I’ve been watching America’s Got Talent religiously for several years now, and this year I’ve decided to do something different: Share my opinion (for what it’s worth) through the means I have at my disposal (blog) in an attempt to influence others to my point of view. Plus, I like the show and want to talk about it.<\/p>\n
Here’s what I plan to do: Comment on the acts, in order of appearance on the show, and make my predictions about tomorrow night’s results. <\/p>\n
I’ll start with some general impressions about the show. <\/p>\n
Tonight was entertaining. In the commercials, I keep seeing Piers say that this year, they have the best talent they’ve ever had. I hate to say it, but I thought last year’s general talent was better. Which isn’t to say there aren’t some great acts this year — there are — but I’m being honest. So far, in this competition, no one is standing out in my mind as a clear winner. Which may be a good thing. And now, on to the acts…<\/p>\n
The Miami All Stars<\/strong><\/p>\n And now, I have to immediately undo part of what I said. While I feel the overall talent is a bit weaker this year than last, the DANCE talent is the best they’ve ever had. I’m not usually enthusiastic about dance groups, to be honest. For one thing, they tend to pick horrible songs I can’t stand to listen to, and after a while it gets rather repetitive. <\/p>\n The Miami Dance All Stars are fantastic. One of the big problems I have with a lot of large dance groups is that they don’t tend to make good use of their sheer numbers. This group did. I loved the costumes — pink for the ladies, black for the men. I loved the couples dancing. I loved it when they mixed it up. I loved it when the sexy men started to take their shirts off (no one tell Austin I said that \ud83d\ude42 ). <\/p>\n Prediction: Shoe-in<\/strong> I like this guy. He’s got a good voice, and though I found his version of “Satisfaction” to be a little odd, he did own it. I didn’t like the backup dancers they brought in. <\/p>\n The thing about singers in this competition is that this is a variety show. He’s not just competing against other singers, he’s competing against people who are risking their lives on stage, dancing for all they’re worth, or any of a number of other odd things. I find that I expect my singers, in this show, to really stand out in some way, and I don’t think he reached that level for me. Okay, well….they were amusing. In the audition. And in Vegas. And frankly, Piers’ hostile attitude toward them makes them funnier than they could ever be on their own. To be fair, I didn’t find them terribly amusing tonight, either, although I do, at least, get it. When I saw them in their audition, my thoughts were, “Cute. Weird. Hope they go through to Hollywood because you’ll never see something like that on any other show. They won’t get past the quarterfinals, though.” I’m still nervous about letting my 5-year-old go into the men’s room at the store on his own, and here is a family that lets their 8-year-old drive a motorcycle inside a small wire sphere with his mom and sister. Yikes! This act gets a lot of kudos for sheer nerve!<\/p>\n I do wonder where it goes from here, but in this case, I hope I get a chance to find out. Both Piers and Sharon buzzed this act, Piers because he’s Piers, and Sharon because she didn’t care for the song choice. Well, the song didn’t bother me, the singing was good, the musicians were good. The thing that struck me tonight was that this act got through on sheer oddity, but they don’t seem that odd to me. Or rather, they seem like they want to be odd, but it isn’t coming through naturally to me. <\/p>\n Prediction: Hope you had fun. Best of luck!<\/strong> This guy gets a little less funny each time I see him. The first time, I laughed. Some of his jokes were stupid, but he’s odd, he does silly things with a guitar…it’s a fresh approach to comedy and there’s nothing wrong with that.<\/p>\n Tonight, I was down to a chuckle or two. Crass jokes are a tough sell for me, but those weren’t the only ones who fell flat. His entire, “that doesn’t seem like a very good idea” segment just completely went by me. It had potential, but I think it would have been funnier if he’d described things someone might actually do. Instead, his images were too absurd.<\/p>\n Prediction: Won’t go through. <\/strong> This guy has talent, and I always love those “from the streets” stories they do to make the audience get all gushy inside. Solo dance acts are a very hard sell, but if anyone can pull it off, he can. <\/p>\n Prediction: He’s got a really good chance.<\/strong> The lady and her fabulous talking parrot! I love this act. Honestly. The bird sings better than I do, and he’s smarter than some people I know. I was nervous about this act, after its failure in Las Vegas, but bringing Echo’s girlfriend on stage seemed to have been a brilliant move. <\/p>\n I think the competition is too stiff for this act to make it, although you never know…get enough animal lovers out there to hit the phones…<\/p>\n Personally, I thought doing the old Michael Jackson song was gutsy, even if the judges were put off. They even did fairly well with it, although I spent most of their performance half in awe, half disturbed by the group of white guys playing the fiddle to “Billie Jean is not my lover.”<\/p>\n Prediction: They won’t go through, but I enjoyed them and wish them luck.<\/strong> For once, I found all the judge’s comments to be spot on for this group. They’re clearly talented, but I didn’t care for the song choice and found the act uninspiring. Then again, I wondered where they would go with the act back in Vegas. They seem to keep doing the same thing to different music and in different costumes. I think they need to mix it up a bit more.<\/p>\n Prediction: Won’t go through. Wish them the best. <\/strong> My personal favorite of the evening. Yes, yes, yes…she’s an adorable 4’4″ 11-year-old, but still…<\/p>\n The truth is, I’m wary of the kids’ acts. I worry that they’re outclassed in this competition, against adults who have had far more experience, and that if they do move on, they do so at least partly based on cuteness. <\/p>\n In this case, though, I just love her voice. Part of it is the shock in hearing it come out of that mouth, but there’s just something very appealing about it. I wasn’t sure what I thought of her singing “What a Wonderful World,” because I think of that as a song sung by a much older person….someone with a long lifetime full of experiences taking the time to slow down and appreciate the little things. But she put an intriguing spin on it, and basically, I want to see her again.<\/p>\n Prediction: She has a very good chance, and I hope she goes through.<\/strong> This group got the standing ovation at the end. I often feel that the judges stack their favorite acts at the end, and it is a provably strong position from a psychological standpoint. <\/p>\n I’m going to have to go against the grain on this act, though. It was dangerous. They are talented. But I wasn’t inspired, despite the bed of nails. It was the same act with a bed of nails underneath, making it more dangerous if she fell. I don’t know…to me it didn’t add much to the performance or the anticipation. I’d like to see a different act, with different moves, and more stunts than just flipping on a bar. <\/p>\n Clearly, though, the crowd loved them. <\/p>\n Prediction: They’ve got a real chance, although I’ve got other favorites.<\/strong> The Miami All Stars Two of them will end up in 4th and 5th positions, and the judges will save one of them. I’m not sure which of these they would decide to save over the others. I guess I’ll have to see tomorrow night!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I’ve been watching America’s Got Talent religiously for several years now, and this year I’ve decided to do something different: Share my opinion (for what it’s worth) through the means I have at my disposal (blog) in an attempt to influence others to my point of view. 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\nDezmond Meeks<\/strong><\/p>\n
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\nPrediction: Probably not going through. Hope the exposure from being on the show helps his career.<\/strong>
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\nThose Funny Little People<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n
\nPrediction: Sorry little people, I think this is the end of the line for you. Thanks for making everyone but Piers laugh. <\/strong>
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\nFearless Flores Family<\/strong><\/p>\n
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\nPrediction: They’ve got a really good chance.<\/strong>
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\nSquonk Opera<\/strong><\/p>\n
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\nJ. Chris Newberg<\/strong><\/p>\n
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\nSnap Boogie<\/strong><\/p>\n
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\nEcho of Animal Gardens<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nPrediction: Probably the end of the line, but I hope you had fun, and wish you great future success.<\/strong>
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\nThe Fiddleheads<\/strong><\/p>\n
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\nDuo Aero<\/strong><\/p>\n
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\nAnna Graceman<\/strong><\/p>\n
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\nSandou Trio Russian Bar<\/strong><\/p>\n
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\nSo, to sum up, I think the following groups will make the top 5 tomorrow night:<\/p>\n
\nFearless Flores Family
\nSnap Boogie
\nAnna Graceman
\nSandou Trio Russian Bar<\/p>\n