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« America's Got Talent
Episode Recap: New York, Chicago & Los Angeles
We're back for another season and the first thing I notice is this show is not in high definition. Uh, NBC, 2008 called and it will see you now. This show takes place in a darn theater. I think you guys can dig up a few HD cameras. OK, I feel better.
The big news is that this year's winner wins $1 million and a gig in Las Vegas. That's big. Plus, we learn last year's winner, ventriloquist Terry Fator, has just signed a $100 million deal to perform in Vegas.
Piers Morgan, Sharon Osborne, David Hasselhoff and host Jerry Springer are back, and they're holding auditions in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.
Bill Curlee aka "Serious Mysterious" - Not a bad Tom Jones impression, until he began singing. Instant X's from Piers, Hoff and the entire audience. Sharon, strangley, lets him finish. Did she think it was Ozzy? (vote: 3 no's)
Nick Afanasiev - the guy can just about lick his entire nose with his tongue. Would this work in Vegas? All X's.
The judges were modestly entertained by Lady J and her prancing around the stage, and then X'd her out to the street.
And then a quick-fire series of ridiculous acts. OK, we get it. There better be some talent after the commercial.
Trombone player Jonathan Arons - He seems promising, at least during his interview. At first I thought, 'dude, either play the instrument or dance, but not both.' But, you know what, he's not bad. And he had Sharon screaming. Three yes's, but can this hold up over the course of the series? Hmm.
Indiggo - Uh oh. These Romanian twin girls seemed really cute and ambitious. This New York, New York rendition is awful. Wasn't their 75-year-old aunt singing on the subway platform last week? Again Sharon, letting this act finish. Apparently, she thinks she's on the set of America's Got No Idea How to Sing. Piers: "You've got everything going for you except for your terrible voices." Zing! And then that clown puts them through to Vegas. (X's from Piers and David and then yes's from Piers and Sharon.)
Nuttin' But Stringz - This is kickin'! Two brothers playing violins, to rap music, no less. Something fresh and original. Straight through to Vegas.
David Martin - magic act. Only a few seconds, but we'll see them again. I'm a sucker for magic tricks.
Scott Land - an uncooked chicken rigged up to marionette strings. On to Vegas.
Plastic Musik - Banging plastic things onto drums. This passes as talent. They'll be in Vegas.
Jazmin - The quartet sing The Bugle Boy of Company B. Not bad. Not bad at all. Only a few seconds worth, but they're on to Vegas.
Mary Bly, age 80 - she's a retired waitress. For 80 years old (not that I know what it's like to be 80), she's pretty energetic, but not good enough for the judges. Jerry keeps having to warn her to not go too close to the edge of the stage. Dude, she's retired, not blind.
Then we see a slew of no's - including an adorable accordion player.
Kaitlyn Maher - Now...she has arrived. She's finally here. The little 4-year-old that will tear through the hearts of the judges.
Sharon: "Are you from New York?"
Kaitlyn: "I'm from America"
I love it.
She sings Somewhere Out There. Is she the cutest thing on God's green earth? Yes. Can she keep up with the song's melody? Yes. Can she sing in tune? Well, there was momen —— I mean, yes, yes, she did! If I said anything else, I'd have nightmares of dragons chasing me tonight. She's headed to Vegas.
Inside info: A friend of mine who attended this taping back in April tells me Kaitlyn not only sang the entire song, she did it a cappella. The keyboard accompaniment was edited in after the show. Now that's talent.
Commercial break. And suddenly we're watching auditions in Chicago.
Slippery Kittens - Nine mothers do a burlesque act. Extravagant costumes and a few tattoos thrown in for good measure. The audience, rightfully so, chanted "Vegas!" as soon as they took the stage.
Not a bad start for Chi-town.
Chay Vang - This guy invented his own guitar. It takes him forever to hook it up and tune it. And then blasts the audience out of its eardrums. Three quick X's.
Up next, in quick fashion: A storyteller, a singing Santa Claus, Judge Judy singing Hallelujah, a brass band (who tells the audience they suck)...now we know why this is the second city. All going home.
Jonathan Burkin - a baton twirler. Hold your jokes, he's heard enough of them. A baton with flames on each end. Neat-o! And he's good! Two batons! The judges are big-time wowed. He's goin' to Vegas. This is a ready-made Vegas act.
See ya Chicago. Hello, La-La Land.
Derrick Barry - A man impersonating a woman impersonating a woman doing Britney Spears. Holy Oops I Did It Again, Batman! He looks and sounds the part. Piers isn't buying it, though. Hoff doesn't know whether to sing along or ask for a date. But Derrick's going to Vegas.
Polina Volchek - Piers asks her if she's the best new act in America, she replies "could be". Could be is right. She performs some really good acrobatics while spinning hula hoops on her toes and everywhere else but her waist. Vegas, baby!
Sterling Silver - Eleven students doing a hip hop-style tap dance routine. We only see it for a few seconds, but really, really good. Really good. Go west, young lads and lasses!
Cafidia Stuart - Does a mean Whitney Houston. This girl's just 15. Here's a finalist, folks. I can feel it in me bones. To Vegas.
Sick Step - About a dozen guys doing a breakdance routine. On to Vegas. Again, only a few seconds, but a fun act to watch.
Now, apparently, we're in the dancing part of the show.
Dallas Dance Company - Nine dance teachers. They'll probably be good. Yikes! Triple X (no, I don't mean that triple-x).
Then some gothic wedding dance thing, a contortionist, a woman on roller skates. All X's, and X does not get the square. Is there another 4-year-old in the house?
Instead, Extreme Dance FX takes the stage. In step, great choreography with fast, Riverdance-style steps and high-speed tapping. Cool. Piers not liking it. He X'd them for their costumes? Oh, puhleez. Whatev. This was some hi-falutin' dancing. Then Piers comes around. And they're heading on to Vegas. I really like this group.
Neal E. Boyd - He's had a rough childhood and this could be a great, personal victory for him. Somehow I feel a big letdown coming. I don't know, I'm just sayin'. Here he comes. He's singing opera. Wow. He's good. Real good. No letdown. Stay in key, pal. Stay in key. Major goose bumps. He gets a standing O from the audience and the judges. Hoff declares Neal the frontrunner. Jerry: "In the two seasons I've been doing this show, I have not heard better." Wow. I'm looking forward to hearing him again. — J.R. Whalen
Want to see a few of the acts? Use our Online Video Guide...
• Watch Derrick Barry's Brittany-esque performance
• Watch little Kaitlyn Maher charm the judges
• Check out Jonathan Burkin's baton-twirling act
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TVGuide Links:
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Jun 17, 2008 10:33 PM
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I checked out tonight's episode and LOVED it! I can't wait until next Tuesday night! I love the diversity!
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Jun 18, 2008 2:10 AM
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The guy twirling the flaming batons (Jonathan) was twirling 3 of them, not 2. I notice these things b/c my daughter does baton twirling.
All in all, not bad. I wish we could have seen more of the good talent ones instead of tiny pieces of them, especially the gymnast and the magicians. Out of the ones they did show, I liked the opera singer (Neil), the 4-year-old singer (she's adorable) and the baton twirler (Jonathan). There were more that stood out, but just not as much as those (maybe b/c they told their stories longer and took more time). I really liked the Britney Spears guy impersonator. He was incredible!! Can't wait to see more of it!
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Jun 18, 2008 5:15 AM
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It was fun and entertaining. I am glad NBC keeps it for the summer, otherwise, it will be slaughtered by other more stupid shows during the regular season.
Thank for the blog!
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Jun 18, 2008 8:26 AM
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I didn't like the audience screaming through the whole thing. I found it very distracting and annoying. It reminded me of a Jerry Springer show where the audience keeps chanting "Jerry Jerry..." Being that he IS the host, maybe they brought several of his audiences over to fill the theater. Even if an act is bad, I want to be able to hear them.
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Jun 18, 2008 10:26 AM
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LOL Dixiebelle31 - I turned to my husband and said "they do realize this is not the Jerry Springer show, right?"
The opera singer was awesome! Kaitlin was too cute for words - she won't win, but she should get a great voice coach out of the deal. I hope she doesn't become another ill fated child star!
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Jun 18, 2008 10:59 AM
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Ditto Dixibelle. I felt like it was a Jerry Springer show lol.
I missed the first hour (no way am I missing Hell's Kitchen). I was entertained. I liked Derick/Britney the most. I wish Hoff would stop questioning his sexuality and go out with Berick lol.
Piers is my Simon replacement.
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Jun 18, 2008 11:02 AM
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Alex I've got three letters for you. DVR, best thing ever invented...
Also to the TV Guide News team. PLEASE, you were shocked by Neil being good, expecting a letdown, what don't you watch TV. If you watched any NBC show in the last 3 weeks you couldn't have missed the comercials with him belting out the song and Hoff saying he was the front runner.
Yes I know I said that DVR was great and I do fast forward through most commercials, but there were so many of them that you were bound to see at least one
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Jun 18, 2008 11:25 AM
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I found the commmercials last night were horrendous! And I didn't actually see any adds for this show whatso ever. I saw the add on tvguide! :p
I was expecting Neil to bomb as well but wow was he amazing.
I don't like how they changed the show this year, the audience never used to scream and yell (that I can remember) Unless the acts were being x'd and didn't deserve it!
I think Sharon takes pity on those other performers and lets them sing.
The little girl was amazing.
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Jun 18, 2008 12:17 PM
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O.K., Kaitlyn made me cry. So sweet! She reminds me of my own 4 year-old daughter, Katelyn, with long brown hair and hazel eyes who loves to sing. They look so much alike! She was adorable.
The violin players disappointed me a little bit. I like that they are trying to be fresh and original and encourage kids to think that instruments are cool, but I just didn't think that they were all that talented. We didn't see much range. I hope they are more technically talented than we saw, and that they will show us more in the future.
I don't know why I liked the Britney Spears imitator so much. I just did. I really want to see what he looks like without all the makeup. I bet he's actually a very good looking guy. He's definitely got girly teeth though.
I liked Neal, but I'm not sure he has what it takes to win. To me, he didn't seem to be as talented as Paul Potts, the opera singer who won Britain's Got Talent recently. My only beef with tenors is: why do they ALWAYS sing "Nessun Dorma"? It's a well-known, emotional piece, but there are lots of other great tenor arias to sing. I guess we'll see something else next time. Neal seems so sincere, I do hope he does well.
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Jun 18, 2008 12:22 PM
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The opera singer, Boyd, was just ok, but he's no Paul Potts. Check u-tube under that name to see and hear the winner of last year's "Britain's got talent". Now there is an opera tenor.
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Jun 18, 2008 2:38 PM
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I agree with all those who were not happy with the audience noise level - it was ridiculous - you couldn't hear anything!
I would have liked to have seen more than just a small snippet of the Asian quartet - they sounded really good!
The opera singer - amamzing yes - but to be able to sing like that and not have some kind of training - it just doesn't sit right with me...
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Jun 19, 2008 8:36 AM
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You Go Neal Boyd We here in Sikeston Mo wishing you all the best Good Luck!!!!!From The Baker's and the Murphy's from 227 Luther St.
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Jun 19, 2008 1:15 PM
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kelbir23,
Neal Boyd actually does have training. He attended both Southeast Missouri State University and the University of Missouri, I was there with him. He is an amazing singer who definitely has the talent and the training. Don't hold that against him though. Nothing says you can't be a trained singer. Neal actually has the nickname as "the voice of Missouri". He's performed at Carnegie Hall while attending MIZZOU and I believe has performed for 3 presidents. He hasn't had the best of luck career wise for whatever reason. Maybe this is the boost he needs and so rightly deserves.
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Jun 19, 2008 1:44 PM
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It was really dumb of Piers to "X" Extreme Dance because of their costumes. They were really good. I couldn't agree more with everyone about the crazy loud audience, and when they would yell, VEGAS!! VEGAS!!. I was straining to hear some of the performances.
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Jun 19, 2008 1:52 PM
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