KDSN RADIO News
NW Iowa native and her dog to appear on nationally-televised talent show
(Radio Iowa) – A former Storm Lake resident will be featured on the season premiere of “America’s Got Talent.” Amy Freese (Freeze) will be on the show Tuesday with her basset hound Daisy, who does obstacle course runs. “We’ve been practicing together for about four to five years and what we’ve been doing is posting our videos on our social media just because she’s funny but also it’s just really nice to showcase that, a little tiny dog like her can do something that typically big dogs have an easier time doing,” she says.
Freese says one of her social media followers works on the show. “Sent me a message that he had a basset himself and he knew how hard it was to train a basset hound to go through a tunnel and go over jumps and even just listen,” she says, “because basset hounds do tend to be a little stubborn. And he just said, ‘Hey, it’s amazing what she does,’ and he just suggested that we audition for America’s Got Talent.” She decided to do it. “In December and January, we created a video audition. Later in January, we heard that they wanted us to come and do a live audition. So very quickly had to kind of pull our act together,” Freese says. “My husband drove the dog all the way out to California. I flew and then you’re there for two days. You’re there for a day of practice, and then you’re there for a day of filming your act in front of a live audience.”
Freese says you face a lot of competition to get on the show. “I’ve heard there’s approximately 6,500 video auditions each season and then about 120 to 130 make it to the stage in front of the judges, so that’s very exciting,” she says. “From there, the judges vote on you, yes or no. And then of the 130 that get on stage, maybe 30 go to the live show, which will happen later in the season.”
Freese’s act also includes her other dog, a bloodhound named Clifford. Her audition will be part of the “America’s Got Talent” season premiere at 7 pm on NBC. Freese graduated from Storm Lake High School in 1993, and graduated from Buena Vista University in 1997. She lives in Chicago and works as a special education administrator.