By the end of the first season of "America's Got Talent," I had seen what I needed to see. The $1 million went to a prepubescent white girl who tried to sing the big "Dreamgirls" number.

Cringe.

Sure, she was better than Bobby Badfingers and Leonid the Weirdo, but I thought this summer hit was surely a short-timer in the scope of American popular culture.

Boy, am I wrong.

The second season has been infinitely better than the first, and with the producers' willingness to tweak the format and the scheduling, this is a show that could rival "American Idol" in years to come.

Here's why: Talent.

The guy I've been rooting for all along, Cas Haley, from Arlington, Texas, brings this soulful style of reggae rhythm and blues that's unique and infectious. He dabbled in some Sublime-type arrangements, and he even showed off his blues chops.

However, Tuesday night, he brought the big guns.

See, I love it on reality television when the contestant holds something back until the end. I've mentioned Kendra from "The Apprentice" many times, a sheepish, shy, underperforming contestant, who just went balls out to win the third season.

And all four AGT contestants on Tuesday did the same, including Haley, who pulled out "Sir Duke" as his last chance to win votes for the million.

However, as much as I liked that, a funny thing happened on the way to titledom on what is the most popular summer show in America. A ventriloquist stole the show, the season and possible the series.

I think ventriloquists have always been wrongfully categorized in a group with, let's say, mimes. While it's traditionally a discipline that requires a great amount of talent, there are so many practitioners who just plain suck at it.

However, Dallas' Terry Fator takes his puppets or dolls or whatever they're called and sings songs, impersonating the artists, at a level beyond possibly anything I've ever seen from a modern ventriloquist. This stuff really takes me back to the 1970s variety type of show format, perhaps where you'd see Flip Wilson and then Rich Little and then, well, Terry Fator.

Like Haley, he pulled out the big guns, putting some big ol' black glasses on his turtle and fantastically performed Roy Orbison's classic, "Crying."

Hey, I won't be disappointed if Cas Haley wins.

But there is no doubt in my mind that Terry Fator deserves the million. Unlike Bianca Ryan, we will hear from this guy for a generation. You can count on it.

And you can bet I'll tune in to the entire series next year. Enjoy the video ...