Wednesday night’s live preliminary round, they can play classical music and pop as well.

So, there they were on NBC TV, playing the late John Stewart’s “Daydream Believer,” a hit in 1967 for the pre-fab, TV-created pop band the Monkees.

With an apparently canned backing track of instruments including horns, drums and keyboard, the Wrights played the song a step or more too low for Baruch’s lead vocal. He will one day will be able to hit those low notes, but is not quite ready for them now.

Too bad none of the three judges on “America’s Got Talent” knew their business well enough to give the children any educated musical criticism.

David “The Hoff” Hasselhoff is a Shatneresque figure who yet lacks both a generations-spanning TV classic on his resume (unless you count his immortal role as Snapper on “The
Young and the Restless”) and a high-dollar priceline.com-type commercial gig. He had a hit years ago with his cover of the Berry Gordy Jr.-written “Do You Love Me.” But his butchering of a Motown favorite apparently doesn’t mean he’s music-savvy enough to suggest that the band experiment with playing the song in a higher key.

Instead, he offered this slice of schlock pie: “... it was like watching 'The Partridge Family’ again. ... it was like taking us back in time, and that’s what we need in America now, is to get back to those values.”

My wife, who was patient and kind enough to watch the show with me, spoke quickly. “Family values? Is he talking about Danny Bonaduce?”

Onetime “Partridge” Bonaduce is a dose of reality TV for you. But here’s another reality: These kids need some good musical advice.

It’s easy to write it off as the Hoff just being the Hoff. This recent pop-culture self-parody craves the spotlight. At least he wasn’t lying drunk on the stage, eating a cheeseburger at the time.

Still, in an interview last week with The Wright Kids and their father, Barry, they said that Hasselhoff has been well-behaved. Hear audio.

Piers Morgan’s moment with the children was far worse. The former British tabloid editor-turned-annoying America- television-presence first recycled a theme he had uttered in earlier tapings. Levi Wright said in last week’s interview that Morgan had commented that Levi was the smallest one but played the largest instrument. Hear audio.

That footage hasn’t made air, and it won’t need to. Live on Wednesday, Morgan reworked the line for laughs, then drew boos when he criticized the children’s singing.

“I don’t think you’re the best singers in the world, by the way, but I think you make up for it with great charm,” he said, as the boos rang out. “... and I’m really pleased you’ve gotten this far.”
On Fleet Street, he apparently learned nothing about music theory, or he would’ve leavened that superficial analysis with some constructive criticism.

At least Sharon Osbourne — with her often off-key husband, Ozzy, in the audience — gave the band generally high marks, saying the kids made a “very brave” choice to perform a pop song.
“And it really paid off for you, so well done,” Osbourne said. “And I hope to see you back next week.”

Osbourne, though, is a promoter and manager, and probably doesn’t give much thought to the
maxims of music education.

So, who is going to help these kids as they wait for viewers’ digital votes, in hopes of staying in Los Angeles for now to compete on the show, possibly to win what the show says is a $1 million prize?

Pace, who said producers chose “Daydream Believer” for the Wrights, agrees that they need to experiment with playing songs like this in a higher key. He knows what they are capable of.
“These kids are great instrumentalists and they definitely were dumbed down for America’s ears,” Pace wrote. “Highlight their playing and give them songs that show off their real talent: musicianship!”

Simon Cowell of “American Idol,” who sold this show to NBC, has said it features every type of talent. Too bad he hasn’t made sure that the judging panel includes a real musician who can offer reviews packed with something more than sloppy simplicity.

Another young'un, Galax's own Alex Pyles, got to the top 40 with her martial arts-based stunt skits, but she was unable to make it past Tuesday's airing. Pyles, aka Elite, and The James Gang, a group of singer/dancers with a big band vibe, were at the bottom of the list of voter favorites, leaving their fate to the judges. One act had to go, and it was Pyles.

The 10-year-old broke into tears as she realized she wasn't staying on the show, but James Gang members comforted her onstage, and one even lifted her on his shoulders and walked her out on the catwalk, to big applause. Cool move, James Gang. Read more about Alex.

See The Wright Kids’ performance on “America’s Got Talent”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=972arrDwGfU

Sources and more on the Web: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7199153.stm | http://www.roanoke.com/entertainment/insideout/music/wb/174206 | http://www.thewrightkids.com/ | http://www.thecontours.net/biography.htm | nbc.com/Americas_Got_Talent