America’s Got No Talent Illuminating the Zoo? Wo 不知道?
Disclaimer: Everything below is a mix of what I observed and heard during the event. The goal isn’t to pinpoint "who exactly said what," but to share (usually) an outsider's view and overall perspective on these industries. I’m not here to act as a definitive firsthand source—readers should do their own research. I hope this inspires you to attend events, explore new industries, and hear what leaders are presenting. These notes combine my observations with thoughts on how things could run smoother and how ideas connect (IMO). I’m not an expert, you know? Just hanging out in the room with them. Enjoy!Topics: Illuminations at the Zoo, Family Fun, Outsourced Entertainment, Food, Prices, Relationships, Holidays, Watertown, Suzhou Vibes
We visited the special lights event at the zoo. I’ve been frickin three years in a row now, but this year was extra awesome (lots of nice lights, I’d legit go again - but warmer next time). The lights were super beautiful, the features were a lot of fun, and we even stumbled upon a talent show at the end of the night. The only problem? It had nothing to do with zoos and reminded me of a campy performances (yet, AMAZING) in watertowns near Shanghai. (Though those were A LOT better than this). What’s going on with Seattle’s zoo, again and again? I’m always roasting this place. Appropriate to be roastin’ at the home of friggin’ starbunks, right? Right! Roasting coffee. But, yeah, idk what is going on with our zoo here. hahahah. It’s like, not BAD, but not enough for what it could be (though its really one of the best zoos i’ve ever seen, so i’m just, you know… not allowing it to settle - hahah, keep going SeaZoo!)
Why Attend: I’m so happy to spend time with my daughter - and ex! We all like to hang out and have good memories together. Also, my daughter’s new favorite word is “even”. A word/name I haven’t though of for a long time. I used to know someone whom I had a balance of respect and endless intimidation with a similar name. Yet… that’s unrelated, kinda. Not really. It’s related to Shanghai. And, really, the show we stumbled upon at the end of the night (at the zoo) i was WAYYY too excited for, and then my expectation-balloon popped nonstop, cause I was like: what the heck? where are we? and why is the music SO GOOD everywhere in this entire exhibit, except here. What was going on with that music? And why was it a 100% chinese talent show but the zoo didn’t say it? I don’t get it. It was advertised as an acrobatic show.
Overall Event Review: Food (3.9/5), Venue (4/5), Speaker Content (3/5), Networking (2/5), Likeliness to Return (5/5)
Photo Collage and Commentary:
Notes from the Event:
Overall, the lights show was so amazing and I wouldn’t have even written much other than “I want to go back again”-
But this performance I stumbled upon… was so weird?
It was not presented honestly and I’m so confused why…
I want to rant a lot - so here we go: Why do you have a seemingly 100% Chinese cultural talent show - but not advertise it that way? It was like unannounced, not diverse, and then completely disconnected from the zoo? They should just say it… right? Why not?
TO BE CLEAR: The issue wasn’t that it was Chinese, the issue was that it wasn’t presented as Chinese.
And then it had the most strange transitions between.
Like, it had weird powerpoints with an awkward voiceover (I used to literally be a professional commercial voice actress in Shanghai) that would say: “this next performance is simply true talent” or generic stuff like that - but not for the very first one? Just strange descriptions between?
And then… even though the music throughout the whole event was so nice (like exterior to this show). I noticed it a million times while walking around… for this performance? The music was horrible!! It just felt like low effort/cheesy.
It had like different songs for each performance and every single song was noticably not good in my opinion.
Not quality at all - so tacky, not compared the music director for the entire rest of the whole zoo. So, I’m just like… what is this performance?
I mean, my daughter liked it, so much of the audience liked it… but I was just so confused by the marketing and how it was like SO unexpected and mis-marketed.
Why was it so like “not chinese, yet 100% chinese” and why can’t we find like a more diverse group to perform for everyone over this holiday season?
Why is there a show three times a night that is so unknown (like i didnt even know about it but randomly ran into it) and but advertised just as “acrobatics” and then 100% not related to the zoo? I jsut don’t get it at all and get the vibes that no one is even allowed to ask these questions either without sounding rude.
But for me, I suggest - keep the tricks and all these things where the girl like spins tables with her feet and they do balancing things… but why not make it more diverse? Like why was it all just them doing tricks and nothing “local” or zoo-related?
OR just say - yes, this is a chinese show? Or whatever? Or asian performance? It just was so weird to be so, like… ‘non-transparent about it’. I dont’ know how else to put it.
Plus, the girl they had performing tricks wasn’t athletically built. I think it was meant to be “body positive” but the other three guys were super exceedingly in shape. She stood out in an unfair way.
Like, she wasn’t extremely stellar at her tricks - and she only did one set of tricks (where the other performers/in-shape guys did multiples and came back throughout the 30 min show, or at least ‘spotted’ each other - but we only saw her once and her costume didnt even fit - it was too big!? rude of her bosses! get her a fitting costume… right?)
and then her tricks weren’t extremely impressive, compared to maybe what someone else could do with more peak-performance (like all of the other peopel).
So they had 3 super in-shape guys and then 1 girl who they only featured once and didn’t even fit in her costume, and they started with her? It was just so strange, the whoel performance.
And then she dind’t get a weird PPT introduction, which made all of hte ones AFTER stand out - cause you’re like, oh, there’s an intro for this but not the FIRST ONE?
Yeah, that makes no sense and I suggest hte zoo just put more thought and diversity into it and understanding. Then people will write great reviews about it. Myself included. I want to go back again. But idk what that was.
It was impressive, don’t get me wrong, but so out of place? Like I said, the only times I’ve seen stuff like that was at like tourist attractions literally in watertowns of China. So, randomly suddenly here? It was so random - Cool! but… hidden?? I don’t get what that was? And I want to see everything continue to get more excellent, embraced, and adored.
They need to just “own it” and say its a chinese/asian performance - and then also, explain why they have that? Or make it more diverse/local talent? Or do both? I don’t know! Just don’t be so like discrete? So strange.
And, yeah… where is the local talent? Or if its an intentionally international, why not say it?
But really, I’m like - where is more of America’s local talent and why is our “acrobats” show completely not diverse? Confusing. Just pair it altogether or market it properly.
Zoo - you lost me on this one.
Until next time, I wish you the motivation and success to search for opportunities around your area. Search and explore: Who is out there giving talks? There are new things happening all of the time.
Find relatable or interesting topics you like and check them out! Maybe even something hosted at a cool venue, if there’s no other reason to go. Let’s see what you can learn and discover not too far from home. 😊
