"America's Got Talent" is a reality game-show where a variety of different acts with a variety of talents compete for the grand prize of "one million dollars" and "a headline show in Las Vegas", as they say at least.

What makes this show so special for some fans like myself is that rather than focus on just one kind of talent (singing, dancing, stand-up comedy, etc.), any different kind of talent can compete. What draws in fans like myself is not merely what different kinds of talents compete, but also the unique line-ups of acts every show.

While the judges of the show give their own opinions for who they feel deserves to advance from one round to the next, it is ultimately up to the viewers at home to vote for which acts they like the most.

Unfortunately, this oftentimes creates a bias from the voters, resulting in acts that more critical viewers may consider to be among the most superior getting eliminated earlier than they deserve in favor of less deserving acts that simply have specific traits that appeal to said voters. Such traits include the act having a sympathetic backstory (or "sob story" as some may call it), being an attractive young male (to appeal to the more impressionable female voters who make up much of the show's demographic), and being a country singer or American soldier (to appeal to the patriotic voters, or the "Heartland"). This in turn can result in later rounds lacking in variety, being mostly dominated by the genre of singing.

It is up to the judges of AGT to steer the American voters in the right direction by making it clear to them which acts truly deserve to advance over others. While the other judges may come off as catchphrase-spewing simpletons who serve only to compliment the only "true" judge on the panel, and are not to be taken seriously by anyone else concerned, the "tough" judge is the one who usually commands the panel.

It is the "tough" judge who the American voters are expected to listen to first and foremost, and they often have a major hand in what kinds of voting results take place.

Previous judges who have taken up this responsibility include journalist Piers Morgan and radio talk-show host Howard Stern. While each of their competence in the position is up for debate, as is how agreeable they each were on certain occasions, they each had unique visions that often resulted in the acts they preferred getting voted through to the next round.

Simon Cowell, on the other hand, lacks such a vision. While his expertise in the talent of singing is unmatched, as is his reputation as the tough-as-nails "mean" judge from "American Idol", he does very little to sway votes in an ideal direction, for him or for viewers who have their own idea who deserves to advance.

Of course, everyone will have their own opinions on which acts are the most deserving, but it will inevitably be overshadowed by easy votes for those who have the "bias" traits listed above, among others. It is the judges' job, or at least that of the "tough" judge, to convince America to look past their biases and instead vote for who truly deserves to advance.

Simon Cowell does none of that. He merely remains passive for the majority of the show and only raises critical opinions for acts that are undeniably unworthy. He never pushes a favorite or gives any honest criticism to acts that may lack that special flare that other acts may have. He seems to assume that all acts that he doesn't straight-up despise will advance, leading to America voting with their biases, resulting in some of the most unique, stand-out acts getting eliminated in favor of acts whose entire identity is their backstory.

Simon Cowell does not care about who is the most talented, he merely seems to care about who attracts ratings (and to be fair, he seems to be succeeding in that goal if this season's ratings are anything to go by). And it makes for a boring and vapid show mostly filled with acts of one or two talents (singing always being one of them), as opposed to the dynamic variety show that it could be.

I for one value the variety that certain acts bring to the show, and hate to see them sacrificed in favor of more forgettable acts that only stand out because of their story, and not because of their talent.

The best solution to this problem is to remove Simon Cowell from the AGT judging panel and replace him with someone who has a more defined vision for what kinds of talent they are looking for. Only then can the 'T' in AGT truly stand for something!