America's Got Talent 2015

Cafe Society
22

So I’m behind and haven’t managed to be posting on the episodes. Will try to get more involved as we get into the next wave of competitions.

He was great, but I saw him on one of the Penn and Teller shows (I think it was Fool Us from the UK). Pretty much the same act, so he’s going to need new material.

So the process seems to have a low margin threshhold of “some talent” to go through, and then everything through that filter gets evaluated again prior to the next rounds and sorted for the final seeds to the live shows. So I’m okay with acts getting yes votes that don’t really have a chance in the long run. But not on novelty or stupid acts passed through.

Yeah, jump cuts and whatnot is their standard style, which is frustrating in a lot of ways. I get that on magic acts they do it specifically to obscure bits of the act to ensure we don’t get cheat angles or sneak reveals, but there’s way too much in pretty much all acts.

[quote=“Nobody, post:15, topic:720877”]

DM Nation - Damn good! I was getting burnt out on dance troops, but these women were awesome! [//quote]

They did great.

She may be one that we won’t see anymore, even during the sorting show. There was someone I definitely said “Wow, they made it through, but we won’t hear from them again.”

I liked there’s, but I’m also getting a bit overloaded on the mixed media dance. We will see if any keep up the quality.

I don’t care for mariachi music, but she has a very good voice and is a great singer.

Agreed. They were wonderful.

23

Wait, was Derek Hughes the magician with the butt crack reveal? First, I’ve seen it before, and second - ewww. I’d have buzzed him over that.

24

Heavenly Joy, the tapdancing, singing kid, is one I would put through but not expect to continue very far.

I don’t see why Grand Master Qi Feilong got put through this time. It’s carny tricks dressed up in stupid Chinese energy woo. Chopstick to the throat? Meh. He bent the spoon with the skull over his eye, not his eyeball. Sure, holding up a bicycle with his teeth was tough, but the jaw is one of the strongest muscles in the human body.

25

Some really good acts last night. I’m generally ok with the acts they selected to go through. I don’t think any mediocre acts went through. Some good acts did go home, which is too bad, but the nature of the competition.

I’m very glad that Piff the Magic Dragon got the golden buzzer. He really deserved it. I liked the act, and the last second kiss was hilarious! Funny magic is awesome!

I was really hopeful for hat juggling guy because the hat juggling act was so amazing. The ball bouncing was not very amazing at all.

I agree with Howie that song selection is really important for bands. I did like Three Shades of Grey but I didn’t recognize the song either which does detract, very slightly, from their act. Playing to the voters is really good advice. Shocking I know, that Howie of all people gave good advice.

Sabrina Sabrina (crossbow grandma) was neat and I enjoyed watching it but I don’t predict she’ll go far.

The, according to Howard, busy dance group was not busy in my mind; however, that being said I think large groups have an issue when it comes to “America Votes” rounds. People will vote for people and story as well as the talent and with large groups there’s no person to vote for. Also, I think sometimes there is less they can do because they occupy the whole stage. Again, I liked it, I just mean that it is an issue when it comes to the voting rounds.

In terms of the more disappointing acts, Grand Master Qi Feilong is basically a magic act and well if your magic doesn’t work, then you go home. The magic coin guy had serious presentation problems. The act was really really slow. The crooners were not energetic enough. It was, in my view, very dull.

26

I wanted the 13 year old Mariachi singer to go through. Hopefully if there’s a wild card round she’ll be brought back.

27

He didn’t get put through. He and the stupid hugging women got 4 X’s. (I didn’t even watch either of those segments. Just a waste of time.)

I was glad all the little kid acts got cut this time. Yawn.

It was pretty obvious that anyone who didn’t get their whole performance shown wasn’t going through.

28

There should be - 4 weeks of 7 acts put through (including the guest judges’ Golden Buzzers), plus the original 4 Golden Buzzers, plus 4 Wild Cards, makes the promised 36 for the live shows.

29

I think Irishman was talking about him getting through the first time.

30

Yeah how does an act that 4 judges like lose out to one that only 3 judges liked? That dance crew and the band should not have gotten through over her.

GO PIFF!!

31

I was reviewing the auditions round, hadn’t seen this week yet. He’s a stupid carny magic trick, shouldn’t have been through the first round, he’s funny in a stupid way and not an entertaining way. His trick clearly relied on some chemical trigger that he didn’t get set off properly, and it was hokey and failed. Yeah, it finally lit - too late and too stupid. I was glad when Heidi started the buzzer, should have buzzed a lot sooner.

The hugging lady, while I wouldn’t mind some hugs from her, it just isn’t a stage act. It’s barely comedy. Doesn’t belong in the competition. She shouldn’t have been through, I agree with Howard on that one.

Yeah, that kinda drained some of the tension and drama at the end. They filtered for what they showed us, and it coincided with what the judges were picking.

I was disappointed the Mariachi girl didn’t get through, and would have picked her over the dance troupe. I was trying to go through my mind all the acts that we saw and which should get through. Soccer ball juggler was a non-starter. Even the hat juggling was a bit tame compared to the other acts. I understand why Sylvia Sylvia got through - the crossbow sequence to shoot the apple over her own head - yeah, that’s impressive.

I agree with Howard on the dance troupe. It was just so busy, it was hard to see anything. The acrobat team was more interesting from that standpoint, and they didn’t get through.

The one place where Howard was wrong was the band’s song choice. Howie and Mel were right, that song didn’t work for me. I’m glad they went through, but I will be wanting something else from them.

Also, we’ve already heard Howard is not going to be a judge next season. Any bets that this was a test drive for Neil Patrick Harris to replace him? He’s got another show this fall, but it’s a video segment review thing, so he probably has the schedule ability to work this in.

I liked his response about magic - they asked him if, since he knows magic, that would make it harder for him to judge because he sees through the acts. He said it allows him to judge them on their presentation and their creativity in using the tricks and their skill in pulling them off. Kudos to getting someone who has some sense of how magic works to not be the stupid amazed over simple gimmicks.

The two magic acts shown, what’s interesting is to contrast them. Both essentially did the same trick: take an object and make it appear somewhere impossible, a sealed container.

But their acts were a very strong contrast in presentation. The first guy was very quiet, subdued, and had a slight glitch opening the can top. That kinda slowed his act down, and he didn’t have the energy or banter to keep the flow going while he worked the trick. It was a solid illusion, but the delivery made it fall flat.

Whereas Piff was funny and entertaining the whole way through, even if he’s wearing a stupid outfit. Mr. Piffles made his appearance this time (I had forgotten about him). Piff made Heidi’s card come out of the dog food can. We practically see him put the card in the can, but he’s got the distraction and entertainment going so it’s easy to overlook it.

He palmed the card when he handed Heidi Mr. Piffles. She’s fiddling with the dog and hamming for the camera with his line about biting the face. Meanwhile, he’s fiddling in the case for a long time before pulling out the can. That’s when he loads the rigged can. But he still got everyone surprised and amazed by the reveal.

The fake pull the card from the air was amusing because we can see him force the pull, yet then it’s not the right card. Ha ha.

32

I just started watching AGT this season. I’m actually enjoying it and I’m kinda bummed that I never really watched it much before. One of the highlights of the show is the fact that I get to see Howard Stern show a whole side of himself that I imagine very few people knew existed. He seems to be an pretty nice guy and doesn’t portray the shock jock radio persona he’s so famous for.

I will say though, that from what I can tell, it seems as if the judges let a lot of the acts go through on the first round just to see what they can do on the next round. The act may be stupid and show no talent, but they figure, “Hey, let’s see what you can do next round. Just out of curiosity.” Examples - The Hugging Lady as well as The fireworks guy. Can’t remember if they passed him through, but I know he got 2 Yes votes atleast.

33

One thing about AGT versus American Idol is that I think it’d actually be fun to have a beer with the AGT judges. They seem like such nice people, even Nick, unless it’s an act.

34

Ok, tough competition round. I agree with most put through - even the choir group.

Nice performance by the magician - I wonder if a recent winner being a magician hurt him. Could also be they compared him to Piff.

Feel a little bad for the hypnotist - bit not a lot bad. Feel bad for Scott, the “bearded lady”. The judges were great. Very classy for Howard to go talk to him afterwards.

I do have to wonder about Benjamin. He’s a good dancer, and it is impressive he’s almost completely blind. Still, he’s up against groups like DMnation and mixed digital groups. Not sure what he can do against that.

The daredevil group was a joke. They definitely went little.

What do people think about the format change, with 20 groups whittled to 7 each week in front of a live audience?

Michael Bubble was fine, but of the two, I prefer Neil Patrick Harris.

Someone else for a test drive next week?

35

I was very surprised that the magician didn’t go through. I thought his performance was flawless.

36

His trick was very good and I’m surprised he got cut.

I don’t feel bad at all. Apparently his hypnotism relies on the subject’s strong belief. I guess Howie had it, but Mel and Michael didn’t. Also, wasn’t he the one who got pissy at Michael and said he doesn’t like hockey anyway? Taking a shot at someone just because you couldn’t put them to sleep is highly unprofessional.

After two acts getting buzzed I was shocked when got sidetracked and couldn’t recover. I thought for sure maybe he’d try something like moving on to another topic. I guess he just doesn’t have enough experience yet.

I thought they were a joke the first time.

I prefer the old way, but I’m not sure if it’s because I truly think it’s better, or because I’m of the mentality of, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Also, even though I agree with her getting cut, I enjoyed the 87 year old lady. For her age she sang great, and she has a great stage presence. She wanted to show she’s still got it. I think she does.

Edit: Oh, and that one singer who went before the pair that got the golden buzzer; I thought he’d make it for sure. I was very shocked when he got cut.

37

Me too, that’s why I’m speculating.

Agreed, he got pissy with Michael for no reason. Michael played along a moment, but then stopped as soon as it was time to do anything.

I’m a bit skeptical of hypnotism, too. Thing is, he picked his subjects, then failed to hypnotize either. That’s on him. That’s why I don’t feel much bad.

Yeah, you have to have a lot of material well prepared and the ability to recover well.

At least the first time they had a serious danger act with a dramatic finish. Though the talk this time made them sound a lot more amateur and poorly prepared - which ups the risk factor, I suppose, but then they turned the motorcycle jump into a kiddie hop. Wheee!

Before they pre-sorted into the categories: sure ins, not good enoughs, and second auditions. Then they looked at each category and picked a limited set from each. I get that protects the variety - it’s easier to compare within a category to get the best dancers, best singers, etc, and then let the live shows compare across groups.

I suppose this format allowed testing guest judges more easily. I do like the addition of an audience - some acts like comedy work better with a crowd.

So he’s been grammy nominated 3 times before, and this is the best he can do?

38

Oh wow, I didn’t know that. If they said it on the show I missed it. I guess I don’t feel too bad for him then.

39

I was really surprised the magician didn’t go through. His act was flawless and the judges were really impressed. He should have had Benjamin’s spot. Benjamin got through solely because of his story, his dancing wasn’t anything special.

40

And I have no idea how he did it. Anyone have any ideas? I was thinking some kind of stripper deck but that would be really hard to get five different to land on each of five different cards.

41

I suspect it uses the Svengali Deck technique with five short cards planted just below the cards he wants them to select. They are supposed to stop when he snaps his fingers so he is doing that at different places in the deck as the riffle through it. It’s risky, but he pulled it off. I assume he had could claim victory if he got less than all five cards right, and probably had multiple outs to cover his mistakes.

A stripper deck has cards that are a little wider at one end than the other. Turn the deck around when a card is inserted and it can be pulled out again by sliding your fingers along the edges of the deck. Two very similar techniques based on changes to the dimensions of the cards.