Neal E. Boyd talks about his life, 'America's Got Talent'

Since making his first appearance on the season premiere of "America's Got Talent" in June, Neal E. Boyd has gotten a load of national face time. In fact, he's all but become the face of the show.

But the Sikeston, Mo., native tries to stay humble yet confident, something he hopes his tenor voice will project in his performances. Boyd spoke with the Southeast Missourian by phone Friday. He'll appear on "America's Got Talent" tonight at 7 p.m.

Matt Sanders: You're out in L.A. right now. What can you tell me about what's going on out there and how long you've been there?

Neal Boyd: ... We're doing a lot of preparation for the upcoming show, and it's getting real exciting. I've been out here now, probably just a few days, and it's just, it's everything you can imagine it being ... being in the Hollywood hills ... to me it's just surreal, more than anything else.

MS: Coming from Southeast Missouri, is it weird to be there?

NB: It really is ... Growing up in Sikeston, and going to school in Cape, it's something you always dream about. And you hope, you hope one of these days that you'll get an opportunity to actually be among some of the glitz and glamour and be able to perform what you love to do, and I guess singing opera on a large scale. Now when I'm sort of walking around, whether it be Universal Studios or any of these places around here, and the reaction that I'm getting from the people, which is just amazing, being so far away from home. It's different in the sense that it's almost like a dream. And this is one of these moments where I personally feel like my dreams have really started coming true. And you get excited about things. For instance I just opened up the newest issue of People Magazine ... and I'm in it. And I'm looking at it going "when did this happen, you know, when did I become this guy?" At the same time, I always come home to be around my mother and my friends and family down there in Sikeston, just to stay grounded. And that's really the one thing you gotta do, because you gotta remember where you came from, first of all, and where your dreams got started ... that's always how I keep myself, how do you put it, just keep myself grounded ... I kind of need to be around friends and family, especially since all this stuff's been going on. You go out to Hollywood ... and people try ... to build you up sometimes, and they try to hype you up, and anybody who knows me knows that's just not me. I get a kick out of performing and hearing the applause, and making people happy ... That's what it's all about. It's not about the lights and the celebrity and the fame.

MS: On that note, you probably have people come up to you, "Let's get our picture with you! Can you sign your autograph!"

NB: (laughs) Yeah, I get that a lot. Especially in the hotels and at Universal Studios and all these places. Even downtown. I went to a grocery store just last night and ... people are pushing their carts and they stop real quick, and ... take a second, and sometimes they hesitate, but then they've got to come up to you, and they've already got their pen in hand, and they've got their camera out ... I'm probably as nice to everybody who comes up to me as I am at home. Everyone out here in Southern California ... it's a little different. I remember when I was out on the east coast, people weren't as friendly necessarily as they were in the Midwest, so when you're that nice to somebody it really just kind of brings out the best in them.

MS: You would be pretty recognizable, since you just happen to be on "America's Got Talent" in a year when it's dominating the summer ratings. That worked out well for you, didn't it?

NB: Absolutely.

MS: What can you tell me about when the show starts up? Are we going live?

NB: Yeah, we're going live [today].

MS: Does voting start immediately?

NB: It starts that night.

MS: You're really hoping for a lot of your supporters at home to cast their votes.

NB: I'm really excited about what I'm hearing about these watch parties [at Southeast Missouri State University]. That really is the kind of support I need ... I just want to thank them.

MS: Being a tenor ... was it weird for you to perform on a show like "America's Got Talent," since opera isn't as accessible to a wide audience?

NB: It really was. I was really taken aback by how well the producers took to it. I'd watched the YouTube clips of Paul Potts [an opera singer who won "Britain's Got Talent"] the year before, and I remember sitting there thinking to myself, as preparation for this show started ... I kind of felt like it was time. Since [Italian tenor Luciano] Pavarotti had passed away last year, you're always wondering if, well, maybe this is my shot to give opera some exposure, and when I went in there and I first sang my first aria, it just, I can't even explain it. The reaction was incredible. You saw it on the show. They edited it down a little bit, but it was overwhelming. And there's been a lot of conversation ... that "you did the same aria that Paul Potts did," and to be honest with you, any opera singer, any tenor, that is the signature aria. And if you can prove to people, prove to the world that you can sing it ... it kind of solidifies you as a performer ... "Nessun Dorma" was Pavarotti's signature aria ... it was his baby. The first opera CD I ever got, that my brother brought home, was the Three Tenors, and one of the first arias on that CD is "Nessun Dorma." That is the song that made me fall in love with opera, that's why I did it. And it felt good to perform it and to give people ... an insight back in to opera. I thought to myself, if I can just get one kid to hear that aria, and love it as much as I did, then I did my job.

MS: Last question: What would you like to say to the people here at home?

NB: I'm so grateful to have had the friends and the family that I've had. And the community support since this thing began ... it just, I couldn't be more blessed. And I see some of the other contestants, and I just know from talking to a lot of them that they don't necessarily have the lifelong friends and the support that I've had over the years, and it's not a usual kind of thing. It's not something that everybody in life gets, that kind of support and that kind of love. And if I could tell people one thing ... it's just thank you for all these years of sticking with me, even when I wasn't at my best. My friends didn't give up on me, they may have known I was struggling, and they may have known I was sick ... but they never told me, "Neal, it's time to give up on your dream and just go away." They kind of rallied around me and gave me more love ... more support. And I'm so thankful, I'm so grateful to everybody for that. It's fun for me to be able to be on the show and represent where I came from, and to talk about where I came from.

Just tell them thank you, more than anything else ... thank you so much.