I suppose there’s no technical reason they couldn’t go pick someone eliminated at Vegas, like those machete dancer kids. I mean, theoretically they do have that ability with their wild cards, right? The only reason they don’t is because that far back the acts were their eliminations, so they would be second-guessing themselves, not America. Right?
IIRC, I think somebody did bring back an act eliminated in Vegas as their wild card act. I thought I read somewhere (on the NBC’s show website, I think) that the wild cards now have to have made the quarter-finals in order to be eligible.
Me too.
We’re not too far off. We both agree on four out of the six acts that we want to go through.
Well, the only two acts I would have been sorry to see go (Forte and Williamson) made it, and I wanted Catapult to have another try, so I’m content.
And Howard’s wild card act is a magician – and I think there was only the one magician in the quarters – so they must be allowed to pick at least as far back as the made it to Vegas acts.
I am very unhappy about Angela Hoover going home. I thought she should have gone on instead of Taylor. Other than that, I’m fine with the rest of acts going through.
The problem I had with Colin Key is that his act is better than his tricks. It doesn’t help that the Judges are all “Holy Fucktarts! How did he do that?”
The words in the box?
Someone wrote it offstage and it was attached to the ladder. He palms it and puts his hand into the box on the upstage side through a slit in the fabric.
Last show?
Girl is a plant and she ain’t winning any nighttime Emmys for her performance. I don’t think the bags were switched but there is a divider sewn in. One side has the mixed up balls and the other side has the planted balls.
The thing with his last performance was there was no flow to his act, it took to long to develop and things seemed out of order and he not a good enough magician to wow us with the actual trick.
Howard called it when he said it’s a much longer trick than the 90 seconds available. That the girl made a horrible plant didn’t help. What was really needed was multiple girls brought up and eliminate them as the balls got picked from the bags.
I like the kid, but his repertoire seems extremely limited. He essentially did the same trick the first three times I saw him (one that I’ve seen scores of other magicians do), and this one had the same look and feel. I know he’s going for the mentalist angle, rather than making thing appear or disappear, but he needs to be blowing minds not boring us.
I really enjoyed this show. I thought most of the acts really stepped it up.
Anyway, my personal rankings, which I know others will disagree with.
[ol]
[li]Kinichi Ebina - Started out silly, but very quickly I loved it.[/li][li]Chicago Boyz - At first thought, “Oh boy, jump rope,” but then I was really impressed with their tricks.[/li][li]D’Angelo & Amanda - Very solid performance.[/li][li]Kristef Brothers - I personally would have like a bit more flash.[/li][li]Jimmy Rose - Not much to say. It could have been better, but I liked it.[/li][li]Anna Christine - I thought nerves got to her a little bit, but over-all I liked the performance.[/li][li]Marty Brown - I agreed with Howard; Very safe.[/li][li]Branden James - Good singer, but I thought his song choice, and singing half Italian and half English was a little cheesy.[/li][li]American Military Spouses - I liked them. I thought they gave a good performance.[/li][li]Timber Brown - Very good, but to me, personally, not great.[/li][li]John Wing - The jokes were just OK to me.[/li][li]Leon & Romi - The speed was good, but the tricks were things I’ve seen 100 times before.[/li][/ol]
So I was out of town and haven’t had the chance to comment on last week’s results.
I was surprised Collins Key made it through. I guess maybe I’m a bit jaded with the majic since I know a bit on how things are done? I don’t know, I just wasn’t as impressed with his act as MelB was (and apparently America).
They do seem incredibly impressible, especially in the early rounds. Maybe it’s a matter of exposure and interest. Not everybody spends time learning about how magic is done (like watching those Masked Magician shows on Fox). It’s easy to think “It can’t be that simple” if you haven’t seen it done.
Yeah, the trick is getting the card into the tube, but that isn’t that complicated, just takes some practice to get it smooth.
[QUOTE]
Last show?
Girl is a plant and she ain’t winning any nighttime Emmys for her performance. I don’t think the bags were switched but there is a divider sewn in. One side has the mixed up balls and the other side has the planted balls.
:smack: That makes more sense than switching bags. I think there are ways to do the trick without using a plant, but I suspect you’re right in this case. The gimmick with the polka-dot phone (i.e. surprise fit) was a little too pat.
Yes, it just didn’t flow, and the surprise fits didn’t feel surprising to me.
Um, that would get rid of the trick. The trick is supposed to be that he mysteriously devined the appearance of the girl and transmitted that power to the judges who did the selecting, all without his interference. Mentalism. Pulling up several girls and then eliminating them as they don’t fit the balls chosen changes it from a magic act to a lottery.
Other results, America picked Forte over Jonathan Allen, not surprising but mildly disappointing. Since Collins Key made the cut, Angela Hoover didn’t. I would have picked her, but I hope Collins can step it up.
The other mild surprise was Innovative Force getting through. They were entertaining, but that put Dave Fenley and Catapult on the hot seat for the judges. I’m pleased with the judges picking Catapult. Howard and Mel’s call were not hard, I wasn’t sure which way Heidi and Howie were going to go.
(I just realized that the judges’ names are Howard, Howie, and Heidi. :smack: I had the Howard/Howie thing, but the Heidi just dawned on me.)
For Catapult, I kinda spotted the extra-long pause after the girl came down while the other two were emulating seaweed, but didn’t realize the timing was off. My problem with the act wasn’t that part, it was the abrupt start that didn’t set up the piece enough and the difficulty understanding the girl was jumping off a ship. I thought the connection was “falling” from the song, until I saw the hat and pipe, then the story became clear.
This week had really good performances. Several surprises.
At first, I was annoyed at Howard for bringing back Leon and Romy. I felt it a waste. But they took his advice to heart, and I enjoyed their performance. Now they had 7 speed illusions. None of them were particularly complicated and I know how they all were done, they were fairly obvious, but they had high energy, it was a good flow, and they were smoothly performed. So I will credit Howard with not wasting this Wild Card.
I was unhappy the Chicago Boyz were in this round, but they surprised me, too. I was very impressed with the double ropes, the three-guy jumprope, and then they did the trampoline flips over the top. I spotted the last guy doing flip outs from the side had a hard landing and didn’t do the backflip at the end, but he didn’t look as bad off as the one who broke his ankle the previous time. Kudos to them for stepping up and being interesting.
Kenichi was awesome. When he came out I was trying to decide if it was a screen or a mirror. I watched it a couple times, and it takes some real dedicated study to see any timing/position errors. He was spot on all through the mirror part. The best effort at synching his body to the screen. It really did look like a mirror. And I loved how he had the background still playing through the judging, with the other Kenichi trying to get out. He was brilliant.
D’Angelo and Amanda had a superb performance. The timing, the dance, I thought the music was great and the dance worked with it, and then they hit the water. That was definitely amping their act. It held my attention.
I thought it was amusing with Kris coming out and doing the first half the act in the neck brace, then removing it. That was a “Wow, he’s dedicated” moment. Snicker. I liked them coming through the wrong banners, didn’t catch on first viewing the birds that died. The clumsy and frantic nature was fun, then they hit the chair and did another “Holy Shit” move. Finally the swords at the end. I spotted their heads didn’t stay precisely straight, so I knew they had to be using trick swords of some sort. I’m glad they threw a shout out to Alexandr Magala for the inspiration. I thought it was great.
Anna Christine and a lovely performance and a nice song. I liked it.
Branden James was good. He had a good voice, and I love that song. I should have been annoyed with it, but felt it worked. Singing in Italian (I think) and then shifting to English. He’s no Ann Wilson, but it was good.
Timber Brown let me down. I know wet ropes increased the difficulty, and he had some great moves, but falling repeatedly into the water didn’t work for me. Yes, he got tangled up at one point, but that wasn’t the part that didn’t work so well for me. To me it would have been stronger to stay on the ropes the whole time. It’s a shame, because I loved his acts prior, his last one blew me away, so this was a let down. I want to see him go through, but given how many acts this week were excellent, I don’t think he’s going to make it. 
John Wing was funny. He got the audience with him.
Jimmy Rose was okay, but I don’t really care for country or the twang.
Marty did better than last time, but again, it was country and a twang. I didn’t care for his song choice, either.
And American Military Spouses, I give them credit for a good performance, but I’m not a fan. They’re playing too hard on their story, and I’m glad Howie called them on it. It’s supposed to be about the talent, not who they are or what their story is.
My picks:
Kenichi Ebina
The Chicago Boyz
D’angelo and Amanda
Anna Christine
KriStev Brothers
Timber Brown
But I know Timber messed up, so I expect he won’t make it. He could be replaced with John Wing, Branden James, Leon and Romy, or one of the country singers. I suppose there’s a shot the American Military Spouses will still be in, but I’m hoping there was enough other talent to override them. I think Leon and Romy did well, but I just found the others more impressive to me.
But that’s exactly what Forte did.
Leon and Romy were in week 3 of the quarterfinals, so they made it past Vegas.
Also, I noticed that they announced the tour of the top acts, and Tone the Chiefrocca will be part of the tour. Great, more B double O T Y.
I think overall the second set of acts were better than the first week, but still there weren’t very many who I really, really want to go on. Two in fact: Kenichi and the Kristef Brothers.
Otherwise, I’m hoping the Spouse’s Choir doesn’t make it, and all the rest are in the middle of the pack. I mean, some of them did very good acts – like the kid dancers and the Chicago Boyz – but it’s not I would be disappointed not to see any of them perform again.
And I thought it was cheesy too. To be honest, I would have liked it a little bit better if he would have done the whole thing in Italian.
Fair enough.
I am disappointed but not surprised Timber Brown didn’t make it. There were too many great performances that didn’t screw up for his slight stumble to get through. Too bad, I think he could have come back with something awesome again.
When they pulled up The Chicago Boyz and The KriStef Brothers together, I was scared, because I knew the Chicago Boyz had really delivered. I was happy with the “both”.
Jimmy Rose made it in, which screwed up my preferences list. I know he sang okay, but it’s not my preferred style, so I know my preferences don’t reflect purely on talent. Branden James made it in as well, and I’m not really surprised with that. I liked what Anna Christine did better than either of them, but with both of them in that put her on the bubble with D’Angelo and Amanda. I have to wonder if one of the factors was Anna’s age working against her, people thinking “she’s young, she’s got time to get a career” and voting for Jimmy over her on that basis. Or it’s just the country fans swinging the vote.
When it came down to judges, I was hard-pressed to out-guess their calls, but I suspected it would be a hung decision. I could see myself being 4th chair and not wanting to take sides, and letting it go to the tie-breaker.
The one real complication about this show is that because of the diversity of the acts, comparing is sometimes a challenge. Often it comes down to preference for the type of act over any skill level evaluation. “What did I enjoy more?”
I’m really digging Kenichi, I love what the KriStef Brothers are doing, and I’m hoping Collins Key comes back with something different and interesting. The Chicago Boyz impressed me this time, but we shall see if they can keep that up. Kami Bradley is a great singer, but the quirks in her voice can be off-putting. Catapult could put up something amazing as well. D’Angelo and Amanda are great dancers but I’m not sure they’re worthy of the win for me. Taylor can be funny, but I’m finding his “character” and schtick with Heidi to be wearing thin. Innovative Force are entertaining, but not tops for me. Forte and Branden have talent but not my preferred acts, and I could do without Jimmy Rose.
Also, for my personal preference, even with the letdown of this performance, I would have put Timber Brown over Innovative Force, Jimmy Rose, Forte, Branden James, and Taylor Williamson. On the potential for what I think he could have done, I’d have put him even with Kenichi and Catapult Entertainment.
You nailed it right there. With his personality he should be trying to be the next Darren Brown. But the problem he will have (as Howard S. noted) is a lot of that mentalist stuff that Brown or the Amazing Kreskin does takes set up and patter to really make great.
The other problem is also that the tricks are not all that great. It’s usually pretty obvious how he does it.
When it was only them, and not three acts, I knew they would both make it. And I too was happy with both.
I was so unhappy when it came down to Anna against the dancers. I wanted both to go through. Poor Anna. You know she was crying her head off when she got back stage.
I forgot to vote yesterday. Maybe if I did this wouldn’t have happened. :eek:
Howie surprised me. He was hard on D’Angelo and Amanda on Tuesday, so I’m surprised he voted for them.
For me, personally, he is someone who has not disappointed. Previous episodes there were people I’ve loved one week, and then changed my mind a week or two later. But each act he does I always enjoy. He definitely belongs in the top 3.
Pretty good show tonight. Although I do have to say that I’m getting tired of, “if just one thing goes wrong the whole act is ruined.” Because plenty of acts have a minor glitch, but still go on anyway.
Out of the 12 acts, I don’t know how to rate Cami. It was a brave song choice for sure. But I feel like a judge of the Voice. They have certain songs that if you pick them, you have to blow it out of the park, and I felt that bias with Cami. I wasn’t that thrilled with her performance, but I don’t know how much of that is honest assessment, and how much of that was due to her song choice.
OK, for the rest that I’m sure of:
[ol]
[li]Forte - Constantly great performances. OK, they did a pop song opera style, but I’m not going to fight it any more. And at least they didn’t switch to English half-way through. Anyway, I think they’ll be at least top 3 it not win it completely.[/li][li]Kenichi - At the beginning the moves didn’t match the music, but as the act went on I liked it more and more and at the end I loved the whole thing. I think he’ll also be in the top 3 and is the only credible threat to Forte.[/li][li]Catapult Entertainment - I was a little confused about some of the shapes they formed, but overall a great performance and I think they’ll round out the top 3, but I don’t think they’ll win.[/li][li]D’Angelo & Amanda - Loved them last time, love them this time. I can’t find anything to criticize them on for either performance.[/li][li]Branden James - He has a good voice, he sings well, and he gave a solid performance.[/li][li]Jimmy Rose - Agreed with the judges that there was no wow factor, but I think he did good enough to move on. I know very little about country music, but he seems like he will do well in the country music scene. I can see him putting out hit singles and headlining big concerts.[/li][li]Innovative Force - Much, much better than last time. I agree with Mel that last time was a mess, but this time they got their act together and put on a great show.[/li][li]Chicago Boyz - I found it hard to overlook their mistakes. Also, the pyramid jumping was impressive, but over-all I liked their act last week better.[/li][li]KriStef Brothers - Their strength and acrobatics are top notch. But for me, and I’m sure I’m in the minority, I thought their humor detracted from the act instead of adding to it.[/li][li]Collins Key - Agreed with Howard, speed it up. I have more criticisms, but I don’t feel like getting into it.[/li][li]Taylor Williamson - I liked his last joke, but, and again I know I’m in the minority, I didn’t find the rest of his act that great.[/li][/ol]
A lot of great performances last night. This is a tough competition.
Tops
Catapult Entertainment - they had a good story, they had a good flow. When they did the closeup, it kinda ruined the dog image, but that was mostly the TV zoom’s fault. There might have been a spot or two where the imagery was out of synch with the lyrics, but not in an error way, more in a scripting kinda way. I think it worked well.
Kenichi Ebina - at first I was a little thrown, but the glide back move at the end and then the flash flight was impressive. On second viewing it works pretty well. I figured out he was triggering the strobes himself.
KriStef Brothers - it was funny, there were huge moves. I did notice two spots where they kinda fell behind and missed the last move, but I don’t think it hurt the performance. The first, when doing the roll and stand up, it looked like they got behind the soundtrack for the instructions to stand up, and the last move I think was supposed to “press” all the way up, but they were behind and so aborted to move to the donut joke. Then the end I think he was supposed to press again all the way up with one arm, but missed the timing and couldn’t get the up, so again they aborted. Still impressive and great.
D’Angelo and Amanda - the dancing was energetic and spot on. The timing was precise. I think it was maybe a little less than the last two (dancing in water especially), but overall it was great.
Very Good
Cami Bradley - I agree about the song not quite working. Still, she is good.
Collins Key - I’m glad he shifted the act to something a little different. I think the need to speed up is true, he could have gone faster with the smash, and he needs to learn how to weild a sledgehammer. 
He wasn’t helped by Mel stumbling on reading an analog watch. I think it was nicely done. I can guess how he did it, but still it was a good performance.
Branden James - I thought his performance was very strong and very good. I’m not huge on the style, but he definitely connected on this one.
Good
Forte - I know I’m bucking convention here, I just didn’t like the opera style. They have good voices and a great harmony, and the judges and audience were very impressed. I won’t be surprised if America votes them through, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as Branden James.
Innovative Force - good dance, good acrobatics, good choreography, lots of activity and energy. I don’t think they will go through, but they did well.
Jimmy Rose - again, country isn’t my thing, and his twang is annoying to me, and I hated the song. But I can see he did well with it, and I think America will like it better than I do. The country fans will probably put him through.
Taylor Williamson - his schtick is wearing thin for me. His joke at the end was funny, but a lot if it was only mildly humerous.
Okay
The Chicago Boyz - I know I haven’t been their biggest fans. The pyramid jump was the only really good thing this week. The rest was kinda lackluster from before. The backflip jumprope would have been great, except the guy missed a catch. That error wasn’t the biggest problem, it was the overall flow was just a let down from last week.
I’d put through my top 4, Collins Key, and Branden James.
I think America will put through Kenichi, KriStef Brothers, Forte, Jimmy Rose, Catapult, and the sixth spot will be either Cami or Collins Key. It’s hard to call, because I think my perception of magic is skewed.
I started a new thread here to discuss appreciation of magic versus understanding how the tricks are done.
I think the audience will give Chicago Boyz the benefit of the doubt this time and put them through.
Who I think gets through:
Cami Bradley
Chicago Boyz
Collins Key
Forte
Kenichi
KrisTef Brothers