"America’s Got Talent” (AGT) is one of the most highly watched television shows. AGT is a show that showcases talented people from all across America. When watching talent shows on television, people usually ask themselves what it would be like to know that person on stage. Well, now most students at Roosevelt will get a chance to say that they know a television performer. Sophomore, Shawn Gonzalez has been dancing hip-hop since he was eight years old. Having performed and won many talent shows, going on AGT was only the next step.

“Well…three years ago, me and my friend Jon Morley were always saying how we were going to [perform on AGT] one day. We danced and danced and one day, I was looking at the official site of AGT and my dad gave me permission to do it”.

Gonzalez left on Thursday, November 18th at around 8:00 p.m. and arrived at the Chicago auditions at around 3:00 in the morning. Junior Cody Jones went along with Gonzalez to offer his friend support and to be there for the experience.

“I wasn’t nervous at all until I actually had to dance. I made a lot of friends, which helped to make me feel comfortable,” Gonzalez said.
After telling a few of his friends at RHS, word quickly spread that he was going to be auditioning for the talent competition.

“I did not mind all the questions because I knew that I was finally doing my dream,” Gonzalez said.

“America’s Got Talent” is not the first talent competition that Gonzalez has been a part of. He has performed in many school talent shows . In his most recent competition, he was able to take home $100 for being the first place winner in the Brimfield, OH talent show.

It took approximately six hours to even get to the front of the line. To get ready for each performance, Gonzalez stated, ‘‘I don’t really have a ritual, I basically just try to stay focused and try not to get off task.”

Speaking for most people, it’s a sure bet that many have never auditioned for a television show. As a sophomore, Shawn Gonzalez has done what many have never done. The results on whether or not he made the competition will come out in the early weeks of March 2011.