TUKWILA, Wash. — BECU loan officer David Johnson's "crush" on actor David Hasselhoff has him one step closer to winning $1 million.
Johnson appeared last week on America's Got Talent, a national talent show on NBC that awards $1 million and a contract for an ongoing show in Las Vegas to one performer. Johnson, whose hobby is singing and playing the guitar, sang a humorous song he wrote about his high school infatuation with Hasselhoff, the former "Baywatch" star and one of the show's judges.
His performance was good enough for two of the judges-one being Hasselhoff — to move Johnson on to the next round in Las Vegas, which will be shown later next month on NBC. Judge Piers Morgan, former editor of the London Daily Mirror and known for his tough criticism, had his tongue firmly planted in his cheek when he called Johnson's effort "simply brilliant."
The 30-year-old Johnson walked on stage wearing jeans and a T-shirt and played the minute-and-a-half comedic serenade to Hasselhoff, which included the line: "I want to be the sand between your toes and maybe you could teach me CPR."
Todd Pietzsch, manager of PR at the $8.7-billion BECU here, watched the performance on the web the next day and said he laughed out loud when he watched Johnson's cheeky performance. "It was a lot of fun. We are glad when our employees have a passion for what they do at work and what they do in their personal lives. I think it's great Dave has the ambition to take a risk and do something different and unique."
The reason Pietzsch watched Johnson on the web is that the credit union was not aware of its loan officer's TV appearance. Pietzsch said he knew America's Got Talent came to Seattle to tape auditions in late April, and he assumed that's when Johnson performed. Pietzsch said NBC prohibits Johnson from talking about the show at this time.
As a result, Pietzsch said it's unknown if Johnson has already gone to Las Vegas and taped his next act. And if Johnson needs time off, will BECU give it to him? "Of course," Pietzsch said. "Dave is pursuing his dream. He's not doing it to be famous, like a lot of the contestants on the show who have been working to be in the spotlight a good part of their lives. Dave is just being Dave. He's genuine."
