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I do not regularly watch "America's Got Talent", nor "American Idol," nor have I followed the British equivalents (although how could anyone resist Susan Boyle on YouTube?). Yet it is simple to understand why in a competition based on spectator voting Jackie Evancho was not retained on "America's Got Talent".

She may have sung "opera" extracts in the past (such as "O Mio Babbino Caro" from Puccini's "Gianni Schicchi"), but what she presented for her recent TV appearance was not operatic in any way: it was the sickly-sweet "Ave Maria" that started life as a Schubert song but was soon gussied up by French arrangers (notably Gounod) into a version that seems so inauthentic that it pleases neither lovers of Schubert songs, nor lovers of sacred music.

And since "production" values are given great attention on television, the angelic appearances, the extras, the "Las Vegas" style, not to mention the horrid orchestration (that's a musician speaking), all combine to call into question Evancho's taste (leaving aside the criticisms, which seem to be false, of lip-synching and fakery).

I don't doubt that Evancho has a lovely voice for a child, but it is not the quality of her voice that the voters were judging, any more than they were judging the quality of Michael Grimm's voice. He is a strong entertainer and presented himself as what he is. That ultimately he won the day comes as no surprise.

Does this reflect America's vision of "opera"? I hope not. When producers like Peter Gelb of the Metropolitan Opera in New York or Brian Dickie of the Chicago Opera Theatre emphasize that opera is a theatrical form depending not simply on fine voices but also on dramatic values, the notion that someone with a child-like voice, however beautiful it may be or may become, represents the art is ludicrous.

And I say this with no intent to criticize either Evancho or Andrea Boccelli or many others who present themselves to the public singing extracts from classical or semi-classical works. There is nothing elitist about opera--nothing except the price of tickets at a few larger opera houses. But there are excellent smaller theaters in many cities, not to mention live HD broadcasts from the Met, where one can see opera for prices not so different from other forms of entertainment (and a great deal less than most rock concerts).

Will opera ever become the number one choice of the public? Of course not. It never was and never will be. But it speaks to a broad range of individuals of all ages and from all walks of life, without necessarily dominating entertainment venues such as "America's Got Talent".

Philip Gossett, the Robert W. Reneker Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago, is the general editor of "The Works of Giuseppe Verdi" and "Works of Gioachino Rossini." During the summer of 2012, the new edition of Rossini's Maometto II,prepared under his direction, will be presented for the first time, at Santa Fe Opera.