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America's Got Talent Recap: "I Don't Know What America's About Anymore"
Hey everyone it's time for (another) audition show of AGT! Seriously when will they get to the callbacks already? I already have over ten acts that I'm rooting for, and I want to see how they'll respond in Vegas.
After a long recap of some of the good and bad acts of the season (I already forgot about some of them) we start off this week in Atlanta again- "the toughest audition room in the world".
First up is banker Michelle Wallace. She is a singer and I already hope she will be good. She thinks her singing is a gift she should share with the world. She gets the crowd on their feet as the music starts. This sounds like a Celine Dion song. ("All by Myself).. can she pull it off? Apparently not. She sings three words offkey and calls for X's begin. She continues and it doesn't get much better. The judges put up with it longer than the audience does before Xing her. The music stops, and Michelle keeps going. Ah my ears! And I really like this song too... David says if she keeps singing like that she'll be "all by herself" haha. Sharon asks if she's ever recorded her voice and played it back, and she says no. Shocker! Needless to say she's given three no's.
After the break we meet magician Bruce Block. He auditioned last year and made it to Vegas. Oh yeah I remember him he was pretty good in his first audition and then blew it in Vegas. Turns out his assistant quit the night before the callbacks so he had to put together a new show in a few hours, hence his massive failure last year. Now he's back hoping the judges will give him a second chance. I hope they do too, since I really like the magicians on this show and only a few have gotten through so far. Hopefully the act is better than his outfit! He has a new girl (hopefully this one won't quit!) This girl sings and taps decently while Bruce lies on a bed of nails. And then she stands on a plate on top of him and jumps around a bit, thus putting more pressure on the nails. Piers isn't too impressed, and frankly neither am I. I've seen this kind of thing before (or at least heard about it). And now the Hoff gets in on the act. He doesn't believe the nails are really sharp, so he asks Bruce to lay back down on the nails while the Hoff stands on top of him! The Hoff is a lot bigger than that girl! He sees the nails are real and then balances on the plate on Bruce. After getting off he sees the tiny holes in Bruce's body from the nails. Ouch! This was better than the act itself! David returns to his seat and the judges vote. Piers says he wouldn't pay to see him and votes no. David votes yes, so it's down to Sharon, who (old softie) votes yes, so he's off to Vegas.
Next up is another impersonator- Tina Turner! Why do I think this will be a guy again! Sure enough it is- a guy named Dorae Saunders. He doesn't sing, but lipsyncs and dances to "Proud Mary". The lip syncing is not bad, actually, and the audience is on their feet. Now it's time for the dancing, and that's not too bad either! He's not one of my favorites but he's certainly better than I thought he would be. Well last year we had a male Shakira impersonator so why not him? Sharon loved it, but David doesn't know what America's about anymore. Piers is unsure since Dorae doesn't sing (I agree I'd like the act better if he sang), but Dorae says he's a great dancer and actor. Piers votes no, Sharon votes yes, and David votes... (with some advice from the crowd) yes! So Tina is off to Vegas!
Now a montage of good acts. Tropicdanza does some dancing, although it seems like a few do flips in the front while the others just shake in the background. Fast Wally juggles really fast, does a flip, and then catches one of the items he juggled. Okay, that's impressive. Bryan Cheatham sings okay, but I'm not as blown away as the audience is. All three make it to Vegas.
The last act of the day are the Zooperstars, a group of dancers in large mascot-like outfits. They should get through just for having the courage to wear those on TV! They actually aren't too bad! They do a few simple dance moves, but they must be hard to do in those outfits! One guy even jumps while on his head! They too are off to Vegas.
After a commercial we are back in Dallas. Great more cowboy acts haha! First up are the Dallas Desperados Dancers. They claim their closeness sets them apart. No offense but other dance groups are close too. Their outfits will get David and Piers happy though! They are pretty good, very in sync, although I'm not sure if this is worth a million dollars. Wow I'm in a bad mood tonight. Maybe it's because Lauren got kicked off Legally Blonde last night. Anyway the audience (especially the guys) are up on their feet as well. Even Piers cracks a smile. David says he's moving to Dallas. Piers loved the energy and choreography. Sharon says it was a lot of fun. They sail through to Vegas. And Jerry gets a group hug from all of them!
Next up is Xclusive. He's performing in public for the first time. Uh oh there haven't been any bad acts in a while... will he be one of them? He says people made fun of him which is why he never did his show in public before. He lies down and acts like a robot. That's actually really cool. He has the motions down and the music in the background adds to the comedy. The audience loves it. He says he mixed the track himself as well. Piers says it was unusual, and asks what he would do if he came back. He says he has other routines. David thinks a whole show could be built off that. I don't know, it got a bit boring at the end. He does get through to Vegas as well.
After the break we meet warehouse worker Barry Collyer. His act is making barnyard animal noises. Okay... a bit weird. He says he would practice in his closet as a child. Even weirder... First is a chicken. It's pretty good. His hound dog is good too, as is his coyote. It's not really an act though, and Piers and David X him. They say to do his best one, which is a Rotweiler and a hog having a disagreement. It is pretty accurate but just too weird for me. Piers says it's not even worth a dollar, and the audience agrees. So he is sent back to the barn.
And now more bad acts! A singer named Nance Upchurch just shrieks something unintelligible. The Freak Show does some uncoordinated dancing. Music Makes the World Go Round is two decent accordion players, but accordion is not really the coolest of instruments. Mac Jay is an odd dancer. Fancy Ray McLoney, who sounds like Al Sharpton and tries to tell jokes about how good he looks.
So kind of a lackluster show so far, since I'm not really blown away by anyone. But now the guy I've been looking forward to all week- Donald Braswell. A car crash 11 years ago severed his vocal chords, and doctors thought he would never sing again. They thought he might not even talk again. He's a family man too, with three kids, and wants to give them a better life. This is his first performance since that accident. And he's singing "You Raise Me Up"- I love that song! He sounds really good, but the audience is getting restless, booing him immediately. What the hell? Good for him, he doesn't let it faze him, as he keeps going with his audition. Oh sure, now halfway through the song they start cheering. He sounded great the whole time why the sudden change of heart? They give him a huge ovation at the end and Donald is on the verge of tears. David loves how he inspired the crowd. Piers says his emotion turned the crowd around. Sharon loved his voice. Now the judges vote. David votes yes, Sharon votes yes, and Piers sends him to Vegas! Yeah! I don't think he's good enough to win but I love his story! He calls his kids afterwards and you can hear them scream through the phone in excitement.
So that's it for this week. Again, while a lot of acts got through I wasn't overly impressed with anyone except Donald. And next week... more auditions! And a soul singer who amazes all three judges! Thoughts on tonight's show? Post your comments below.
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Jul 15, 2008 11:38 PM
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I was stunned at the booing of Braswell. The guy obviously is an outstanding singer and the instant childish booing smelled to high heaven of being a set up. I don't believe for a second that the audience was told to boo and the instant switch to cheering was so synthetic it made me gag. Shame on the producers for trying to scam the watchers of the show. I have lost all respect for the this show, but at least the fix is not in on the English version which is all over Youtube. I didn't agree with the winner this year but well worth watching the losers.
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Jul 16, 2008 1:01 AM
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With all the editing that can be done, are we even sure that the booing was even really occurring during his performance? I haven't watched the episode yet (I got kind of turned off the whole thing after they let the second child through to Vegas - not because I don't think he or the 4-year-old girl have talent, I just disagree with subjecting children so young to this huge, unforgiving audition environment), but either they prompt the audience to boo or cheer, or they edit it afterward. Just get rid of the audience during the audition phase please! Three judges were enough!
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Jul 16, 2008 8:52 AM
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Hey cejwin! Wow I was stunned at the booing too but I didn't think it was a setup. I think I've seen parts of the English version- that opera singer won, right? I didn't really like him that much either.
Hey Kris! Don't worry there haven't been too many little kids in a few weeks! I don't like them either though, just because they are not as talented as the judges make them appear to be. I do think the audience (if it is legit and not prompted to boo or cheer) is a key part of the process though because if the public doesn't like someone they won't get enough votes to win, so there's no point in putting them through. They do seem a bit harsh in their views though.
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Jul 16, 2008 9:16 AM
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Mel -I have to get off to the doctor but I'll read this later. Thanks for doing it as I couldn't watch last night. I might see if I can get it online. Later!
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Jul 16, 2008 12:05 PM
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