Expect Neal Boyd to factor big in Vegas starting Tuesday

If you watched "America's Got Talent" on NBC tonight, and you're pulling for Sikeston, Mo., native Neal E. Boyd to win it all, you've got to be excited about what you saw.

The night was the last of the initial audition shows, this one featuring acts who auditioned via the social networking and entertainment Web site MySpace. As usual, there were some extremely talented acts, some extremely strange acts and some simply awful acts. Boyd will have some tough competition.

But for Boyd fans, the best part of the show came at the very end in the preview of next week's episode, the first week of the Las Vegas callbacks.

The Southeast Missouri tenor was shown prominently in the Las Vegas preview, leaving no doubt that the big guy will be a big presence as the show moves on. And maybe all this face time Boyd is getting shows something else: that he's on the show for the long haul.

Next week there are two shows, one Tuesday and an elimination show Thursday. They'll be the last shows before the Olympics begin and force "America's Got Talent" to go on hiatus until after Aug. 28.

We'll be here, chatting live during the broadcast about Boyd and the other performers. Join us.