Welcome to Pure America’s Got Talent

I’m sure that there are a lot of magicians that are preparing to audition for America’s Got Talent 2010. The show has had some decent tricks over the year. For some reason the magicians always seem to do their best trick first and then in one of the other rounds they just don’t do as good of a trick and get sent home.

Regardless, if you’re a magician interested in auditioning for America’s Got Talent, then you have to watch this illusion. It’s by far the best illusion, magic trick, whatever you want to call it that’s ever graced the America’s Got Talent stage. Check it out:

That’s a pretty high bar for magicians auditioning on America’s Got Talent 2010. I hope we get to see this high of a quality of magic again.

It’s always interesting to see what happens with past contestants from America’s Got Talent. So, you can imagine my surprise when America’s Got Talent Alumnus Holly Hardin appeared on American Idol 2010. However, she not only was on the show, but was dressed as a guitar. Seriously. This isn’t a joke. I haven’t found a good quality video of her time on American Idol, but here’s a small portion of Holly Hardin dressed as a guitar on American Idol 2010:

In case, those of you don’t remember Holly Hardin from America’s Got Talent 2008, check out this video of Holly:

She was so much cuter on America’s Got Talent. However, her answers make her look like such a ditz. Which I guess is probably not too far from what she is. I think American Idol tried to make her look as bad as possible so that in future episodes she’ll look better. Either way, she’ll be super entertaining on American Idol. Simon is going to destroy her.

I got word about a really cool group that went to the America’s Got Talent auditions. Her name is Ilze Luneau and her Basketball Family. Ilze does some really neat stuff with basketballs. Check out this video to see what I mean:

Yes, she’s dribbling 6 basketballs at the same time. That’s pretty amazing. However, I think the spinning stuff is just as if not even more amazing. Go grab a basketball and try to spin it and you’ll see how much talent it takes. I think most people have tried and you know that it’s not easy to spin it for such a long time. However, she’s doing 3 basketballs. I will say that her outfit is an incredible mistake. It’s just wrong for such a pretty girl to wear whatever she’s wearing.

Here’s another video of Ilze Luneau:

It’s talent like this that makes America’s Got Talent really really interesting. I’m very happy to see that Ilze auditioned and I can’t wait to see her on America’s Got Talent.

Tonight was by far the best night of the America’s Got Talent top 40. Piers was dead on when he said that it was likely the best episode ever in the America’s Got Talent top 40. The sad part for me is that I bet that the producers planned it this way. I hate that since a bunch of great acts aren’t going to make it through and a few mediocre acts made it through on previous episodes of America’s Got Talent.

That said, here’s some of my thoughts about the episode and the videos from the America’s Got Talent quarterfinals for season 4.

Jay Mattioli

Jay did a nice performance. It was basic tricks. I give him credit for fighting back when Piers and the judges said it was basic. The kid has the passion and a lot of people were pissed when he didn’t make it to the top 40, so I give him a long shot to go on.

FootworKINGz

Nice act. The smoke got in the way at the beginning and kind of tainted the act a little. For me the biggest problem is that more than what they did on this show would be pretty boring. I wouldn’t want to go and watch an entire show of this.

Marcus Terrell and the Serenades

Not going anywhere. The backup singers weren’t really much better than his previous ladies.

Dave Johnson

He could never live up to the Hoff song. However, it was nice to see him try.

Bri

Was anyone else bugged by the way her leg was split out. I think she was trying to face the cameras/judges, but it felt awkward. I’m not sure it’s the best song for her, but she has some talent. She just needs the right songs to make her special.

U4RIA Dance Crew

Great great performance. I’m just afraid it’s probably too out there to put them through to the next round. Too bad since it was awesome. Maybe on a different night.

Hairo Torres

Very cool tricks. It’s just too bad he’s a one trick pony. I hope he turns up on So You Think You Can Dance or America’s Best Dance Crew or something.

Mario and Jenny

Great act. Kind of slowed down and had a weak ending. Sadly, it’s such a great night I think they may be left out.

G-force

This wasn’t the best performance. The vocals were bad, but I do think the comparison to Jonas brothers is great. Plus, the 8 year old drummer I just absolutely adore. Too bad they’re on a great night since I’d like to see them again.

Jeffrey Ou

The opening was too long and the dancers weren’t needed. The rest we can’t judge. He deserves another chance for that.

Lawrence Beaman

He’s got talent, but not the way the judges and even Nick gushed over him.

Pixie Mystere

I disagree with the judges. I say more contortion and less dancing. I was glad to finally see a full act from the Pixies

Tonight is the reason that I love America’s Got Talent. A wide variety of great talent. I just wish that the entire America’s Got Talent top 40 had been this good. Then, this season would be soooo much better.

Time to take a look at the America’s Got Talent 2009 top 40 second elimination episode. I’ll post the video for each elimination and then put a few comments about the elimination. Considering last night was a really weird awkward and down night, tonight’s elimination was about the same.

I was scared about this one because so many people had lamented the Beale Street Flippers not making it to the top 40, but luckily America got this one totally right. I was so happy for the five mormon women in the Fab Five!!

I think this elimination could have gone either way, but the Texas Tenors made one great decision: They chose the right front man for the group. Voting on reality TV shows is dominated by women and he won over a lot of women’s hearts I’m sure. I think I would have taken Pete, but I didn’t really care for either act, so whatever.

I actually kind of hoped that Voices of Glory would get sent home. Yes, I’m sure I’ll get beaten with a wet noodle, but I think they’re way overrated. Sharon was right that the little girl needs to just take it over. Eleisha Miller just made me laugh so I wanted her to stay for more.

Paradizo was basically called the best of the worst in this group. I’m just still reeling that Alizma totally screwed themselves. I’m disappointed with them. I can’t believe there such idiots. Paradizo doesn’t have a real place in Las Vegas. However, they were fun to watch and so I’m happy they made it.

Of course, this is the controversy of the night. I’d be so upset if I was Charles DeWayne Dorsey. Sharon and Hoff just showed their true colors. They haven’t added any value to the show all season and now they’ve made the stupidest decision ever on America’s Got Talent. Piers is so dead on that they made a bad decision and “the biggest scandal in the history of America’s Got Talent.” However, I think that’s exactly why Sharon did what she did.

Oh well, glad to have this week out of the way. The Fab Five were the only memorable group from this week. Otherwise, they can all go home for all I care.

I’ll admit that this week I was a little preoccupied with the finale of So You Think You Can Dance. So, because of that I wasn’t able to watch the results from the first week of AGT quarterfinals until tonight. Sure, I’d actually seen the results online and I’d even posted the videos for Terry Fator and Mariah Carey, but tonight I was actually able to catch the whole episode and experience the drama of how they sent people home.

First off, I should say that I really enjoyed Terry Fator. His jokes were good and the singing was awesome. The judges reactions to his jokes were a little off, but the guy is a great talent. Mariah Carey did a stand up performance. No real complaints there. Although, I have to admit that Nick Cannon’s oogling over Mariah was even better. That was a lot of fun.
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Those who are competing on America’s Got Talent need only to look to Terry Fator if they need some motivation to do well on America’s Got Talent. Yeah, Terry Fator’s $100 million contract with Mirage is pretty inspiring. Although, I’ve been to Terry Fator’s show in Las Vegas and it was awesome. In fact, I was on a flight home to Las Vegas a few weeks ago and the first show I recommended to the people sitting next to me was Terry Fator.

Check out the video of Terry Fator back on America’s Got Talent:

Check out the following video where Nick Cannon and the Judges (Piers, Hoff and Sharon) discuss how it feels to finally have the America’s Got Talent top 40.

Ok, so I think I’ve used the term lackluster a few too many times with America’s Got Talent this year. What can I say, it’s just been good but not great. I’m not sure if they’re just not showing enough quality acts or if it’s that enough quality acts haven’t been showing up. I just haven’t been impressed.

That said, this episode had no one who will win America’s Got Talent this year, but it was a decent show with more entertaining talent than any of the other previous shows.

Grandma Lee might just have been the highlight for me. Although, I must admit that she was funnier during the judges comments than she was doing her set. However, she did have some pretty funny jokes in it. The Krispy Kreme joke was funny. Check out the video of Grandma Lee to see what I mean:

I know that America’s Got Talent wants us to like Barbara Padilla, but she was another walking cliche. Cancer Survivor, lost voice, couldn’t sing again, family etc etc etc. She was an OK singer, but I must admit that I wasn’t really impressed. She has the instrument to be good, but she wasn’t that polished. I was just all around unimpressed with her performance. Piers didn’t stand for it and so he wasn’t impressed either. His comments show that he was just being a pawn to let her tell her story. He’ll be kicking her to the curb in Las Vegas. Maybe some of you will disagree, but I didn’t think she was very good at all:

The fact that these were the only 2 America’s Got Talent videos on the NBC site says a lot about this episode of America’s Got Talent. No one else is really worth mentioning for more than a half a breathe.

AcroDunk – I wasn’t as impressed as the judges. Definitely is an awesome half time show or something like that. I just don’t see it being an entire show in Las Vegas.

Timez 2 – Did this remind you of Flava Flav or was it just me?

Anna Pipoyan – Belly dancers always get Piers and Morgan. At least attractive ones.

Eclipse – I had just told my wife that they’d never had a decent rapper on America’s Got Talent and so I was glad to see that Eclipse was actually quite decent.

Eleisha Miller – Wonderful personality. I’m just not sure if personality counts as a talent in this contest.

Here’s to another week of America’s Got Talent. I don’t know why, but I’m already ready to get to the Las Vegas show where the real talent starts to show itself.

Time for a quick run down of the best performances on tonight’s episode of America’s Got Talent.

First up is TJ and The Little Mamas. I usually hate little kid performances, but this one actually worked ok for me. I think they’ll end up getting cut in Las Vegas, but it was a nice little addition to the show. The little girl who was kind of the spokesperson is just cute as all get out.

Bri, from Las Vegas was probably the highlight of the night for me. Her outfit was a hot mess. She had too much makeup and her hair needed to be done, but those are all things that will be fixed by the America’s Got Talent crew. I usually hate anything that has Jonas Brothers in it, but I’m pretty sure the song she sang was nothing like how the Jonas brothers would have done it. 17 year olds like her make me sick though. Really nice talent. I hope she does well (not to mention representing Las Vegas where I live).

Mario and Jenny, or should I say Sexy and Dangerous, weren’t too bad. They definitely deserved to go through. They had a nice performance and the pacing was perfect for what is essentially a juggling act. I remember in high school some crazy guy came with a table of items like chain saws, bowling balls, etc and would juggle various things upon request. It was even better live than it was on TV. It will be interesting to see what he brings next.

Lawrence Beaman did a decent performance. I love people like him that you are sure have never been given a real chance to do what he’s doing. He’s grateful that he’s there kind of like Neal E. Boyd. As emotional as well. I think it was a poor song choice to win America’s Got Talent. There’s a country singer with a really deep voice like Lawrence. I hope the show gets him to sing that country song (sorry, the song escapes me right now).