In case you missed or want to watch again some of the acts from the America’s Got Talent 2012 Las Vegas Week, find the individual performances below, in addition to an exciting preview of next week’s America’s Got Talent 2012 live quarterfinals!
Battle Born
Battle Born is a hip-hop dance crew from Las Vegas who can dance on practically any part of their bodies. This is their chance to show America what they’re made of.
Burton Crane
After Burton Crane’s first audition in New York, the country had just one question: “Whatcha gonna do?” Now Burton gives them another question to ponder.
Last Tuesday night, as the contestants who made it to Vegas searched their names on either the “favorites” or the “stand-by” list, I couldn’t believe it when William Close wasn’t on the list. If you need a refresher on his act, watch this video:
However, as we all soon found out, the Close and his Earth Harp had impressed the judges so much, he was automatically advanced to New York. I enjoyed this act right off and was looking forward to seeing him in the advanced stages of this season. This wind harp is like nothing I’ve ever seen before, and I’d love to see something this different win the competition.
The “Earth Harp” was invented by Close himself back in 1999. Its strings go up to 1,000 feet in length, which makes it the world’s longest stringed instrument. Since its first debut where it was “mounted on one side of a valley with the strings stretehced nearly 1,000 feet to other side,” hundreds of Earth Harp have been installed across the world by Close and MASS Ensemble, including at the Grand Theater of Shanghai and Seattle’s Space Needle. According to a website about the Earth Harp, an Earth Harp installation is:
. . . Celebrates the architecture and landscape of its surroundings. The environment and architecture are transformed by the strings, forever changing the perception of those lucky enough to see the installation.
The Earth Harp and MASS have performed at numerous festivals and performing arts center, such as The Coliseum in Rome for La Notte Bianca, Miami Sleepless Nights, the Kennedy Center, and a permanent installation at Cirque du Soleil’s show in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand.
It’s pretty incredible how the Earth Harp works. The website explains the process as follows:
The Earth Harp is played using violin resin on cotton gloves and musical bows. The performer’s hands are run along the strings to create beautiful cello like tones. The act of rubbing the strings creates a longitudinal compression wave. This vibration is similar to the vibration patterns that produce tones when you run your finger around the edge of a wine glass.
So now that you have a little bit of background on the Earth Harp, how about something about the man behind the masterpiece?
He attended the Art Institute of Chicago where he studied sculpture and sound design. He has worked to closely explore connections between music and architecture. According to his Facebook page, the quote “architecture is frozen in music” inspires his work. In addition to the Earth Harp, he worked with architects to develop two “Symphonic houses”, where essentially, the houses are musical instruments. He has also created more than 100 new musical instruments throughout his career.
I mentioned the “MASS Ensemble” earlier on, which is an acronym for “music architecture sound and sculpture”, which was founded by Close. Many of the performances with the Earth Harp include the MASS ensemble who “work with Closes unique designs to create music based stage shows that push the envelope of the musical experience.”
Here are a few of Close’s performances, the first at Jerusalem’s Festival of Lights, and the second at the Lucidity Festival 2012 in Santa Barbara:
To learn more about William, his work, and the Earth Harp, visit his website here. I look forward to seeing how America takes to this very unique act.
Katie Clark is a journalism student at Brigham Young University in her senior year. She is originally from Littleton, Colorado, and hopes to move back there after graduation. Reality television is her favorite to watch, and has enjoyed writing about America's Got Talent and A Chance to Dance. She is a stay-at-home-mom who enjoys writing (especially blogs), cooking and sewing (while spending far too much time on Pinterest finding inspiration) and being outside with her husband and son.
In case you missed or want to watch again some of the acts from the America’s Got Talent 2012 Las Vegas auditions, we’ve embedded the final Las Vegas auditions below. Plus, you can see the videos of all the America’s Got Talent 2012 Winners. Which ones were your favorites?
Justin Rivera
Justin Rivera entertains and amuses with his whimsical take on traditional stage illusions.
Frank Roche
Frank humored the judges with his impressions during the St. Louis auditions, and now he’s come to Las Vegas to joke his way into the finals.
In case you missed or want to watch again some of the acts from the America’s Got Talent 2012 Las Vegas auditions, we’ve embedded them below. Over 100 acts went to AGT Las Vegas. Which ones were your favorites?
All Beef Patty
All Beef Patty brings her powerful voice and unique style to the Las Vegas stage.
All That!
All-male clogging group All That! brings their lightning-fast clogging to the AGT stage in Vegas.
There have been several acrobatic/dance routines this season so far. While my favorite still is the graceful couple, Rebecca and Donovan, Lindsey Norton, a 16-year-old from Oldsmar, Florida, took the stage in Tampa. The longer her act went on, the more impressed I became. I am amazed at how flexible a person can be. Here’s her performance, which drew a standing ovation from the audience.
Norton has been dancing since she was two years old, and when asked by Sharon how much she practices, she said between 15 and 20 hours a week. With that much dedication a week, it’s like a part-time job, and her act was very polished. I loved how Sharon described it:
I can see you’re serious about your craft. You put in time and effort. You’re like a little angel, and you’re a great example for 16-year-olds out there. You’re a beautiful, young girl.
Lindsey has performed a lot since she was little and has won a lot of awards. She represented the US in the International Dance Organization’s World Cup in Poland back in 2010. While participating, she won gold medals in both the Jazz and Modern divisions. Here is one of her performances in 2010 with her company, All American Dance Factory.
It will be interesting to see how far she goes. As I’ve been perusing the comment boards, some people feel like she is better fit for the Cirque du Soleil than AGT, but I think she definitely has what it takes to do well. If all else fails, at least she seems like a good girl that others can look up to. It’s refreshing to see a teenage girl who is dedicated to something she loves and works hard at it.
Katie Clark is a journalism student at Brigham Young University in her senior year. She is originally from Littleton, Colorado, and hopes to move back there after graduation. Reality television is her favorite to watch, and has enjoyed writing about America's Got Talent and A Chance to Dance. She is a stay-at-home-mom who enjoys writing (especially blogs), cooking and sewing (while spending far too much time on Pinterest finding inspiration) and being outside with her husband and son.
Since there are three nights in Vegas I will put all the music onto the same post and update it as each day goes by:
VEGAS WEEK: JUDGES FAVORITES
Calvin Harris – Feel So Close
Jessie J – Who You Are
Flo Rida – Good Feeling
JUDGES FAVORITES
Music Sung by Female Vocalists:
Leona Lewis – Footprints In The Sand
Amy Winehouse – Valerie
Johnny Cash – Folsom Prison Blues
Martina Mcbride – Do It Anyway
Jewel – You Were Meant For Me
Sheryl Crow – If It Makes You Happy
Rolling Stones – You Can’t Always Get What You Want
Music used by Dance Groups:
Missy Elliott – Get Ur Freak On
Avant – Graduated
Mims – Move If You Wanna
Far East Movement – So What?
Music used in Novelty:
Carrie Underwood – Before He Cheats
Michael Buble – Feeling Good
Pilot – Oh Ho Ho It’s Magic or Selena Gomez – Magic
Music Sung by Classical Vocalists:
Il Volo – O Sole Mio
Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Rigoletto – La donna e mobile (here is the “Three Tenors” versions )
Rachmaninoff Op. 21 No. 7 – Zdes Khorosho (How fair is this spot)
Music sung by the Vocal Groups
Louis Armstrong – What A Wonderful World
Ray Charles – Let The Good Times Roll
The Ronettes – Be My Baby
Music used by Youth Acts
The Jackson 5 – Blame It On The Boogie
Gloria Estefan – Turn The Beat Around
David Guetta – Without You
Music sung by Male Vocalists
Johnny Rivers – Secret Agent
Tom Petty – Free Falling
Goo Goo Dolls – Iris
George Strait – The Chair
Paul McCartney – Maybe I’m Amazed
Music played during Eliminations
Ludwig van Beethoven – Moonlight Sonata
Jordin Sparks – No Parade
Coldplay – Fix You
VEGAS WEEK: STANDBYS
Music sung by the Vocal Groups
Young The Giant – Cough Syrup
Christina Aguilera – Fighter
Frank Sinatra – New York, New York
Carl Perkins – Blue Suede Shoes or the Elvis Presley version
Bob Dylan – Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right or the Elvis Presley version
Music used by the Youth Acts
James Brown – Get up offa that thing
Adele – Turning Tables
Music used by the Aerialists/Acrobatics Acts
Lady GaGa – Marry The Night
Music used in the Dance Groups
The Isley Brothers – Who’s That Lady
The Turtles – Happy Together
Martha & the Vandellas – Dancing in the Streets
Music used in the Novelty Acts
Elvis Presley – Rubberneckin
Lady GaGa – Bad Romance
Scott Joplin – The Entertainer
Frank Sinatra – New York, New York
Music used by the Dancers
Chris Brown – Yeah 3X
Chris Brown – I Can Transform Ya
Lil Wayne – I Am Not A Human Being
Music played during Eliminations
Leona Lewis – Alive
Coldplay – Fix You
Christina Aguilera – Lift Me Up
R. Kelly – I Believe I Can Fly
This week there are three days of America’s Got Talent at 8:00pm on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
At the top of Vegas Week the judges have separated the acts into two primary groups:
– Judges Favorites: are the acts that the judges believe have the best chance to succeed on the live shows
– Standbys: are the acts the judges are unsure about and will see them if there are slots available after the Judges Favorites have gone through
Anyone whose name is not found under the two groups mentioned above they would not perform in Vegas and would be going straight home that day. The catch is with that though is that some acts that do not have a chance to prove their worth at all while there will be some others that were given a free pass to the Live Shows in New York. The acts that we will definitely see in the Live Shows include:
– William Close: Earth Harp
– Olate Dogs: Dog Act
– David “the Bullet” Smith: Human Cannonball
While the Judges Favorites are performing the Standbys are required to sit in the audience and watch what happens. What I found to be interesting is that people are crumbling left and right. I am not used to seeing that for America’s Got Talent, but a major part of that could be how the show is being edited to evoke maximum drama within a one-hour show.
On Wednesday / Thursday I will post who made the Top 48 Acts (well now 45 since 3 acts got a free pass to New York) that are moving on to the Live Shows in New York, I will also attempt to breakdown who came from which group / category so we can see how they all panned out. Read more..
In case you missed or want to watch again some of the acts from the final show before America’s Got Talent 2012 goes to Las Vegas, we’ve embedded them below. Which ones were your favorites on last night’s show?
Trish
Trish came to the auditions to show off her rapping skills, but she really just wants to meet her celebrity crush, Howard Stern.
Jacob Williams
Jacob Williams, a stand-up comedian from Chicago, humors the crowd with his timid delivery and brilliantly crafted jokes.
While the auditions in Tampa didn’t impress me too much, the final act of the night definitely made the episode worth watching. Mary Joyner, daughter of Olympic winners Al Joyner and the late Florence Griffith-Joyner, better known as Flo Jo. Her audition began with Howard asking if she was going to be doing track and field (jokingly, of course). That was definitely not her act. But what she did do was grace the stage with her beautiful voice.v Here is the act that ended the AGT auditions:
I tweeted that even with the first few seconds of the act, she was already a contender for the finals. The judges seemed to agree, with Howard saying he got goose bumps, and the others praising her. It was immediately obvious that she was a crowd favorite as well.
Joyner was eight years old when her mother passed away. According to an article written in the NY Times back in 1999, she wanted to quit gymnastics and become a track and field star like her mom. Her father said that she could clear the 33″ hurdles that grown women had to clear. He also talked about his relationship with Joyner and the joy she brought her during that dark time:
Mary is dealing with things. She keeps my spirits up. That comes from Florence, who laid down a foundation. Mary’s gotten her strong personality and beliefs from her mother. Aside from jumping, I run a bit. I’m not too faithful with it, but Mary says, ‘Daddy, Mommy wants you to run.’ So I run.
Beyond running, Joyner obviously discovered her beautiful talent for singing. Her mother, Flo Jo, before she was even pregnant with Mary, had stated her daughter would be a singer:
There was just one problem with all of it: Florence wasn’t pregnant. She’d simply assure Al that she’d soon be having a baby girl, and that this girl would be an extraordinary singer, the one talent Florence wished she’d had.
Joyner sang from the time she was little, where she could sing the Olympic theme song before much anything else. She sang at her mother’s funeral, and at one time stated that music was her therapy and way to connect with her mom. In addition, she plays the piano and violin and majoring in music in college.
She has released a good amount of music before AGT and has been well-received. Hopefully AGT will be just the thing to get her career even more successful and eventually have people connecting not just track and field with the last name Joyner, but music as well.
Here is one of her popular songs, To Have Only You:
Katie Clark is a journalism student at Brigham Young University in her senior year. She is originally from Littleton, Colorado, and hopes to move back there after graduation. Reality television is her favorite to watch, and has enjoyed writing about America's Got Talent and A Chance to Dance. She is a stay-at-home-mom who enjoys writing (especially blogs), cooking and sewing (while spending far too much time on Pinterest finding inspiration) and being outside with her husband and son.
