# America's Got Talent (AGT) - season 9 (2014) Discussion (Spoilers)



## Doggie Bear (Jan 16, 2008)

Seems like the practice has been to have just a season-long thread for AGT.

This is taken from my blog:

Yes, I watch "America's Got Talent." It's summer, so, um, standards are different, or something like that. (Besides, it's not like I don't have any standards; after all, even I gave up on Fox's "I Wanna Marry Harry.")

My thoughts on the opening day auditions:

* the 9-year-old keyboard playing genius: In the seasons that I've watched (season 5 and later), the only kid who's gone really far was Jackie Evancho, so you have to wonder how well he'll do, but I expect he'll at least make it to the next round.

* the comedian: This dude was quite funny. Good snappy pace, a couple of connected themes to his jokes. If he's got the material, he should do well. I think he's at least as good as Tom Cotter, who finished second in season 7.

* the daredevil acrobat: Danger acts seem not to do that well on "AGT," so as good as he was, I don't see him in the finals. I'd expect him to make it to the next stage.

* Mr. Atom (the 93-year-old strongman): That takes some strong teeth to pull a car! I question whether he can show enough variety, apart from the novelty of accomplishing feats at his age, to keep getting votes.

* opera-singing sisters: Pretty unexpected singing voices; one might have expected more soul or country. They'll probably go deep.

* martial arts clowns: I was with the female judges on not seeing the talent here. Usually, I agree with Howard Stern. I'm kind of stunned that Howard would use his only golden save of the season on these guys. I'm not even sure they'll make it to the next stage.

* the dancers: Not my thing but they looked very graceful. They'll do well.

* the young guy singer: Meh. There are so many singing competitions that I just don't find singers all that special. But they do extremely well, having won most of the early seasons.

The highlight of the show, of course, was the mime who got four Xs and stood there with a confused look when handed a mic, but then all of a sudden started talking back, demanding of the judges, "Do you know how hard it is to stand there and stay silent? No, because all you do is talk!" And then he started laying into each of the judges. And then he stormed toward the panel . . . security was nowhere to be found . . . and the mime revealed himself as host Nick Cannon in whiteface.


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## Regina (Mar 30, 2003)

By "the dancers" I presume you mean "Blue Journey"-what a name  ...I liked their presentation much more than that name! I thought it was cool and fresh! I think they will go far if they continue to bring it!

I also can't believe that Howard used his only "golden buzzer" on those "karate klowns" -they were cute but where's the million dollar act there?

Haven't seen anything else that knocked my socks off yet. Lord help me, I do enjoy the bad as well as the good. That high-pitched awful singer made me LOL for real!


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## Silverman (Jan 18, 2013)

Singers ought not to be accepted, unless part of a bigger act. There are so many singing shows, I hate seeing them take space here.


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## rahnbo (Sep 12, 2010)

My point of view about these shows isn't that I care who wins its that I want whoever entertained me the most to be in future episodes. I go to a concert for bands I've liked all my life like once every 7 years and I'll never ever go see a show that any of these people are in. With that mindset those two guys that Stern gave up his golden buzzer for absolutely cracked me up. They were totally stupid and have zero chance of winning but the 12 year old side of my brain was amused. No other act except Nick's was remotely entertaining.


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## MonsterJoe (Feb 19, 2003)

My GF didn't get Dustin's Dojo as we were watching. I thought it was hilarious. I told her it was a comedy routine, and that they probably had their own YouTube channel, and it was probably already a "thing". Once she understood that, she found it funny.

Sure enough - that's the case. The views they'll get from AGT will make it worth the show whether they go far or not.


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## Alfer (Aug 7, 2003)

So basically he's trying his best to be the next "Napolean Dynamite" (?).


And no I didn't find them to be funny at all. Mainly annoying.


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## That Don Guy (Mar 13, 2003)

Silverman said:


> Singers ought not to be accepted, unless part of a bigger act. There are so many singing shows, I hate seeing them take space here.


I disagree - to a point. The restriction should be on solo singers who don't specialize in "classical style" and who are eligible (e.g. agewise) for Idol or The Voice. Do you honestly think Jackie Evancho or Season 3 winner Neal Boyd would have gone very far on either of those two shows?



Regina said:


> I also can't believe that Howard used his only "golden buzzer" on those "karate klowns" -they were cute but where's the million dollar act there?


I don't think the golden buzzer is meant for "million dollar acts" - any act that's a real contender isn't going to get two or three "no" votes from the judges. It just makes for better television than giving each judge a save that they can use after all of the auditions are done.


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## smbaker (May 24, 2003)

My favorites for the night were the piano playing kid, the daredevil hand balancer, and the comedian.



Silverman said:


> Singers ought not to be accepted, unless part of a bigger act. There are so many singing shows, I hate seeing them take space here.


I agree wholeheartedly. I often fast forward the singing acts because they're so damn boring to me. They're generally not as good as singers on other shows, and the time they waste is time that could have been spent on something more interesting.

More bands, fewer singers.

and please, for the love of God, no more mediocre Opera singers whose sole qualification is that they don't look like an Opera singer.



rahnbo said:


> With that mindset those two guys that Stern gave up his golden buzzer for absolutely cracked me up.


I'm going to be a skeptic and say this was a calculated move to stir up a little bit of interest in the new 'golden buzzer' feature. There's three more golden buzzers for the other judges, so there's still plenty of suspense and drama to come.

I won't be surprised if we still get the ability for judges to invite back a failed act for the later rounds.



Regina said:


> I thought it was cool and fresh! I think they will go far if they continue to bring it!


I thought the female dancer was much better than the male, which is going ot hurt them. We've seen the same sort of thing, dancers interacting with choreography displayed behind them, with Kenichi last year. We've seen people do stuff with shadows. So, while I enjoyed it, I really don't see much new here. Hopefully they can ratchet it up a notch.



Doggie Bear said:


> And then he stormed toward the panel . . . security was nowhere to be found . . . and the mime revealed himself as host Nick Cannon in whiteface.


Am I really supposed to believe the judges reacted so passively to a hostile act stomping down the stage toward them while security was nowhere to be found?

Kudos to Nick, he really did pull off the 'I'm going to beat the crap out of you' look and feel. I just don't know that I believe the judges were oblivious to the deception.


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## busyba (Feb 5, 2003)

I wasn't all that impressed by the 9yo piano player. I'm sure he's above average for his age group, but he wasn't really _that_ good. The notes sounded muddled to me.

Blue Journey were certainly technically proficient as dancers, and the incorporation they did with the video backdrop was well done (even if a little derivative of both the Japanese guy who won last year and the shadow puppets dance troupe from last year), but the main thing that was lacking in their routine that was usually present in the people they seem to be inspired by, is any semblance of a narrative arc.


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## markz (Oct 22, 2002)

I wondered if maybe Howard was totally against the addition of the Golden Buzzer, so he just wasted it. Maybe not.

I thought the martial arts guys might be "special". I sure can't see them being serious.


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## busyba (Feb 5, 2003)

Of course they're not serious; they're a comedy act. They just play it like they are serious; that's part of the shtick.

A lot of people focused on the fact that the two women judges didn't like them and the two male judges did. I don't think that's necessarily the key factor there. I think it's more accurate to look at it as the two comedian judges getting it and the two non-comedian judges not getting it.


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## That Don Guy (Mar 13, 2003)

smbaker said:


> I won't be surprised if we still get the ability for judges to invite back a failed act for the later rounds.


I'll be surprised if they _don't_ - 48 quarter-finalists almost certainly means 4 shows of 12 acts each; 5 from each go through, plus 1 wild card from each judge, for a total of 24 semi-finalists, which is usually how they do it (although in the past, it was 4 from each of 5 shows plus the wild cards).

Here's a thought, after sitting through too many "hurry up and choose one of the two acts before our time runs out!" results shows from the past two years; each judge has three buttons (one for each of the last two acts, and one for "I just can't decide"), and has 10 seconds to push one or the "undecided" one is automatically pushed for them.


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## late for dinner (May 17, 2013)

busyba said:


> Of course they're not serious; they're a comedy act. They just play it like they are serious; that's part of the shtick.
> 
> A lot of people focused on the fact that the two women judges didn't like them and the two male judges did. I don't think that's necessarily the key factor there. I think it's more accurate to look at it as the two comedian judges getting it and the two non-comedian judges not getting it.


I thought the vote broke down with the two American judges liking the act and the two foreign ones that didn't.


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## markymark_ctown (Oct 11, 2004)

The overall talent for the opening episode was pretty weak...


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## busyba (Feb 5, 2003)

late for dinner said:


> I thought the vote broke down with the two American judges liking the act and the two foreign ones that didn't.


Hmmmm... that could be a factor too.


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## super dave (Oct 1, 2002)

late for dinner said:


> I thought the vote broke down with the two American judges liking the act and the two foreign ones that didn't.


I thought Mandel was from Canada.


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## MonsterJoe (Feb 19, 2003)

super dave said:


> I thought Mandel was from Canada.


He is.

and

Same thing.


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## late for dinner (May 17, 2013)

MonsterJoe said:


> He is.
> 
> and
> 
> Same thing.


beat me to it


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## Doggie Bear (Jan 16, 2008)

Audition #2, plausibly live-blogged:

1. The big family of singing kids. I wasn't paying full attention to this act, although the choice of a song from "The Sound of Music" was quite apt.

2. The phrenology duo. These guys started off with a quick trick of "magically" changing their nametags from each other's to their own. I'm guessing they had correct magnetic nametags hidden in their palms. Then they said they were going to press on parts of Howie Mandel's head to make him lose the ability to do things. I thought they dragged the joke part of this out too long ("You have lost the ability to do a double backflip; can you do one now?"), and I would've been close to buzzing them. But then they did a neat trick where they brought out these cards with words describing Howie, which the other judges could read but which Howie could not. My guess is that the trick was based on holding the card at a certain angle that caused the lettering to change.

3. The 15 year old singer. She was quite good but I sort of have a bias against single singers because there are so many other singing-only venues available. "American Idol" does have an age requirement, and I think "The Voice" does too (and anyway, "The Voice" is geared more toward professional singers), so I guess I'd cut her some slack.

4. The high school male tap dancers. These guys were pretty entertaining. I don't see them making it to the finals, though.

5. The Shaolin master. He only got two Yes votes so he didn't advance, and I'm surprised he even got that many votes. His last act, having host Nick Cannon kick him in the groin, reminded me of the scene in "Beavis and Butthead" where the Coach tells Butthead to kick him "in the jimmy." It was funnier 20 years ago.

6. Motorcycle evangelists. When stunts make you wonder, how do they even practice that?, it's a good performance. My favorite events in the Winter Olympics are the X-Game-type stuff, and this act would fit in with those. However, danger acts tend not to do well on this show for whatever reason.

7. Basketball trick artists. We didn't see much of this act, just a taste. Might make it to the finals group, but I wouldn't expect them to win.

8. Jump rope trick artists. Ditto.

9. Pogo stick trick artists. Ditto. Well, I wouldn't expect all three of these acts to make it. I guess I'd rank them basketball, pogo stick, jump rope if I had to.

10. Kid card thrower. It's hard to judge children's acts: is the act impressive enough on its own, or is it augmented by the inherent cuteness of kids? I'll grant that the lead kid had definite style, but I dunno....

11. Mad Jack the Magician. Slow presentation but I will say, I've never seen the "is this your card?" trick where it goes from inside a rubber-band sealed pack to inside the magician's butt! Well, he didn't get passed through.

12. Miguel the singer. Again, I prefer not to see singers on this show, but putting that aside, he was good and judging from the cheers in the audience, he'll get a lot of votes. Young guys have done very well on "American Idol," so he should too. Possible contender to win.

13. Aerial animator. This was quite cool, an interesting variation on last year's winner, who performed in synch to the images on a screen behind him. In this one, the dancer was suspended in air and reacted to the animated drawing -- running downhill from a bear, freefalling, swimming in the ocean. One of my favorite acts so far.

14. Salsa dancers. This is something I haven't normally seen - two male dancers together (not as a romantic couple) - probably because they wouldn't get past the initial audition stage on "So You Think You Can Dance." Good performance, and as a bonus, they got Howie and Howard to get on stage and dance, which was definitely . . . entertaining.


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## pdhenry (Feb 28, 2005)

Act #1 was on some other show within the last year performing the same song - X Factor? Some daytime news/chat show?

I saw the Pogo Stick act or some similar group at a minor league baseball game within the last month.


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## That Don Guy (Mar 13, 2003)

Doggie Bear said:


> Audition #2:
> 
> 1. The big family of singing kids. I wasn't paying full attention to this act, although the choice of a song from "The Sound of Music" was quite apt.


This is the kind of act that would seem perfect for Branson, but just out of place in Vegas.



Doggie Bear said:


> 3. The 15 year old singer. She was quite good but I sort of have a bias against single singers because there are so many other singing-only venues available. "American Idol" does have an age requirement, and I think "The Voice" does too (and anyway, "The Voice" is geared more toward professional singers), so I guess I'd cut her some slack.


Both Idol and Voice have a minimum age of 15. (Idol was originally 16, until somebody decided that they needed to be able to find "the next Justin Bieber.") On the other hand, Idol is much more oriented to pop or country singers than what she was singing. That's the main different between AGT and Idol/Voice; on AGT, there are never any "categories" which restrict the song choice.



Doggie Bear said:


> 5. The Shaolin master. He only got two Yes votes so he didn't advance, and I'm surprised he even got that many votes. His last act, having host Nick Cannon kick him in the groin, reminded me of the scene in "Beavis and Butthead" where the Coach tells Butthead to kick him "in the jimmy." It was funnier 20 years ago.


I'm also pretty sure the "dollar bill trick" is done by his moving so fast that you don't notice that his hand is doing the cutting.



Doggie Bear said:


> 6. Motorcycle evangelists. When stunts make you wonder, how do they even practice that?, it's a good performance. My favorite events in the Winter Olympics are the X-Game-type stuff, and this act would fit in with those. However, danger acts tend not to do well on this show for whatever reason.


Usually because it turns into "more of the same thing" week after week. The strange thing is, I have seen judges berate acts for doing the same thing week after week, and also berate them for changing their act.



Doggie Bear said:


> 10. Kid card thrower. It's hard to judge children's acts: is the act impressive enough on its own, or is it augmented by the inherent cuteness of kids? I'll grant that the lead kid had definite style, but I dunno....


Let's see him compete against Ricky Jay - say, tossing cards into the outer shell of a watermelon.



Doggie Bear said:


> 14. Salsa dancers. This is something I haven't normally seen - two male dancers together (not as a romantic couple) - probably because they wouldn't get past the initial audition stage on "So You Think You Can Dance."


Nigel Lythgoe's admitted disliking of what he calls "Brokeback Ballroom" notwithstanding, what makes you say that? Is it that they would almost certainly have to go through the choreography round?


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## Doggie Bear (Jan 16, 2008)

That Don Guy said:


> Nigel Lythgoe's admitted disliking of what he calls "Brokeback Ballroom" notwithstanding, what makes you say that? Is it that they would almost certainly have to go through the choreography round?


I'm guessing that Nigel wouldn't put them through.


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## getreal (Sep 29, 2003)

During a backstage interview with Heidi right after the kids card-throwing act, I noticed Iliza Schlesinger behind Heidi. It seemed that she might be a contestant on AGT waiting for her turn on stage. Iliza had previously won "Last Comic Standing" and hosted the dating show "Excused". But we didn't see any comedians on this second episode.


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## MonsterJoe (Feb 19, 2003)

judging by the different clothes the judges are wearing throughout the show, I'm guessing that the episodes are cobbled together from different audition days. So she may well be auditioning and you just haven't seen it yet.


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## Doggie Bear (Jan 16, 2008)

Night 3 had a number of pretty strong acts. (Not quite full recap of acts here at my blog.)

I liked Smoothini the magician the best. The Asian women dancing troupe had a very beautiful routine. The guy who balanced himself on one hand and did all kinds of poses was impressive.


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## bryhamm (Jun 30, 2004)

Doggie Bear said:


> Night 3 had a number of pretty strong acts. (Not quite full recap of acts here at my blog.)
> 
> *I liked Smoothini the magician the best.* The Asian women dancing troupe had a very beautiful routine. The guy who balanced himself on one hand and did all kinds of poses was impressive.


That guy was really good.


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## Einselen (Apr 25, 2006)

bryhamm said:


> That guy was really good.


It was very basic close up magic tricks which most beginning magicians have/learn but his performance was very impressive that I did not care they were such simple tricks!


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## Swirl_Junkie (Mar 11, 2001)

Yes, Smoothini was doing basics, but he was flawless in his execution. The only problem I really had with his performance was the foam balls... Only a 12 year old would use a foam ball trick, and certainly not on television.


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## Doggie Bear (Jan 16, 2008)

Day 4 recap posted here.

I thought it was a subpar night, with only two standout acts: Mat Franco the card magician, and Christian Stoinev the hand balancer. Can't really compare Franco to Smoothini from last week even though both are up-close card trick guys; the acts are just too different in concept. Stoinev seemed better in presentation and degree of difficulty than the hand balancer from last week.

I guess the 12 year old comedian with the dirty mind was kind of funny, but I'm not sure how much of that is taking his youth into account.


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## busyba (Feb 5, 2003)

Doggie Bear said:


> I guess the 12 year old comedian with the dirty mind was kind of funny, but I'm not sure how much of that is taking his youth into account.


He reminded me of this guy... https://screen.yahoo.com/weekend-jacob-bar-mitzvah-boy-000000007.html


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## andyw715 (Jul 31, 2007)

I'd like to see more of bikini opera girl.


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## Doggie Bear (Jan 16, 2008)

andyw715 said:


> I'd like to see more of bikini opera girl.


I think to see any more of her, "AGT" would have to be airing on premium cable!


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## JLucPicard (Jul 8, 2004)

I gotta admit - I thoroughly enjoyed the 12 year-old stand up! I think part of it was the reactions they showed, too, but I found his material really funny! A little strange to hear that coming from a sixth grader (yes, I'm an old foggy, so no idea if that's really that unusual ).

I can't remember if it was the kid or the dad that said it, but I really cracked up when one of them said it was the first time mom was hearing that material! Not sure if that's true (was it the mom they kept showing in the audience?), but the line was really funny!


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## Doggie Bear (Jan 16, 2008)

Special Sunday episode! Short recap of the acts on my blog. Frank the Singer was probably the crowd standout of the night, and may be a contender to win it all given the strong showing that singers typically have on this show. There were a few other decent acts but overall I thought it was a weak night.


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## loubob57 (Mar 19, 2001)

busyba said:


> He reminded me of this guy... https://screen.yahoo.com/weekend-jacob-bar-mitzvah-boy-000000007.html


Me too!


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## Cainebj (Nov 11, 2006)

How annoying they have moved the original episodes to Sunday to combat Rising Star. 
Exactly what NBC did with The Voice to thwart The X Factor. 
Hope their scheduling plot fails. :down::down::down:


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## That Don Guy (Mar 13, 2003)

Cainebj said:


> How annoying they have moved the original episodes to Sunday to combat Rising Star.
> Exactly what NBC did with The Voice to thwart The X Factor.
> Hope their scheduling plot fails. :down::down::down:


Nope - it appeared to work (well, "work" in that it got a much better rating than Rising Star; RS didn't do too badly itself).

According to TheFutonCritic, the only other Sundays where AGT is scheduled are next week (and it's currently listed as a repeat) and August 17 (probably because Fox is airing an NFL preseason game at the same time).


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## JLucPicard (Jul 8, 2004)

So Mara Justine was not bad, but I don't think she's good enough to advance too far. The question I had when watching her was "Is she a really heavy coffee drinker or something?". Her teeth looked quite yellowed (or stained or something) for an 11 (?) year old.


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## loubob57 (Mar 19, 2001)

JLucPicard said:


> So Mara Justine was not bad, but I don't think she's good enough to advance too far. The question I had when watching her was "Is she a really heavy coffee drinker or something?". Her teeth looked quite yellowed (or stained or something) for an 11 (?) year old.


I noticed that too.

Quite typical that they don't want to eliminate some of the kids in the first round. Kind of surprised at the votes against the 100 kid choir.


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## busyba (Feb 5, 2003)

loubob57 said:


> Kind of surprised at the votes against the 100 kid choir.


I'm not. They really were pretty weak at the beginning of their audition.


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## Alfer (Aug 7, 2003)

JLucPicard said:


> So Mara Justine was not bad, but I don't think she's good enough to advance too far. The question I had when watching her was "Is she a really heavy coffee drinker or something?". Her teeth looked quite yellowed (or stained or something) for an 11 (?) year old.


Hey, but her mom was hot.


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## getreal (Sep 29, 2003)

Mike Super was the Mystifier guy who claimed to have a spirit break a "glass" pitcher Heidi was holding. He recently won $1m prize on NBC's "Phenomenon".


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## gossamer88 (Jul 27, 2005)

The standing Os drive me crazy...that is all!


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## loubob57 (Mar 19, 2001)

busyba said:


> I'm not. They really were pretty weak at the beginning of their audition.


I agree.

I think a lot of the kid acts aren't that good but they seem to get put through anyway. I think some of them are cute and adorable, but they have no shot at winning nor are they in any way a Vegas act. I just think the judges usually have a soft spot for the kids and vote yes when they shouldn't. I'm just surprised they resisted this time.


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## MPSAN (Jun 20, 2009)

Why do they put through acts that they KNOW have NO chance of winning?


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## busyba (Feb 5, 2003)

MPSAN said:


> Why do they put through acts that they KNOW have NO chance of winning?


Because the ones who do have a chance of winning need someone to beat.


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## That Don Guy (Mar 13, 2003)

busyba said:


> Because the ones who do have a chance of winning need someone to beat.


Also, a few years ago, one of the acts they initially didn't put through but got in on a viewer vote after another act suffered an injury ended up making it to the final five, so maybe they're don't "know" the act won't win.

Besides, it's not just about winning - reaching the 20 is enough for some acts to get signed by somebody. I think the judges realize this and want to see their favorites reach a point where their careers can go somewhere.


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## pdhenry (Feb 28, 2005)

So many acts are making it through that I think they'll have one of those "hits" before the start of the live shows where half the acts learn they really aren't going forward.


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## busyba (Feb 5, 2003)

They always have a low bar for the first round, simply because they don't know what they're going to have. The would rather end up with too many acts rather than too few. 

Once they have a known quantity of acts to work from, then they can cull to just the ones they really want in.


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## DouglasPHill (Feb 10, 2005)

I wish they would show more of the acts and less of the background stories.


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## busyba (Feb 5, 2003)

DouglasPHill said:


> I wish they would show more of the acts and less of the background stories.


And even when they show the acts, in the case of dance numbers at least, the camera work and direction is so horrible that you can't get a good sense of the act. Too much movement with the cameras and too many jump cuts to all kinds of terrible angles.


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## loubob57 (Mar 19, 2001)

pdhenry said:


> So many acts are making it through that I think they'll have one of those "hits" before the start of the live shows where half the acts learn they really aren't going forward.


I guarantee it.


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## getreal (Sep 29, 2003)

DouglasPHill said:


> I wish they would show more of the acts and less of the background stories.





busyba said:


> And even when they show the acts, in the case of dance numbers at least, the camera work and direction is so horrible that you can't get a good sense of the act. Too much movement with the cameras and too many jump cuts to all kinds of terrible angles.


I would add to that list of complaints that there are too many cuts to the judges and others instead of showing the full act on stage.


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## loubob57 (Mar 19, 2001)

That last act had me ROFL. But I don't think he'll make it much further.


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## pdhenry (Feb 28, 2005)

If he has a new song every week he might go awhile.


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## rahnbo (Sep 12, 2010)

pdhenry said:


> If he has a new song every week he might go awhile.


He's this years, "Whatcha gonna do" guy.


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## That Don Guy (Mar 13, 2003)

From what I have heard, it's going to be harder to get through this year, as there are only 48 acts making it to live shows instead of 60, and five of those are reserved for the Golden Buzzer acts (presumably to prevent any arguing over whether or not they should be sent through) and the winner of "The Today Show's Got Talent".

Also, if I read the NBC press release for 7/15 right, the 7/1 episode was the last one where they will show any "new" acts - next week is a repeat for some reason (that's why the closing credits voiceover said, "On the next _new_ episode of AGT," without mentioning a date), and 7/15 supposedly features acts they have already aired.
Going by what the show has done in the past, that would be followed by the Top 48 selection, then 4 weeks of quarter-finals, 2 weeks of semi-finals, a "preliminary final" (top 10 or 12), and then the finale.


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## Doggie Bear (Jan 16, 2008)

Recap of the acts at my blog.

I thought Rogue (the staple gun illusionist) and Loop Rawlins (the trick rope artist) were the best acts of the night. Ray Jessel (the 84-year-old pianist with the dirty song) was unexpectedly funny but like the other commentator, I don't see long-term staying power. The awkward comedian was kind of funny but the other one was bland to me.


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## Langree (Apr 29, 2004)

rahnbo said:


> He's this years, "Whatcha gonna do" guy.


He seems way more talented and creative than that.


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## loubob57 (Mar 19, 2001)

Langree said:


> He seems way more talented and creative than that.


I think so too. Hopefully he's got some different material. If it's just dirty songs it will get old.


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## bareyb (Dec 1, 2000)

I've been enjoying the show the last couple of seasons with the new cast. Seeing Pears (?) in that clip reminded how much better I like Howard, Heidi, and Mel. Howie's just okay... 

I agree that old dude that looked like Einstein was hilarious. I have a feeling he's probably got one or two more that are pretty good, but not nearly as good as the one last night. I think he'll go a _little_ further.


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## Doggie Bear (Jan 16, 2008)

bareyb said:


> I've been enjoying the show the last couple of seasons with the new cast. Seeing Pears (?) in that clip reminded how much better I like Howard, Heidi, and Mel. Howie's just okay...


Howie is mostly okay but occasionally very annoying. I actually liked Piers Morgan the best, but Howard Stern has settled in nicely as the "rational" judge. I think Mel B is much better than Sharon Osbourne was. Heidi Klum seems better suited for Project Runway still.


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## HoosierFan (May 8, 2001)

I am still getting caught up on these. It kind of bothers me when they put a group through like the huge kids choir, and Howard had to beg them to do it. How much is it going to cost to fly all those kids out to Las Vegas? And with all those young kids, I am sure a lot of those parents will go, too. It's going to cost $50,000 to go out there, and they're probably just going to immediately send them home.


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## Langree (Apr 29, 2004)

So they should pass on an act for financial reasons?


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## pdhenry (Feb 28, 2005)

I guess it depends on who pays for transportation to Las Vegas.


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## HoosierFan (May 8, 2001)

I was trying to say that even if the show pays for the kids, a lot of the parents will probably go, too. A lot of money will be spent and the group has almost no chance of advancing. They will probably be one of the groups that gets turns around immediately.


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## late for dinner (May 17, 2013)

life experiences are expensive at times.


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## getreal (Sep 29, 2003)

HoosierFan said:


> ... It kind of bothers me when they put a group through like the huge kids choir, and Howard had to beg them to do it. How much is it going to cost to fly all those kids out to Las Vegas? And with all those young kids, I am sure a lot of those parents will go, too. It's going to cost $50,000 to go out there, and they're probably just going to immediately send them home.


For one thing, it's the network's money to throw away. They'll likely give them the bad news (off camera) that they've been disqualified before they ever send them to any airport.

And IF (big "IF") the group of 100 kids won the whole thing, they'd have to split $1m between them in installments paid out over 40 YEARS! What does that come to, per kid per year? $250/yr ... that's $20.83 per month per kid!  LOL! IF they WON!! ROFLMAO!


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## That Don Guy (Mar 13, 2003)

getreal said:


> For one thing, it's the network's money to throw away. They'll likely give them the bad news (off camera) that they've been disqualified before they ever send them to any airport.
> 
> And IF (big "IF") the group of 100 kids won the whole thing, they'd have to split $1m between them in installments paid out over 40 YEARS! What does that come to, per kid per year? $250/yr ... that's $20.83 per month per kid!  LOL! IF they WON!! ROFLMAO!


There was a story about a similar group of kids last year - they only sent two or three of them to Vegas (BTW, I think the next round is in the New York area this year for some reason), where they were told they wouldn't be continuing.

As for the money, don't forget that they can take a smaller lump sum amount. No one is sure what it is (I don't think any of the winners have ever said exactly how much they received - Terry Fator mentions in his show that he won "a million dollars"); it depends on what interest the annuity can get, and whether or not each payment pays down the principal (a 5% annuity is about $430,000 if it does pay down principal, or $500,000 if it does not).


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

I've only watched 1 ep so far, but is the guide data correct? Have they taken like a week or two off of new episodes, and are rerunning old ones (from this season)?


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## Cainebj (Nov 11, 2006)

mattack said:


> I've only watched 1 ep so far, but is the guide data correct? Have they taken like a week or two off of new episodes, and are rerunning old ones (from this season)?


I was just about to ask the same thing. My TiVo didn't record an episode last night.


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## DouglasPHill (Feb 10, 2005)

I watched the second ep and they referred to a new show next week (meaning this week since I was a few days late in watching it.) But when I checked the guide there are no new shows this week.


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## That Don Guy (Mar 13, 2003)

I missed Tuesday's (7/8) episode, as it was supposed to be a repeat - at the 7/1 episode, they mentioned "on the next new episode," which implied that it would be a repeat.

Here's the schedule as far as I know:
7/15 - it's a new episode, but apparently it's a "clip show" of the judges' favorite acts so far; it's not clear if they will show any new ones (and remember that Heidi and Mel B haven't used their "golden buzzers" yet)
7/22 - callbacks / cut to 48
7/29, 8/5, 8/12, 8/19 - quarter-finals (12 each)
8/26, 9/2 - semi-finals (10 or 12 each)
9/9 - final 10-12
9/16 - final 4-6
NBC has already announced 9/23 will be fall season premieres


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## Cainebj (Nov 11, 2006)

with all the footage they must have from auditions and the way they edited a lot of it so they didn't show some acts in their entirety

it's a little odd they wouldn't have enuf new content to fill a week.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

Yeah, I recorded the rerun, and it was a rerun.. I think there might have been a little clip at the end with Mandel. But my 'check' is "go to some certain point in my saved recording (offloaded off Tivo) and go to about the same moment in the new recording, and see if it's the same act"..


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## bareyb (Dec 1, 2000)

mattack said:


> Yeah, I recorded the rerun, and it was a rerun.. I think there might have been a little clip at the end with Mandel. But my 'check' is "go to some certain point in my saved recording (offloaded off Tivo) and go to about the same moment in the new recording, and see if it's the same act"..


Why not just look at the "First Aired" Date? It's listed in the information banner. The latest one has it listed as 6-10-14.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

bareyb said:


> Why not just look at the "First Aired" Date? It's listed in the information banner. The latest one has it listed as 6-10-14.


For most shows, I do that.. But for some shows, it's *off*.. and it seemed strange to have so many reruns during this show's run.


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## TriBruin (Dec 10, 2003)

Interesting family connection between the Willis Clan (the 12 Brother/Sister signers) and Illinois politics.

The Grandmother and Grandfather are Scott and Janet Willis. Scott and Janet were involved in a terrible car accident in Wisconsin in which 6 of their children were killed in a fiery crash. (The father of the 12 Willis Clan children and two other siblings were not in the car at the time.)

It was a huge tragedy as it was determined that the trucker involved in the accident had illegally obtained his trcker's license. Over the next few years, an investigation steaming from this accident led to systematic pay for play in the IL Secretary of State office. Eventually former IL governor George Ryan (who was SOS before becoming governor.) Ryan was eventually convicted of various bribery chargers and sent to prison.

Willis Clan on AGT


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## markymark_ctown (Oct 11, 2004)

It seems they killed any momentum this show had with weeks of reruns. Looks like they come back live next week since Howard is already complaining about it.


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## Cainebj (Nov 11, 2006)

I don't understand the logic of having re-runs and then have TWO 2-hour shows on 2 consecutive nights.


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## bryhamm (Jun 30, 2004)

I just don't understand how they can put the roller-blade guy through and cut some of the acts that they cut.


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## Cainebj (Nov 11, 2006)

bryhamm said:


> I just don't understand how they can put the roller-blade guy through and cut some of the acts that they cut.


I agree with you on that one. I realize they usually put through a bad 'novelty' act but...


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## bareyb (Dec 1, 2000)

Cainebj said:


> I don't understand the logic of having re-runs and then have TWO 2-hour shows on 2 consecutive nights.


I hate that so many of my favorite Reality Shows have gone to two hour formats. It's just pure greed on the part of the Network and they are effectively killing the Golden Goose. It's just too much of a time commitment for one night and splitting them into one hour segments manually is a PITA. But you know the Network motto, if it makes money, milk it for everything it's worth and then throw it away...


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## Cainebj (Nov 11, 2006)

bareyb said:


> I hate that so many of my favorite Reality Shows have gone to two hour formats.


Not only that but the worse part is so much of it is filler - I end up watching with my finger on the fast forward button.


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## bareyb (Dec 1, 2000)

Cainebj said:


> Not only that but the worse part is so much of it is filler - I end up watching with my finger on the fast forward button.


Yep. I do the same. Skip over most of the "special guest stars" and much of the judges commentary once I get the gist of how they feel. I liked it a whole lot better when the judges had less time to screw around. Having said that, I do believe I like the Judges on AGT the best of all my judged reality shows. I think I like the panel on "So You Think You Can Dance" the least right now. They pretty much say the same things over and over and Nigel is not nearly as entertaining as he thinks he is...


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## Einselen (Apr 25, 2006)

bareyb said:


> I hate that so many of my favorite Reality Shows have gone to two hour formats. It's just pure greed on the part of the Network and they are effectively killing the Golden Goose. It's just too much of a time commitment for one night and splitting them into one hour segments manually is a PITA. But you know the Network motto, if it makes money, milk it for everything it's worth and then throw it away...


I am one of those who likes to efficiently watch TV shows so I do understand wanting to try to finish and episode and delete it before you start another but I am not sure how splitting a show is a PITA. I am either going to watch 5 hours of TV and 3 one hour episodes of this and 2 of AGT isn't too much different of 4 one hours and 1 of AGT. I may have even started AGT last night and stopped as I was falling asleep. If so, I will start it back up possibly tonight or tomorrow and finish it off. I could understand if we were back in the tape days, but my DVR keeps track of where I stop and start each show. I am not questioning your viewing habit or saying you are wrong, just trying to understand.


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## bareyb (Dec 1, 2000)

Einselen said:


> I am one of those who likes to efficiently watch TV shows so I do understand wanting to try to finish and episode and delete it before you start another but I am not sure how splitting a show is a PITA. I am either going to watch 5 hours of TV and 3 one hour episodes of this and 2 of AGT isn't too much different of 4 one hours and 1 of AGT. I may have even started AGT last night and stopped as I was falling asleep. If so, I will start it back up possibly tonight or tomorrow and finish it off. I could understand if we were back in the tape days, but my DVR keeps track of where I stop and start each show. I am not questioning your viewing habit or saying you are wrong, just trying to understand.


No problem. First off I should say, it's _more_ the filler that bothers me, but splitting the shows sometimes causes us problems (not ME necessarily if you get my drift) because "people" don't realize that the first show in the folder is partially watched and will hit the "Play All" to play the entire folder which then starts the show from the beginning, and Dad loses his place where he was in the show. 

For that reason, I do try to watch just about exactly one hour before switching to something else. I really liked it better when shows were one hour because you got one hour of the best stuff they had that week. Now you get a whole lot of crap that normally would have been on the cutting room floor (or the digital equivalent thereof).


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## Einselen (Apr 25, 2006)

bareyb said:


> No problem. First off I should say, it's _more_ the filler that bothers me, but splitting the shows sometimes causes us problems (not ME necessarily if you get my drift) because "people" don't realize that the first show in the folder is partially watched and will hit the "Play All" to play the entire folder which then starts the show from the beginning, and Dad loses his place where he was in the show.
> 
> For that reason, I do try to watch just about exactly one hour before switching to something else. I really liked it better when shows were one hour because you got one hour of the best stuff they had that week. Now you get a whole lot of crap that normally would have been on the cutting room floor (or the digital equivalent thereof).


Fair enough point. I don't hit the play all button as I like to delete shows instantly once I am done and right now play all just moves on to the next show and I believe (though I could be using it wrong) when the group is done you have to manually select them for deletion.

I would say though I am one of those who is very attentive or efficient with my watching, so if I am not in the mood for a two hours show, I will skip over it to watch two one hour shows or maybe watch one hour and then go to bed. This is because of again my efficiency to maximize available recording space. In my mind if I can clear out a one hour show that is better than watching one hour of a two hour show and leaving the last hour to watch later.

To be fair, I am also a single viewer in the household with a TiVo PremieXL4 so I don't have to wait for a SO or family member to start watching a show, I have more than enough space as I could never watch everything I have recorded and I have minimal tuner conflicts (plus those that conflict will typically rerun as they are not on the big 4 networks).

So yes, 1 hour blocks to me would be better than 2 hour blocks but also I have extra resources it isn't as big of a bother and also I do love AGT, so typically I watch it shortly after it airs and don't mind that it is in fact two hours. I love the variety to it (versus Idol/The Voice/Dancing w the Stars/SYTYCD, etc.) plus it also has a special place in my heart since I was honored to attend a taping of the auditions a few years ago sitting front row right behind Stern.


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## busyba (Feb 5, 2003)

I'm surprised Wendy Lieberman was on the show as a contestant. I remember seeing her in comedy clubs and TV back in the late 80's / early 90's. She seems a little to "established" to me to be on the show.


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## TriBruin (Dec 10, 2003)

busyba said:


> I'm surprised Wendy Lieberman was on the show as a contestant. I remember seeing her in comedy clubs and TV back in the late 80's / early 90's. She seems a little to "established" to me to be on the show.


I was thinking the exact same thing. I didn't see her original audition, but when they announced her at the Judges round, I recognized the name.


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## busyba (Feb 5, 2003)

TriBruin said:


> I was thinking the exact same thing. I didn't see her original audition, but when they announced her at the Judges round, I recognized the name.


I don't think they aired her original audition during the first round shows.

Did they show any flashback footage of an original audition this time around (I FF through most of the fluff)?


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## Cainebj (Nov 11, 2006)

oh dear god someone please fire the self indulgent lighting designer.
the backlighting is enuf to give me a headache.
i want to see the acts perform i don't want to see how big a budget the lighting designer has.

Emily West was the biggest stand out for me last night.

I think Radio City is too big for the finals. They would be better off at Hammerstein where they hold the auditions.


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## pdhenry (Feb 28, 2005)

Cainebj said:


> oh dear god someone please fire the self indulgent lighting designer.
> the backlighting is enuf to give me a headache.
> i want to see the acts perform i don't want to see how big a budget the lighting designer has.


:up:

The audio was poorly balanced as well, at least if you don't have 5.1 or better. All audience noise and not enough "program."


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## bryhamm (Jun 30, 2004)

No real surprises on who made it through from last night, imo.


Next week's preview looks sick in terms of the acts they have performing. I wonder how they lumped them together, because there could be talent going home from next week that might have made it through this week.


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## TriBruin (Dec 10, 2003)

bryhamm said:


> No real surprises on who made it through from last night, imo.
> 
> Next week's preview looks sick in terms of the acts they have performing. I wonder how they lumped them together, because there could be talent going home from next week that might have made it through this week.


Just looked at the results (my wife made me watch Sharknado instead ). I would disagree with a couple of the choices:

The fact that the Salsa group was picked over the Jump Ropers (by the Judges even) is bad.

David & Leeman should have not gone through. Their trick was so simple that even I figured it out. There performance was a little flat as well, but I blame that as much on the judges who kept interrupting or not paying attention (looking at you Howard!). (I would have liked to seen the Willis Clan go through instead.)

Didn't get a chance to watch the last two acts as I feel asleep, so I can't comment whether they were worthy to go through.


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## bryhamm (Jun 30, 2004)

TriBruin said:


> Just looked at the results (my wife made me watch Sharknado instead ). I would disagree with a couple of the choices:
> 
> *The fact that the Salsa group was picked over the Jump Ropers (by the Judges even) is bad. *
> 
> ...


Disagree on the bolded. I thought either one would be fine and I could understand why those were presumably neck and neck for the 5th spot. I definitely wouldn't label the choice "bad".

I like David & Leeman. I do agree that this trick was not as good, but I like them.

I didn't care for the Willis Clan. Imo, they are cute just because they are all brothers and sisters and there is so many of them. Close your eyes and listen and they are not really that good. Again, imo.


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## That Don Guy (Mar 13, 2003)

pdhenry said:


> The audio was poorly balanced as well, at least if you don't have 5.1 or better. All audience noise and not enough "program."


I didn't have this problem, although I have it in the past; I remember an episode of _Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip_ where all you could hear was the background characters and noises. It could be a problem with the signal coming out of your NBC station.


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## Langree (Apr 29, 2004)

Cainebj said:


> oh dear god someone please fire the self indulgent lighting designer.
> the backlighting is enuf to give me a headache.
> i want to see the acts perform i don't want to see how big a budget the lighting designer has.
> 
> ...


I found it hard to see the acts at all, the backlighting was washing everything out. Maybe it looked good live, but the camera couldn't deal well with it, so the acts look washed out.


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## That Don Guy (Mar 13, 2003)

This year's "tour" may be limited to a 2-night stand at Planet Hollywood in Vegas


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## pdhenry (Feb 28, 2005)

I next Wednesday starts with a 1-hour recap of Tuesday I'm opting out of Tuesday...


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## Odds Bodkins (Jun 7, 2006)

I cannot tell you how happy I am that band that butchered Queen got sent home. I absolutely loathe that style of female vocal. Other than that, was a little shocked the young man singer got through with relative ease. I guess America remains saps for a story over talent at this stage.


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## That Don Guy (Mar 13, 2003)

Odds Bodkins said:


> I cannot tell you how happy I am that band that butchered Queen got sent home.


Er, they're not "home" yet - don't forget about the four Wild Cards.


Odds Bodkins said:


> Other than that, was a little shocked the young man singer got through with relative ease. I guess America remains saps for a story over talent at this stage.


I don't think it's as much his story as it is "hey, it's a youngish man who can sing" - remember, Jackie "soon to be appearing at a concert hall near you" Evancho lost to Michael "now appearing at one of the hotels on the deep outskirts of Vegas" Grimm.


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## pdhenry (Feb 28, 2005)

Jackie Evancho *is *soon appearing at a concert hall near me, as a matter of fact. 
($85 and up?!? YGTBKM...)

I like the one-hour recaps on Wednesday. It's like they've already done most of the fast-forwarding for me.


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## Langree (Apr 29, 2004)

I think this week in general was weak, and of that, the right people got through.

If the roller blader from here would have advanced I would have stopped watching.


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## Cainebj (Nov 11, 2006)

I was hoping the opera singers would get through - although i dunno why they didn't sing opera for their performance. I don't get how the male singer kid topped them. Looks like we are in for another semi-finals with a lot of solo singing acts.:down:


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## Langree (Apr 29, 2004)

I thought Acte 2's song choice "I will always Love You" kinda sucked. Like you I was wondering why they didn't do Opera.


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## MauriAnne (Sep 21, 2002)

I thought the over-done lighting really hurt the Hart Dance team this week. Their audition number was much better as they blended into the props so well but that wasn't the case with the Radio City lighting.

I was disappointed as I really enjoyed their audition.


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## Doggie Bear (Jan 16, 2008)

Langree said:


> I think this week in general was weak, and of that, the right people got through.
> 
> If the roller blader from here would have advanced I would have stopped watching.


Totally agree with this. The only acts I thought stood out were the magician (and even he was better in earlier rounds) and Aerial Animation.


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## Cainebj (Nov 11, 2006)

Langree said:


> I thought Acte 2's song choice "I will always Love You" kinda sucked. Like you I was wondering why they didn't do Opera.


I think they were going for an Il Divo type opera meet pop thing but they shoulda just stuck to opera.


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## Silverman (Jan 18, 2013)

Made me mad they told those excellent camouflage group to stop doing that and do something totally different. Why don't they tell singers to just quit singing then, we have heard them sing after all....and magicians to just quit with the magic and do something else???? How about the hand balancer, well he is still doing that, but that is ok, why is he not told to cut that out???


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## Cainebj (Nov 11, 2006)

Silverman said:


> Made me mad they told those excellent camouflage group to stop doing that and do something totally different.


I think they were saying to do it differently. 
The main prop piece was pretty much the same so I kinda get that but also get what you are saying.

Anyone remember QUICK CHANGE from one of the first seasons and how they battled whatshisface because the act was the same exact thing every week?


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## getreal (Sep 29, 2003)

Cainebj said:


> I was hoping the opera singers would get through - although i dunno why they didn't sing opera for their performance. I don't get how the male singer kid topped them. Looks like we are in for another semi-finals with a lot of solo singing acts.:down:


But in the results show Acte II lost out to the 12-yr. old girl.


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## Cainebj (Nov 11, 2006)

getreal said:


> But in the results show Acte II lost out to the 12-yr. old girl.


I was talking about the solo boy singer that made it in the top 4. Jaycob Curlee (had to look that up).


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## getreal (Sep 29, 2003)

Cainebj said:


> I was talking about the solo boy singer that made it in the top 4. Jaycob Curlee (had to look that up).


I despise that his name is spelled with a "y". UGH!! :down: It should be pronounced Jay-Cob. Blech!


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## JLucPicard (Jul 8, 2004)

Are they so desperate to have a magician move on that they put Smoothini through? Although, I guess he got through on the votes of the public.

Was Howard's mention of camera angles directed at the fact that it was abundantly clear that when he put the rubber banded stack of ones in Mel B's hand, there was a rubber banded stack of twenties beneath it so when he smacked it with the wallet he just pulled the stack of ones?

I don't know if it was the talent or my mood, but I was a bit underwhelmed with this week's show.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

getreal said:


> Mike Super was the Mystifier guy who claimed to have a spirit break a "glass" pitcher Heidi was holding. He recently won $1m prize on NBC's "Phenomenon".


(NBC OTA? I don't remember seeing that in the listings.)

So how the heck did he do that?

Yes, I'm way behind on AGT. (I was trying to watch it on my treadmill, but since I play faster than realtime for non-performance and boring-ish performance sections, it was actually to hard to do while walking.. so I'm just now mostly speeding through it on my DVD recorder.)


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## smbaker (May 24, 2003)

Bumping to express frustration that this season has the lamest talent I recall seeing in a season of AGT. The usual crappy singers are there, sure, but every other variety act seems like a weak imitation of seasons past. The magicians are horrible. The comics aren't funny. We have multiple hand balance rs and I couldn't tell you what makes one different than another (did one guy have a dog?) . Dancers laying on video screens. Some guy talking to an imaginary friend that obviously doesn't exist.

Mel b loves everyone. Howie thinks every act is the best he has ever seen. Stern just goes on how how there's more talent packed into an episode than ever. Heidi, I'm not sure what she's there for, maybe to flirt with the occasional contestant?

Piers Morgan would have buzzed 90% of what's there.

I don't think I have a single favorite,


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## Doggie Bear (Jan 16, 2008)

Second set of semi-finalists are done. Not too many surprises, other maybe than Smoothini not making it to the finals. I discuss his performance and Mat Franco's (with embedded videos) on my blog. I think Smoothini suffered by comparison to Franco's act.


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## JLucPicard (Jul 8, 2004)

I realized watching the results show, and who was going through, just how weak this group of semi-finalists was. Liked Matt Franco, but that was about it. Acroarmy was pretty good, but I'm not much into that type of act in the first place. I found Smoothini's actual 'magic' to be interesting, but his presentation is a snore-fest.

Wanna know how bad it was? I got more of a chuckle out of the frantic-dancing kid that forgot to zip his fly than I did from Wendy Liebman - who was supposed to be funny!

I find myself more just 'making it through this' to see who wins (with COPIUS amounts of FFing) than watching for the entertainment value. That's not good.


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## pdhenry (Feb 28, 2005)

Some of Smoothini's magic didn't hold up to a slow-motion replay.


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## Doggie Bear (Jan 16, 2008)

pdhenry said:


> Some of Smoothini's magic didn't hold up to a slow-motion replay.


Yes, I agree, although in real time he seemed quite good, and I'm not sure how many sleight of hand magicians can withstand TiVo rewind/pause/slo-mo.... That just goes to show how _good_ Mat Franco was.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

Crappy singers? You must not watch that show on Sundays on ABC.. That has really bad singers (not intentionally).

I thought it was weird that Wendy Liebmann was a frequent guest on the late night shows. Sure, I guess to the general public, she's not well known... But for about the only place where stand up comics show up anymore, she made the rounds frequently...


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## Donbadabon (Mar 5, 2002)

Wendy Liebman frequently laughs at her own jokes. It annoys me when comedians do that.


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## Jayjoans (Jan 23, 2003)

Donbadabon said:


> Wendy Liebman frequently laughs at her own jokes. It annoys me when comedians do that.


off topic, but this is why I found the Seinfeld show to be unwatchable. Too many smirks at how funny he was.


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## TriBruin (Dec 10, 2003)

So our final six is three solo singers, a singing group, a magician, and an aerial act. Once again, AGT becomes another singing competition. :down:

Hopefully, since Miguel and Sons of Serendip were in the 5,6,7 positions, they don't have quite the same voting support as the rest of the groups. 

At this point, I want to see AcroArmy win, but, for what ever reasons, large groups tend not to get the votes. 

I would be OK with Mat Franco, but I don't think he is a great illusionist. 

My guess is that it is going to come down to Emily West & Quintavious. The judges (especially Howie) have been pimping both acts since the auditions. 

On a tangent, did the audio for Mara Justine sound really echoy for even else on the performance show? It sounded like we were get the audio from the theater mixed in with her actual audio stream. I felt bad and hope that did not affect her position. (I would have much rather seen her than either Miguel or SoS)


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## Cainebj (Nov 11, 2006)

No it wasn't just you - the echo or reverb was really bad.

I got cut off by the speech so I'm still not sure who the finalists are for real.

I think Emily West is the clear winner and the only one who has a real shot at a commercial career.
I was disappointed by her song choice but I could totally see her making it on the charts.

Wow - Jackie Evancho all grown up!


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## That Don Guy (Mar 13, 2003)

TriBruin said:


> So our final six is three solo singers, a singing group, a magician, and an aerial act. Once again, AGT becomes another singing competition. :down:
> 
> On a tangent, did the audio for Mara Justine sound really echoy for even else on the performance show?


"AGT becomes another singing competition" has been a complaint since Season 1. I was surprised when Terry Fator won; I, like many others, had assumed that the show was "American Idol for singers not eligible for American Idol." 
Just when I thought America was getting away from this, Michael Grimm beats Jackie Evancho.

As for Mara's singing - I didn't notice any problem, but remember that I am watching the west coast feed, so maybe they fixed the problem.



Cainebj said:


> I got cut off by the speech so I'm still not sure who the finalists are for real.


Was it "joined in progress" in the east? Out west, they aired a full 60-minute episode without any apparent "west-only padding."

The top four (in order of announcement):
Emily West
Acro Army
Quintaveous Johnson
Mat Franco

The Snapple Save:
Sons of Serendip

The judges' choice, between Emil and Daniel and Miguel Dakota:
Heidi, Mel B, and the viewers voted for Miguel
(the viewer's vote was surprising, as Emil and Daniel appeared to be way ahead of Miguel in the Snapple Save vote)


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## Cainebj (Nov 11, 2006)

That Don Guy said:


> Was it "joined in progress" in the east?


thanks for the list much appreciated.

to be 100% honest i fast forward through most of the results and missed what Nick said so I didn't know if it was in progress or not and apparently didn't care enuf to rewind to find out. at one point about 9:45 he said we have 15 minutes left which gave me the impression they were condensing it to 45 minutes but it still cut. i forgot about you west coasters


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## TriBruin (Dec 10, 2003)

Cainebj said:


> thanks for the list much appreciated.
> 
> to be 100% honest i fast forward through most of the results and missed what Nick said so I didn't know if it was in progress or not and apparently didn't care enuf to rewind to find out. at one point about 9:45 he said we have 15 minutes left which gave me the impression they were condensing it to 45 minutes but it still cut. i forgot about you west coasters


It was not joined in progress. Being a live show, it was started after the Presidents speech.


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## TriBruin (Dec 10, 2003)

That Don Guy said:


> "AGT becomes another singing competition" has been a complaint since Season 1. I was surprised when Terry Fator won; I, like many others, had assumed that the show was "American Idol for singers not eligible for American Idol."
> Just when I thought America was getting away from this, Michael Grimm beats Jackie Evancho.
> 
> As for Mara's singing - I didn't notice any problem, but remember that I am watching the west coast feed, so maybe they fixed the problem.
> ...


I was really hoping the judges would put through E&D just to avoid have a forth singing act.


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## Cainebj (Nov 11, 2006)

That Don Guy said:


> The judges' choice, between Emil and Daniel and Miguel Dakota:
> Heidi, Mel B, and the viewers voted for Miguel
> (the viewer's vote was surprising, as Emil and Daniel appeared to be way ahead of Miguel in the Snapple Save vote)


wait 
- so who did Howie and Howard vote for?


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## That Don Guy (Mar 13, 2003)

Cainebj said:


> wait
> - so who did Howie and Howard vote for?


Emil and Daniel (oops) Dariel

Also, Zap2It's ratings page says that AGT ran from 9:15 to 10:15 Eastern, which makes sense as I saw someone's live blog of the eastern airing and I didn't remember seeing anything on the western airing that wasn't listed.


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## MScottC (Sep 11, 2004)

Actually, based on Nick's comment regarding the Snapple Save voting "already in progress," I'm thinking they started the show in RCMH on time, and just used a Video Server Delay system to delay the broadcast. I could be wrong but that would be my guess.


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## smbaker (May 24, 2003)

I'm bummed the two cello playing brothers didnt make it. I had them picked as my favorite to win. I think they played it too safe last week, holding back to rock out the audience during the finale. A good strategy, but they underestimated how much the public (and the judges) like crappy singers. 

I would be happy if acro army won. I would be less happy but still accepting if the magician won.

I find quint to be one of the most boring singers they've ever had. Therefore, my prediction is that he wins by a landslide.


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## JLucPicard (Jul 8, 2004)

I, too, wondered if Mara Justine's sound issues were just me, but Howie mentioned that there was talk on Twitter of the problem and hoped that didn't hurt her.

Count me as among those disappointed in so many singers at the end yet again.


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## That Don Guy (Mar 13, 2003)

MScottC said:


> Actually, based on Nick's comment regarding the Snapple Save voting "already in progress," I'm thinking they started the show in RCMH on time, and just used a Video Server Delay system to delay the broadcast. I could be wrong but that would be my guess.


Snapple Save voting probably started at 9:00 Eastern because the west coast viewers wouldn't know about the delay. Nick mentioned on Tuesday's show that the Snapple Save would be open to areas where the show is not live, and that they would be told the three choices when they went to the site.


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## Cainebj (Nov 11, 2006)

well i gotta say THAT was a surprise.

i didn't even have Mat Franco on my radar and as the eliminations progressed i thought Emily West was a pretty sure lock for the win.

One question - after Emily performed with Cyndi Lauper she said something about knowing her from The Apprentice? I don't watch The Apprentice so anyone got any details on that? That kind of stuff always surprises me when I hear a contestant portrayed as can't get a break appeared on another reality show...


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## Cainebj (Nov 11, 2006)

Cainebj said:


> One question - after Emily performed with Cyndi Lauper she said something about knowing her from The Apprentice? I don't watch The Apprentice so anyone got any details on that? That kind of stuff always surprises me when I hear a contestant portrayed as can't get a break appeared on another reality show...


Nevermind I googled it - apparently when Lauper was on The Apprentice she did some kind of music makeover challenge and West was person who got makeover.


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## MarkofT (Jul 27, 2001)

I was thinking that Mat was screwed because even 'tho he was very good with the cups and balls, I could see each move he made. It was a very basic trick all dolled up with a story.


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## TriBruin (Dec 10, 2003)

MarkofT said:


> I was thinking that Mat was screwed because even 'tho he was very good with the cups and balls, I could see each move he made. It was a very basic trick all dolled up with a story.


Agreed. Although his performance was impressive, the actual magic was amateurish. The ball in the cup trick is in every beginner's magic set.

I was holding out hope that AcroArmy was going to win. They were one of the most impressive group acts we have seen.


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## smbaker (May 24, 2003)

At least a singer didnt win. I think they fell to the curse of dividing the vote between too many singers.

I liked Matt's stage presence and technique, but I found most of his tricks to be amateurish and relatively simple. Most of the time, you could either figure out how he did them outright, or take a pretty good guess.


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## loubob57 (Mar 19, 2001)

After Miguel and Quintavious got eliminated I was OK with any of the remaining acts winning it.

I really thought Emily would win, but I guess splitting up the votes was probably a factor. I'll be looking for her next album though (She's already released 3). Howard was right that she's the best singer they've ever had.


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