America's Got Talent 2015

[Irishman]

So Piff took Craig and Micheline’s spot, and people failed to vote for Samantha, but she got America’s save, and Alondra and the Gentlemen were the choices for the judges to pick (I forgot about that part). So that means America voted them higher than Craig and Micheline, and lower than Piff. Okay.

I think they made the right call on the vote through, but Howie had a point about the Gentlemen having to do their own choreography and the creativity to come up with the moves and sequence, and it’s good someone gave them a vote.

@Nobody

Unfortunately I didn’t care for his act. It’s just a variation on magicians slamming their hand down on boxes to see if a spike is in them or not.

Yes, that’s exactly what it was, but lots of magic is just simply representing a previous trick with a new skin. What this did was incorporate the cute doggy, though in a way that could possibly backfire, and did it on a scale to help fill the huge stage rather than taking a tiny spot in the middle.

Oh, and I did like the variation on “Deal or No Deal”, using Howie as the chooser this time. I don’t know if people caught that.

@TriPolar

I can’t believe Samantha Johnson was in danger of being cut.

I can only believe people thought everyone else would vote for her, so didn’t. I know there’s no limit on the number of people you can vote for, but sometimes people limit themselves anyway.

For those who don’t know how it was done, there was a dog in every box (just kidding :))

I was going to say that.

[Irishman]

I was going to comment on Matt Franco’s act. Cute with the fake oops that became the gimmick, where all the bottles came from. I’m still puzzled on that one. I did spot a few things, but the ending got really messy.

[spoiler]At the beginning, he has a bottle inside the right tube and a bottle behind. The bottle inside the tube has a fake bottom and a filled glass inside. When he reveals that bottle, he pushes it to the far right and it sits there until he does the glass reveal.

Of course all of the bottles are fake with cutouts for the glass, and he does a lot of swapping them around. At one point in the final series of bottle appearances, he actually takes the left tube off one bottle and places over another bottle while doing the right reveal, hoping you won’t see the loading in all the madness. Then he reveals that bottle as a new one. But he still pulled several out of the tube with no obvious reloading.

I was thinking there might be a loader in the table legs, but his tube never really lines up with the legs for that to be the case. Possibly he has stacked bottle covers in the tube. I spotted that he showed us the right tube was empty several times, but never the left tube. Still, I’m not sure how he got all the bottles into the right tube.

It’s a great act. Slow to get rolling, but really amazing by the end.

Oh, and the pouring out wine from a bottle, I’m sure it’s rigged with a pocket in the bottom for the glass and a small tube at the top for the wine that gets poured out.
[/spoiler]

[TriPolar]

The bottles stack, like Russian Nesting Dolls. Only one is real to contain wine and show an audience member if necessary. You can see the difference in size in the act.

[Irishman]

Tonight was a night of disappointments. DM Nation was a letdown. Animation Crew was a letdown. Myq Kaplan was a letdown. By the end I was wondering if they’d have seven acts worth going through.

DM Nation: Like Howard said, their act is very repetitive. Very similar choreography, same look. Yes, it was high energy and yes, they were all spot on, but overall it feels like it’s the same as what they did before. He’s right, they need something new. But they’ll probably get through because of the low results on some others.

Derek Hughes: Really good. He was funny and entertaining and I feel like he did a good job tricking the audience and the judges, with a little help from the cameras for the at home crew. That last bit with the whole deck was assisted by the camera closeup blocking view of his hands. He was very smooth with his sleights. He should go through.

3 Shades of Blue: There was something off in the sound mix for home viewing, the vocals were washed out by the music. Plus, I’m kinda with what Mel said last time, the lead singer’s vocal tone is missing something. Still, it was pretty good, and they’ll probably get through.

Animation Crew: As the judges said, this was something of a letdown. It wasn’t buzzer worthy, but it had issues. They didn’t have enough dance, or energy in their dance. It was small little wiggles most of the way. They finally did something right at the end, but it was late. Most of it was just walking around to change positions. A little too confined, too low on energy.

Arielle Baril: I’m not normally a fan of opera, but she was exquisite. It was emotionally gripping, and fabulous. She deserves to go through.

Uzeyer Novruzov: It started with a bobble on the small ladder, was a bit repetitive and slow in the middle, but then he pulled out the big ladder, and that was big. Not sure where he goes from here, but that was wild.

Ira: Low point of the night. The banter part was all on the video, and not that great. The singing wasn’t interesting. Just kinda lame. At least they tamed the chasing Mel bit, but that’s not enough. They’re done.

Damone Rippy: As Howard said, it’s not an act, it’s just doing the same tricks over and over. Yes, he’s good, but it isn’t a performance.

Myq Kaplan: Started weak, he tried improving off the things before but it fell flat. I wasn’t really laughing with his jokes until about the owl joke. The observation on the pasta and sauce was kinda funny, but overall I just didn’t find this routine funny.

The CraigLewis Band: Ugh, gospel. They were good at it, but the style wasn’t to my liking.

Freckled Sky: I loved it. This was good dancing, good use of projection media to tell the story, good dancing. (I’m watching it through, and the part where they did the quick side changes, I think they actually swapped in other people. If you look at the part where the guy on left and girl on right are sliding back and the lights drop, you can see briefly a second set of people, and they’re squatting in the background when the guy is on the right and girl on left. The white on their outfits glow slightly.) I think this was great.

Sharon Irving: Oh god, not more gospel, not this song. I get how it means something to many people, but it doesn’t do anything for me. Yes, she sings well, but I didn’t need this performance.

Okay, so how’s it going to go:

Sharon Irving, Freckled Sky, CraigLewis Band, Arielle Baril, Derek Hughes, Uzeyer, 3 Shades of Blue.

I’d probably bump Animation Crew over 3 Shades of Blue, but off these performances I think this is what we will get.

My personal enjoyment dropped Sharon Irving and CraigLewis behind 3 Shades of Blue, but that’s personal taste.

Man, I’m going to miss Howard next season. I sure hope whomever they pick is as sensible at judging as he’s been. I missed out on the days that Piers Morgan was there, but I saw a bit here and there and he comes off as an ass. I’m hoping for Neil Patrick Harris, but I hope they’re able to be critical without being harsh, and able to avoid the dumb.

And finally, Nick Cannon’s outfit was particularly bad tonight. Clown pants. I know the open front jacket is an older style with the chain to close it, but it created a gap at the bottom of the vest above the pants. It looked silly.

And what was the deal about “10” with respect to the ladies? What did Trump say now?

[Irishman]

@TriPolar

The bottles stack, like Russian Nesting Dolls. Only one is real to contain wine and show an audience member if necessary. You can see the difference in size in the act.

Well, I didn’t notice, but I’ll look again.

[TriPolar]

@Irishman

And what was the deal about “10” with respect to the ladies? What did Trump say now?

Trump said she wasn’t a 10 anymore.

Magician was good. Ladder guy was entertaining. That’s all that appealed to me. The puppet guy actually looked talented compared to most of the rest.

[TriPolar]

I forgot last week about the early voting. That’s going to favor the acts early in the show.

[Pai325]

I don’t know that I liked anyone tonight. The girl who sang Pie Jesu was great, but I don’t know if she was a million dollars of great.

[Irishman]

I didn’t remember from the snippets on Freckled Sky’s audition, so I had to go back and watch it again. Wow, I totally get what Howard was saying about how good it was.

On Matt Franco, the camera angle is slightly down on the table, so the front of the table is lower than the back of the table. That makes comparing bottle sizes difficult, as the ones at the back naturally sit higher in field of view than the ones in front. Looking at the bottle necks, though, and some of them look narrower.

I figured that was the trick, but it still seems like a lot, even if they’re cardboard tubes with labels on them.

[StarvingButStrong]

@Irishman

Tonight was a night of disappointments.

Oh, good, it wasn’t just me. There were only a few performances that stood out as really good … and unfortunately most of them were for things, like opera and gospel singing, that I mostly don’t enjoy.

Ira: Low point of the night. The banter part was all on the video, and not that great. The singing wasn’t interesting. Just kinda lame. At least they tamed the chasing Mel bit, but that’s not enough. They’re done.

Biggest disappointment for me, too. It just felt like a really second rate muppet skit.

Damone Rippy: As Howard said, it’s not an act, it’s just doing the same tricks over and over. Yes, he’s good, but it isn’t a performance.

And utterly wrong for a Vegas stage show. What would they do, just show a video to the audience??

[TriPolar]

@Irishman

I figured that was the trick, but it still seems like a lot, even if they’re cardboard tubes with labels on them.

Each bottle is a very thin aluminum shell painted very well. You can stack a lot of them together. I knew a guy that had the beer bottle version when I was a teen-ager.

[Nobody]

@Irishman

DM Nation: Like Howard said, their act is very repetitive. Very similar choreography, same look. Yes, it was high energy and yes, they were all spot on, but overall it feels like it’s the same as what they did before. He’s right, they need something new. But they’ll probably get through because of the low results on some others.

I liked them. If they are being repetitive, I guess my crappy memory is preventing me from noticing that.

Derek Hughes: Really good. He was funny and entertaining and I feel like he did a good job tricking the audience and the judges, with a little help from the cameras for the at home crew. That last bit with the whole deck was assisted by the camera closeup blocking view of his hands. He was very smooth with his sleights. He should go through.

To be honest, I’m a little tired of magic acts so I couldn’t get excited, but he did a pretty good job. I do have to say I like his personality, so I think he’ll do OK.

3 Shades of Blue: There was something off in the sound mix for home viewing, the vocals were washed out by the music. Plus, I’m kinda with what Mel said last time, the lead singer’s vocal tone is missing something. Still, it was pretty good, and they’ll probably get through.

I agree, there was something off, at least in the broadcast of it. I have to be honest. I’ve never been that crazy about them and this didn’t change my mind. What I really want from them is a fast or up-tempo song.

Animation Crew: As the judges said, this was something of a letdown. It wasn’t buzzer worthy, but it had issues. They didn’t have enough dance, or energy in their dance. It was small little wiggles most of the way. They finally did something right at the end, but it was late. Most of it was just walking around to change positions. A little too confined, too low on energy.

Besides their boring dancing, what really bugged me was the background graphics were just there. To me, if you’re going to have lots of graphics like that, interact with them, even a little. Yeah, they kind of did that at the very beginning, but then afterwards they really didn’t add anything.

Arielle Baril: I’m not normally a fan of opera, but she was exquisite. It was emotionally gripping, and fabulous. She deserves to go through.

Totally agree.

Uzeyer Novruzov: It started with a bobble on the small ladder, was a bit repetitive and slow in the middle, but then he pulled out the big ladder, and that was big. Not sure where he goes from here, but that was wild.

That was kind of nerve-wracking on the giant ladder. At the end he said if he went through he wouldn’t do a ladder act. The last time someone changed their act it was a disaster, so if he does doe something else I pray it’s somehow connected to the ladder act.

Ira: Low point of the night. The banter part was all on the video, and not that great. The singing wasn’t interesting. Just kinda lame. At least they tamed the chasing Mel bit, but that’s not enough. They’re done.

They seemed like Muppet wannabes.

Damone Rippy: As Howard said, it’s not an act, it’s just doing the same tricks over and over. Yes, he’s good, but it isn’t a performance.

I was a little surprised he got so many cheers, but it’s probably more exiting in person.

Myq Kaplan: Started weak, he tried improving off the things before but it fell flat. I wasn’t really laughing with his jokes until about the owl joke. The observation on the pasta and sauce was kinda funny, but overall I just didn’t find this routine funny.

I thought he started off week and slowly got better, but I don’t think the audience laughed once. Maybe at the owl joke. I think he’s done.

The CraigLewis Band: Ugh, gospel. They were good at it, but the style wasn’t to my liking.

I wasn’t too impressed. They were pretty good, but in my opinion, not good enough.

Freckled Sky: I loved it. This was good dancing, good use of projection media to tell the story, good dancing. (I’m watching it through, and the part where they did the quick side changes, I think they actually swapped in other people. If you look at the part where the guy on left and girl on right are sliding back and the lights drop, you can see briefly a second set of people, and they’re squatting in the background when the guy is on the right and girl on left. The white on their outfits glow slightly.) I think this was great.

For me, not bad. But for mixed media dancing, I still prefer Siro-A.

Sharon Irving: Oh god, not more gospel, not this song. I get how it means something to many people, but it doesn’t do anything for me. Yes, she sings well, but I didn’t need this performance.

That song didn’t seem familiar to me. Anyway, I thought it was a pretty good performance.

[Irishman]

@TriPolar

I forgot last week about the early voting. That’s going to favor the acts early in the show.

A bit. Theoretically, it shouldn’t matter since voting runs through mid the next day and there is no limit to how many acts you can vote for. Practically, it gives people voting before they’ve seen what they’re comparing against.

@Nobody

I liked them. If they are being repetitive, I guess my crappy memory is preventing me from noticing that.

Go look on youtube, you’ll see.

Besides their boring dancing, what really bugged me was the background graphics were just there. To me, if you’re going to have lots of graphics like that, interact with them, even a little. Yeah, they kind of did that at the very beginning, but then afterwards they really didn’t add anything.

Yes, they had stuff going on from video game kind of things, but it really had no connection to what they were doing. If it’s going to be there, it needs to be part of what they are doing.

That was kind of nerve-wracking on the giant ladder. At the end he said if he went through he wouldn’t do a ladder act. The last time someone changed their act it was a disaster, so if he does doe something else I pray it’s somehow connected to the ladder act.

We don’t know what else he can do. I just hope it’s great. Could be a risk to go away from ladders, or could show he’s got diverse abilities.

That song didn’t seem familiar to me. Anyway, I thought it was a pretty good performance.

I’m only familiar with it from performances on competition shows. I think it was covered last round on The Voice. It’s a prime target song because it’s a message song and has the potential to be emotional, but I don’t care for it.

[BeepKillBeep]

DM Nation - I agreed with Howard. It was really good, but it was really similar to previous dances. I’m watching this recorded and when I was fast forwarding to their dance at first I thought it was a flashback.

Derek Hughes - Nice trick but boring presentation. The last part was the best part but by then I wasn’t interested anymore.

3 Shades of Blue - They were definitely good, the question is are they good enough.

Animation Crew - Wow, that was not very good. The dance was dull. There was no interaction with the video. There was no integration of what they were doing with classic video games. I was really hopeful for them (what can I say I’m a sucker for multimedia video).

Arielle Baril - I love it! I’m not sure whether it appeal to enough of a general audience. I hope so, I want to hear her again.

Uzeyer Novruzov - Oh no a fall! He seemed really off. I liked him playing to the crowd up top. I like him, his talent is interesting but… well… not sure he’s got what it takes to go on.

Ira & Miriam - That was really cool, different and entertaining.

Damone Rippy - It is funny to contrast this with the previous act. It was ok, but I wasn’t really entertained. It is missing the fun factor for me.

Myq Kaplan - Good comedian, but not tonight.

The Craiglewis Band - Not my thing, but they’re clearly talented.

Freckled Sky - Some competition for Siro-A, although I like Siro-A more. They utterly ruined any chance (slim as it would be) for Animation Crew. The “transformation” of the dancers at the end was amazing! Great job, very entertaining.

Sharon Irving - Again, great singer but not my style. There could be a vote split with the Craiglewis Band.

Predictions
Arielle Baril
Derek Hughes
3 Shades of Grey
Ira & Miriam
The Craiglewis Band
Freckled Sky
Sharon Irving

[Irishman]

Okay, what the fuck? How did Ira and Miriam rate so high? I get how they could beat out Damone Rippy - he was just doing the same stunts he did before, this time in a tux. And yeah, DM Nation was repetitive, but I still rated them and Animation Crew over Ira. Ugh.

So first surprise, Ira is in the running on the Bubble. Second surprise is that Freckled Sky was on the bubble. Watching the clip, I heard Mel commenting about the guy falling a lot - I guess I didn’t pick up that was unintentional. I can see how that might affect the results a little, but still I thought they were better than that. My personal enjoyment put them above CraigLewis and Sharon Irving, but I know that’s not most common. But still, that was surprising.

Then to find Ira wins America’s Vote? WTF? Holy shit, no. Crapasaurus rex.

That left 3 Shades of Blue against Freckled Sky. I kinda anticipated how that voting would go, based on judge’s comments the night before - Mel and her not getting drawn in immediately, Howard and how they stepped down instead of up, weren’t as creative. Whereas they kinda want a rock band to go through, and there’s only one rock band vs several animation dance groups. So that put the odds for 3 Shades of Blue.

I don’t know what 3 Shades needs to do to win. There’s something off in the vocalist’s voice for me, and I haven’t been thrilled with any of their song choices. I think they eked in only to be dropped next round. Whereas Freckled Sky had something unique and interesting to me.

And Ira is a muppets clone - a weak muppets clone.

I also think Howard overspoke by calling Sharon Irving the best singer in the competition. He just blew off Arielle Baril tonight, which maybe I can see, but also Alicia Michilli, Daniella Mass, and Samantha Johnson.
Emily West had a great cover of “Nights in White Satin”.

[TriPolar]

@Irishman

And Ira is a muppets clone - a weak muppets clone.

They could sue him right now. It is incredibly derivative. Someone skipping through the channels last night could have stopped on AGT thinking they were watching the Muppets.

[Nobody]

I’m shocked too that Ira got the save. I was positive he’d go home.

And while I think that Freckled Sky wasn’t that great last night, I still liked them better than 3 Shades of Blue. I’m glad that at least Howard told them to rock harder. Hopefully they take his advice.

[Irishman]

@TriPolar

They could sue him right now. It is incredibly derivative.

On what grounds? Singing puppets? I don’t think that’s specific enough. They aren’t animals, they’re people. They aren’t doing a send up of stage shows, they’re playing it straight.

[TriPolar]

@Irishman

On what grounds? Singing puppets? I don’t think that’s specific enough. They aren’t animals, they’re people. They aren’t doing a send up of stage shows, they’re playing it straight.

I was kind of ranting. They can sue for any grounds they want, I’m not sure if they’d win. Still, I think his act is close enough to the Muppets to sue on trademark protection. Burger King can’t make a clown that highly resembles Ronald with a few changes. That would cause confusion in the marketplace.

I thought the singing girls in that bit looked exactly like some Muppet characters, but I can’t find an image of that because everything comes up with Kermit, Miss Piggy, and few other of the most commonly used Muppets. So without that maybe there’s enough variation for him to get away with it. It is just a puppet show.

[Nobody]

Tonight my wife asked out loud what I’ve been wondering for a while. Is The Professional Regurgitator really swallowing and doing everything in his stomach, or is it slight of hand?