America's Got Talent is baaaaaaaack!

Cafe Society
42

Well here we go. The first round of live shows.

Jayna Brown - Also a great singer although I enjoyed Laura Breton more.

Hara - I really want to like this guy but his show is too dark. I’d like to be able to see his illusions better.

Outlawz - Very disappointing. They are going home 100% for sure.

Musicality - Good group not so much for me, but they’re talented for sure.

Lori Mae - You do need to be careful with political humor. She’s very funny but she might be costing herself some votes.

Deadly Games - Wow. That third throw was awfully close. And Mel B… why did you duck? I thought it was quite obvious that it was part of the show that she made him aim at her, but I guess not to everybody.

Jon Derenbos - Awesome! Love it!!

Daniel Joyner - He’s a good singer but he is corny. He was outsung by the two girls tonight.

Tape Face - I love this guy, he’s a great entertainer. I’m not sure he can win because I don’t think there will be enough mass appeal in later rounds but he should be safe this round.

Dorothy Williams - I’m very glad she got to live out a dream although she did take a spot which could have gone to a more worthy act.

Sila Sveta - Good, but probably not good enough.

Laura Breton - Wow. What an amazing singer.

My predictions:
Laura Breton
Deadly Games
Tape Face
Jon Derenbos
Jayna Brown
Lori Mae
Hara and Musicality on the bubble. Hara wins.

43

I don’t try to be at all objective in judging the acts. I just divide them into those I’d be glad to see again, those I’d rather not see again, and the ones I’m indifferent to.

I only have 5 I actively liked (Jayna Brown, Musicality, Lori Mae, Jon Derenbos, Laura Breton), so the final two through can be any of Hara, Sila Sveta, and Tape Face.

Do you know how the rest of this competition is set up? They had four weeks of Judge’s Cuts, putting 7 through each time for 28. But tonight they had 12 acts perform and will pass 7 on. So they’ll need at least three regular shows (and four would be a more reasonable number) but either way they’ll need a hell of a lot of “Second Chances” or whatever to fill out the rosters.

44

Second chances are called wild cards. Then there’s the youtube act that gets picked to go live.
As for my picks, my personal to 7 are
Jana Brown
Laura Bretan
Hara
Deadly Games
Sila Sveta - Pretty similar to Hara
Jon Dorenbos - I figured out how he did it very quickly, but it was still a decent enough act
Tape Face

So, for the other 5
The Outlaws bored me.
Dorthy Williams - You got your 15 minutes of fame, now it’s time to go home.
Daniel Joyner - Cheesy and he doesn’t have the voice for that type of song.
Musicality - I like similar type songs, but their performance tonight was very… I can’t think of the word, so I’ll just go with cheesy.
Lori Mae Hernandez - I’m on the fence. I feel her past performances were better, but I wouldn’t mind her going though because I think that she can do better.

45

She doesn’t always sing that way. Here’s another original tune where she sounds like some other singer I can’t think of at the moment. The kid’s a sponge apparently but will undoubtedly settle on a style of her own someday. Pretty good songwriter already though, as this song demonstrates. As one of the commenters said, the lyrics could stand on their own as poetry. Give it a listen, you might like it. I did.

46

I’m not sure as last year there were two weeks of 11.

Is it possible that four acts have dropped out?

47

Maybe it’s because I taught junior high, but Lori Mae seems just like every other smartass kid I’ve seen, and I’ve seen enough to last me the rest of my life. She delivers her lines with a “Gee, aren’t I just the cutest” look on her face that makes me want to tell her to pick up her pencil and get to work.

So if I were the type to vote, I wouldn’t vote for her.

48

The show opened and closed with great singers. Every act between them was at least a step below those performances. The mixed media efforts were on the weak side. We’ve seen plenty of those things now, they need to do more with the technique, and they may not look as good on TV as they do live on the stage. The knife throwers stepped up their act, but nothing new skill-wise. Dorenbos is a good performer but the close up magic format is going to be tough. I liked Tape Face but he’s going to have a difficult time upping his performances. Simon was right, he will be a star even if it’s the end of the road for him on the show.

49

You guys should probably ignore my last post. I have no idea what I’m talking about. :slight_smile: I’m confusing the semi-finals with the quarterfinals.

Anyway…

I agree with Tape Face. He is a great entertainer but it may be hard for him to get bigger and better. He is what he is. I also agree that Dorenbos will have a hard time when he goes against the other magicians.

50

I wish they would have an age restriction on this show: the kid magicians and the kid comedians are just painful to watch (or fast forward through) and it has to be rough on them as well. They have no chance whatever of making it to the finals which means they’ll have to deal with rejection on a national TV show. True, the country singer is really good for her age, but she would be just as good if they made her wait til she was 17 or so.

And the 90 something dancer- that’s cute but it’s ridiculous to have her back. That’s an act people would rave about seeing at a local fundraiser but it’s not an act people are going to pay to see in Vegas. It’s a novelty.

The knife thrower and his wife are impressive but I wonder how they can keep upping their act without making people too nervous.

51

Tape Face is already very polished and ready to go. He’s apparently already been successful in England (like Piff the Magic Dragon was last year) and Australia for years and this has already given him a big bump in the U.S., and I think he’ll be around for a while yet. I think he has a chance of going to the finals.
I think Julia Scotti will be around for a while as well because she’s legitimately funny. Unlike Drew Lynch, who is a cute kid and inspiring story and all that but and had no material that wasn’t about his speech impediment (which gets old) yet made it to second place, Julia is a comedienne who happens to be transgender- her material is good and about far more than that.

52

There are 28 acts that got put through in the judges’ cuts, plus the judges’ (and Nick Cannon’s) original golden buzzers; that’s 33. I have seen lists of advancing acts that include three “wild card” acts, so that’s 3 shows of 12.
Here’s how I see the rest of the season:
8/2 - second live show
8/9, 8/16 - pre-empted for the Olympics
8/23 - third live show
21 acts remain; I have a feeling the judges will select 3 more from the 15 not chosen, so they have 24 for the semi-finals
8/30 - first semi-final
9/6 - second semi-final
9/13 - final
NBC has already announced The Voice begins on 9/20

53

Missed the edit window…

Flip, Silva Sveta, and Steven Brundage are the wild cards.

54

Is it me or does Simon seem to have softened with age and-or fatherhood? He seems less Simon Cowell 2006 and more Richard Dawson 1976.

55

He is much softer than he was on American Idol, which is my only other exposure to him. So I’m not sure if it’s age, or what he feels is an appropriate persona for each show.

56

I was surprised about Deadly Games, but based on a lot of talk I saw online a lot of people were confused about the duck and thought it was a mistake. I thought it was quite clearly an intentional part of the act. I guess for the next round they need to make sure that what they do is clearly intentional.

57

Interesting episode. My picks, in no particular order.

The acts I want to go through.
Calysta Bevier - I wasn’t as impressed as the judges, but she is a solid singer and I think she should go through.
Steven Brundage - I loved his act from the start. I was shocked he got sent home, and am so glad he got brought back. He could probably benefit from a little more variety, but I’d gladly watch a show will all those Rubik’s Cube tricks.
Viktor Kee - One tiny mistake, but in the context of how great his act is, I don’t think it should make a difference.
Kadie Lynn - She is a great singer. I didn’t understand half of what she sang, but I don’t know if it’s because I never heard the song before or she needs better enunciation, but either way it didn’t bug me. I hope she gets voted through.
Sofie Dossi - I actually missed that act and haven’t bothered to watch it yet, but from what the judges are saying, I’m sure I would have enjoyed it.

The acts I don’t care about either way.
The Clairvoyants - I find their characters annoying and I was less than impressed with their trick. Also, I wish Simon would quit gushing over the magic acts. But anyway, they have a solid act and it wouldn’t bother me if they make it through.
Ryan Stock & AmberLynn - OUCH. I’m glad that Ryan is OK. And I do think that that trick would have paid off if it had gone right. But still if they go through will they be able to top themselves?
Moya Angela - Her performance was pretty boring to me. But she did well before, so I could see her getting a second chance. Although I don’t think she will.

Acts I think should go home:
Flip - ::Yawn:: Just as bad as that male dancing group last week.
Sal Valentinetti - Doing a modern song in the style of old blue eyes made me cringe. And then there’s the other problem. There are probably hundreds or thousands of Frank Sinatra imitators. Sal’s a great singer, but I don’t think he’s unique enough to be a Vegas headliner.
Sos & Victoria - The accident didn’t bother me. In fact it almost looked like part of the show. My problem is that, while a quick change act is great for a few minutes, how can you make an hour long headlining show out of it?
Throwings - What they do is highly skilled and dangerous, but it’s so damn repetitive. Flip her up in the air and catch her. Flip her up in the air and catch her. Flip her up… Anyway, they’re desperately lacking variety and their act has gotten stale to me.

58

Viktor Kee - The act of the night for me. I love this guy!

Steven Brundage - The act of the night for me… oh wait I already said that. Darn it. Uhhhh… it is a tie for act of the night for me. :slight_smile: Anyway great magic.

The Clairvoyants - I was expecting to be disappointed as I didn’t think they could significant change what they do but I was really pleased with their act.

Calysta Bevier - Of the singers last night I thought she was the best.

Kadie Lynn - She’s good but she was overpowered by the backup singers last night.

Moya Angela - She’s also good but I felt like she was missing the wow factor.

Sofie Dossi - I’m bored of this act sadly. I think the contortionist act just isn’t for me. As contortionist go she seems very skilled.

Flip - Infinitely better than Outlawz, but I agree with the judges they’re missing that stand out wow factor movement. There’s been better dance groups on the show before.

Sal - I really liked the performance but he’s likely on the bubble.

Sos & Victoria - I like what they do. For two minutes. They just can’t change (ha ha) their act enough to make it interesting.

Throwings - Like Sos & Victoria, there’s just not enough variety to the act to make it worth watching. It is funny that I enjoy Deadly Games so much since it it just knife throwing over and over, but something about Deadly Games makes it more watchable.

Ryan & AmberLynn - I’m very glad he’s ok. They shouldn’t have judged the act. I’m really really surprised that somebody didn’t step in and stop the judging. With regards to the act, I fully expected to be completely unimpressed; however, the trick they were setting up looked amazing.

Predictions:
Viktor Kee
Steven Brundage
Calysta Bevier
Sofie Dossi
Kadie Lynn

On the Bubble:
Sal Balentinetti (gets the Dunkin’ Save)
Moya Angela
The Clairvoyants (Judge’s pick)

59

Victor Kee did a very simple juggling act last night, and dropped a ball. Don’t vote for him. Without all the lights you would have been bored to death by that act.

Sal didn’t pick a good song, neither did any of the singers last night. Throwing had the best performance, but that’s all they have. It’s tough stuff to do, very impressive, but their act is very limited. This year’s winner was not on last night’s show.

60

Maybe the juggling was simple or not, I have no idea as I am not a juggler; however, what he has in my mind is the showmanship. He makes it entertaining. I enjoyed his act a lot. Honestly, I wasn’t paying much attention to the lights as he was too much fun to watch. He did sadly drop a ball, but I don’t care because again I was absolutely 100% entertained watching him. I would rather an entertaining act with a minor flaw go through than a mediocre act done flawlessly go through. This is of course solely my subjective opinion, I have no objective metrics to support this.

61

I can’t believe anyone fell for that Rubik’s Cube trick. I figured out what was going to happen halfway through the routine.