In This Section
TV Guide Spotlight
Also on TVGuide.com
|
« MEL31602's Blog
America's Got Talent Blog: "You Even Look Like Two Lumps of Cheese"
Hey everyone it's the third week of tryouts at America's Got Talent. Random thought of week: I've been watching the Olympic trials, and I know the Games will air in primetime in August. Will AGT be over by then, or will the Games not be on Tuesday nights? Just wondering.
Anyway tonight we start off in Dallas. Finally a city they haven't been to before this year (I don't think). And of course we're reminded that Terry Fator is from Texas, and that he got a $100 million contract in Vegas. Must they mention this in every episode? It's getting a bit annoying.
After the introduction to the judges, we meet the first act of the night, a cashier named Corky Duke (seriously). He's a 41 year old line dancer and apparently does it professionally. Well he's dancing to "Cotton Eye Joe", which is always a plus, and gets the audience on their feet immediately. But all he really does is kick his legs around, and his timing seems off from the music. Piers X's him immediately, and David is soon to follow. The audience turns on him too, and finally so does Sharon. Piers calls it "a complete and utter waste of time" and the audience agrees. He does not get through to Vegas and gets booed off the stage.
Next a montage of Xs. A group of musicians called the Rodeo Rhythm Kings, a horseshoer named Nolan Leach who does nothing but swing a lasso and jump off his horse a few times, a bad tap dancer named Juli Blue, and a woman named Jaque Kendall who tries to do hula hoop tricks but instead accidentally throws them all at the judges (hilarious!) all get told no.
The judges are desperate for some talent in Texas. But they won't find it with Ross Tinsley, who just kind of stands there and pounds his fists into each other.
Next up is 19-year old Holly Hardin, from Georgia. She seems like Kellie Pickler with her accent and dumb blonde act. She is a country music singer too. Wow she sounds like Kellie Pickler too! She's really good. She needs to work a bit on stage presence but I really like her voice. The audience likes it too! Sharon oddly didn't like it but Piers does. David is on the fence as well. Really? I thought she was so good!! The audience seems to agree with me. She says she'll sing anything if she gets to Vegas, including Dolly Parton. Piers asks her to sing a bit of Dolly Parton now, and now the judges seem more convinced. Piers says yes, and so do the others! Holly is going to Vegas!
Now finally some more good acts. Acrobats called Duo Genesis balance on each other. A bit boring, but it does take skill to do that. An 11-year old named Lewis (not the cute kid from the commercial, but another one) plays the piano, and I'm not an expert on piano but he sounds pretty good. A group called the Shaolin Warriors do some flips and acrobats. Again not my thing but they're talented too. All three get through to Vegas.
After the break we meet BBDC, a dance troupe ages 12-17. They're like a family, according to Jerry Springer. They are led by Justin, who is a father figure to the young dancers. They are good! The routine is very entertaining and energetic, complete with tons of impressive flips. And they are really in sync as well. Wow a dance group I actually like! The audience and Justin are impressed, and so are the judges. Piers does hate the outfits though, along with the makeup (I agree on the bad makeup, not so much on the bad outfits). He does love the dancing though, and they sail through to Vegas.
Now animal acts! One is a pot-bellied pig named Smithfield. Apparently he can paint. Okay that's a bit weird. They paintings are abstract apparently. David says the pig looks like Piers haha. But the pig refuses to paint at first. Then it does, but it's just lines on a paper. Piers says the pig would be more useful on his bacon sandwich! Ouch! That's kind of rude, to say the least. Then he? refuses to leave the stage and hisses at Jerry! Priceless! Needless to say he doesn't get through to Vegas.
And now more animal acts. Diana Ross (no, not that Diana Ross) has a cute puppy that just kind of walks around (it was supposed to dance). Sean Paul (what's with all the contestants with famous names) and Juliane have a monkey that can ring a buzzer. Busy Bee Dogs have dogs grab frisbees and roll on tires. And to make matters worse they leave one of the dogs in a cage onstage! That poor dog! Nothing too impressive so far, as none of them get to Vegas.
Next up is Paul West with his dog Tucker. Aw he's really cute (Tucker, not Paul). Paul seems proud of his attachment to his pet. His act is an acrobatic canine disk routine. I like dogs and all but really I wasn't as impressed as the audience. Tucker jumps up and catches frisbees in the air, and while he does do a few nice flips most of it is just jumping and catching. The flips alone are probably worth a trip to Vegas but I think he needs more of those kind of tricks to get far in the competition. He does get through to Vegas for now though.
The Dallas auditions are winding down, and now it's time to meet 71-year old Paul, who sings like Frank Sinatra (he claims). He has the look with the hat and suit, but does he have the voice? He's been doing the act 40 years! Wow he actually sounds like Sinatra! For someone so old he sounds really young. Sharon and David are even up dancing. The audience chants "Vegas" and they get their wish! Piers says Paul has Sinatra "perfect", although I've never seen Sinatra before so I don't know if he's accurate in this assessment.
Now the auditions resume in Chicago again. The judges take their seats and prepare for the first act, Junior and Emily. They are salsa dancers from a tough neighborhood in San Francisco. He is 22 and she is 18 and they have great attitudes and costumes. The dance has lots of fast spins and movements. I liked the dance troupe from earlier in this episode better than I liked them but they were still really good. The judges like them too and they're off to Vegas. Piers thinks they could go all the way to the finals.
Next up is a husband and wife duo dressed in bright yellow. They knew when they first met that they would get married. The guy is kind of cute, too. Stephanie and Zane start their singing and immediately sound offkey. It gets a bit better for a moment but then gets offkey again. And they are destroying a really good song too ("Unchained Melody") Surprisingly they get good towards the end and kiss but the crowd is not impressed. Aw... Piers says it is really cheesy and that they even look like "two lumps of cheese". They are given three nos and are headed home but still in love (and promise to come back- my ears hope they don't!)
After the commercial is George the Giant, who is really, really tall- 7 foot 3, to be exact. He wants to make his dream come true to be a performer. He grabs a volunteer from the audience (poor woman!). Then he proceeds to wrap her in a giant straw and puts it up his nose so part of it comes out in his mouth. Gross!! Then he proceeds to drink milk out of the straw, so that the volunteer is essentially a human crazy straw. It's entertaining but definitely really weird and disgusting. And there's more. He has firecrackers on his chest and blows them up to end "with a bang". Odd act, but entertaining. George says at his size he either could play basketball or be a freak, and he chose the latter. And out comes his wife, who is really short. This looks like one of those opposite couples that appear on Maury. And now the vote- Piers votes yes, Sharon says no, and David says ... yes! The giant is off to Vegas.
Next up is Jessica Price, who reminds me a bit of an older Julienne Irwin before she starts singing. Her dad got her into singing but then left the family. It was tough for her but music helped her get through it, and she hopes he's proud of her today. I like the country singer from earlier tonight better, but this one is really good too. The ending was better than the beginning as well. The judges love her as send her to Vegas.
Now the AGT tour has a new stop- Atlanta. Also known as Home of the Hoff, according to Jerry. First up is Allister McQueen, who wears Clark Kent-like glasses and looks a lot older than 18. He starts out throwing a book in the air and then stripping. Judges stop the madness!! Only Sharon holds out from the Xs and lets Allister reveal his shiny underwear. Piers says Allister does not have the right "equipment" for this kind of act, and I agree. David says he needs to eat and he is Jenny Craig gone bad. It's a no from all three judges.
Another man in glasses then also starts stripping. His body is better than Allister's but the dancing is horrible. Next are pole dancers Gravity Plays Favorites, who just kind of spin on top of each other on a pole. Scandalesque Dance Troupe has a bra on fire but not much else. The Hollywood Men have great bodes but not much talent. All are rejected.
Next up is a woman named Busty Heart, and one look at her and one can see why. She says no one has ever done what she does. And she may be right- she crushes objects with her breasts! Impressive, but she doesn't get through to Vegas either.
The judges are having doubts about whether the "Home of the Hoff" has any real talent.
Hoping to change their minds are cloggers The Southern Belles. The are a tight-knit group of four friends. They say their talent is worth more than $ 1 million. Wow they may be right. They clog perfectly in sync, like a mix of tap dance and clogging. Sharon and David give them a standing ovation, as does the crowd. Piers says that's the best of the day (although that's not saying much considering the bad acts in Atlanta so far). Sharon says they are as good as Michael Flatley. I don't know about that but they are one of the best so far and sail through to Vegas.
Next up is Dan Meyer, who also has a "rarely seen" and dangerous act. This could either be really good or really bad. Part of his act involves nudging his heart aside. In fact he's a sword swallower hoping not to kill himself! He takes a long time to actually swallow the sword but once he does he's pretty impressive. Here comes three at one time, and he nails it! David buzzes him and the other judges rail on him, saying that could make Dan lose his concentration and die!!! But it's over and Dan is still alive!!! David fears audiences might run away if they see it but Sharon thinks the act brings great variety. She votes yes and David votes no (much to the chagrin of the audience), but Piers puts him through! Good for him he certainly has talent although it is disturbing and scary to watch.
And finally it's cute kid number two!!! He's nine years old and is a singer despite having autism. He didn't talk until he was three and started singing on the school bus. Now he sings all the time. That really is amazing, but usually when young kids sing their voices are really not that well developed yet compared to older kids. I hope this kid is different. His name is David and he says he's a very good singer and loves the Jackson Five. And now he sings... and he hits some good high notes but he sounds like any other young singer. Sorry but I really don't like young singers without any power in their voice, and he does go offkey several times. Maybe it's just me. Plus he looks pained when he sings. But of course the crowd loves it and so do the judges. It's a unanimous yes.
So that's it for this week. My favorites tonight were Holly the country singer, the cloggers, and the dancers BBDC. Any thoughts on your favorites this week? And am I the only one who did not love David the nine-year-old singer? Post your comments below.
|
|
|
|
Jul 2, 2008 1:34 AM
|
|
I don't have much time today but wanted to say, great blog and I'll try to comment more specifically later.
|
|
Jul 2, 2008 11:25 AM
|
Great blog!
I was scared to death when Hoff buzzed the sword swallower! Idiot! Hope he didn't cause any internal injuries from his stupidity!
I thought little David was cute, and sang pretty well... not enough to make it very far, but it was cool they put him through. I noticed that he looked like he was going to cry, and my daughter said that he had looked over to the side, and probably saw his Mom crying and it probably set him off.
|
|
Jul 2, 2008 2:35 PM
|
Hey CinderAngelkc! Thanks for the kind words and I look forward to hearing from you later.
Hey Shel! Yeah Hoff was stupid for buzzing the sword swallower. I hope he learned his lesson and doesn't try that again later on haha. Yeah that kid was cute but I don't think he will get very far either.
|
|
Jul 2, 2008 3:31 PM
|
I swear I will never figure those judges out at all. I realize the girl that sang These Boots Are Made for Walking chose the wrong song. That song has four notes because Nancy Sinatra couldn't sing. But they will put through a 4 year old and they weren't going to put her through at first? Isn't that crazy? I still can't figure out what the giant guys talent is except being strange.
That Sinatra guy was amazing. A voice like that at his age? I liked the dance troupe with the "fierce" make up as they called it. That gave me a chuckle. I look forward to seeing what they do in the future. When does this thing go to Vegas?
|
|
Jul 2, 2008 5:27 PM
|
I loved the little guy that played the piano and the Sinatra guy....David really is autistic. And he is adorable. Didn't notice many true pitch problems. No dynamics, though. But he has promise. Just not in this venue. What was the giant doing OMG....I could have truly lived without THAT!!
Really good blog, by the way, Mel.
xoxo, Zia
|
|
Jul 2, 2008 6:09 PM
|
Hey CinderAngelkc! I loved the girl who did the country song too. She was way better than either of the young kids. The giant guy doesn't really have talent but his act is entertaining so that's why he was put through I guess.
Hey aunthill! The piano kid and the Sinatra guy were good as well. Maybe I was wrong about David's pitch problems... I always think contestants on AI sound offkey and then the judges say they were great so maybe I'm not a good judge of singing talent. The giant act was weird and I couldn't really watch the act either but he is entertaining in an odd way. And thanks for the compliment!!
|
|
Jul 2, 2008 6:18 PM
|
Mel...David did have some pitch slides...you know, where you start to go flat or sharp and then kind of slide into the note. So your hearing is just fine...and astute. He just had the ability to self-correct....the mark of a will-be good vocalist. The 24 year old that did the Dolly thing as her second chance sang full-tilt....like the couple in the yellow. Wish I could coach her. I would love that. And it would be fun to work with little David. Sigh
xoxo, Zia
|
|
Jul 2, 2008 7:31 PM
|
|
|
