A Denver Public Works employee made quite an impression last night on national television.
Primitivo Montoya, a senior utility worker in the city’s wastewater management division, appeared on the NBC program “America’s Got Talent.”
After introducing himself, he performed a, well, dance. It effectively ended when he cartwheeled off the stage to the horror of the judges, prompting comedian Howie Mandel to ask him to stop – and stay back.
Montoya acknowledged this morning that he struggled with the big stage, and may not have been fully prepared for the experience.
“I just got all nervous,” Montoya said. “I was too tight. I lost my place on the stage with the judges right there.”
But after falling, the muscular Montoya managed to break his fall with his hands, and pop right back on to the stage to finish.
“It was survival mode,” Montoya said. But it was cut short by Mandel.
Montoya won the spot on the show, with what he calls a “new-age robot dance,” at an audition in Denver last October. After winning the spot, he decided to throw in some singing too.
His co-workers today are mostly complimentary – of Montoya’s courage and gumption, if not the dance itself.
“It was an experience,” said Montoya, who had never before performed on stage. “I would do it again, but I’d be more relaxed. Maybe warm up more.”
