PureAGT Season 8 Live Show #1 – Power Rankings
Things I learned from last night’s first live show of the season:
1.) I am sick of hearing “Beneath Your Beautiful” & “I Love It”.
2.) The judges may be regretting putting some of the acts through to the live shows.
3.) There’s a lot of technical kinks with Radio City Music Hall that still need to be worked out.
Overall, I was left a bit disappointed – with as strong of a group of acts that comprised last night’s show, I had high hopes…but only a few acts actually delivered, and almost everyone seemed to suffer from nerves. Guess I can only hope that tonight was just first night jitters – that next week’s live show will come off quite a bit smoother and with fewer gaffes.
So now I’m going to rank the acts we saw last night, from the act that I think is most likely to get through to the act that I think is least likely to get through. Since four acts are advancing, it’s safe to assume that the four at the top of my list are the ones I see making it through – the 5th place spot is the act that I think will lose the judge’s choice.
1.) Collins Key – I had a feeling this kid would knock his act out of the park once more, and he sure did. Loved how he made his act very current and relevant by incorporating Twitter into it – he seemed a bit nervous at times, but overall I liked his delivery and think he appeals to a wide demographic, both young and old. My only concern is that we’ve basically seen the same act from him 3 times in a row now, just tweaked slightly to change things up. I’m hoping he’s got something new up his sleeve for the next round – because at this rate, I think he’s got a decent chance of winning this whole thing.
2.) Branden James – I knew when they had him going last that he was likely going to benefit from some degree of “pimping” from the judges. And when he started belting out “You Raise Me Up”, I knew he had probably just secured himself one of the spots in the next round. I guess I’m just left a little confused as to why Branden is getting such lavish praise – I thought his performance was ok, but nothing exceptionally special; I didn’t think his first audition was anything terribly special, either. I think we have much stronger male opera singers this season – and I think any of the 3 guys in Forte could put him to shame, vocally. Personally, I thought “You Raise Me Up” was a bit of a cop-out song – it’s one of those schmaltzy songs that seems to tug at heartstrings and illicit an emotional response from the audience, even if it’s not sung particularly well. I thought he could have picked something a little more daring to highlight his vocal skills. I think he’s got one of the spots in the next round, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t hope someone edged him out of it – for me, he was just ok last night.
3.) Kristef Brothers – The unexpected delight of the night for me 🙂 Thought the comedic pas-de-deux theme of their act was genius – I do think they’re really hit paydirt with their “comedic acrobatics” strategy, as these two were one of the acts I really remembered fondly from last night’s show. These guys are legitimately talented in what they do – and they’ve got the added benefit of having a great sense of humor about it and not taking themselves too seriously. I think it’s this combination of skills that could help them edge out a stronger acrobatics act – I think Duo Resonance is technically the strongest acro act this season, but they seem to lack stage presence and personality; I think Kristef, though less technically skilled, could actually edge them out on personality alone.
4.) The American Hit Men – Seems like all of the musical acts last night seemed to suffer from picking the wrong song, and I think the Hit Men did struggle to a degree with “With a Little Help from My Friends”. While I overall liked their performance and think they should go on, I think they probably would have had a stronger showing with a more uptempo song – maybe “American Woman”? I still think they’re popular enough and entertaining enough to advance, but I think they really need to start focusing on the right songs – so far, they have yet to perform anything that had as strong an impact as “Simple Man” from their inital audition.
5.) Anna Christine – Poor Anna – not only did she suffer from picking the wrong song, but she seemed to suffer from nerves more than any other act and seemed to have some technical difficulties as well. I’m not sure what it is with Anna and The Animals, but the downtempo version of “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood'” that she did just never really got off the ground – it was so subdued and quiet, perhaps because she herself admitted that she “couldn’t hear the track very well”. As much as I do think she deserves to advance, I think she may have done herself in with that song – if she does come back, she needs to pick something that’s more uptempo and can really show off her vocals.
6.) Alexanderia the Great – Her act was impressive – but I don’t know that they really built it up enough so that it really left me on the edge of my seat. Alex actually has a rather unique problem as an escape artist: she almost makes it look too easy, so that you don’t really pick up on the difficulty of what she’s doing. Part of the appeal of escape artists like Spencer Horseman last season was that they really drew out the escape – he was always completing the escape just barely in the nick of time, and he really let the suspense build. Alex does it so quicky & easily that you don’t really have time to get hyped up about it. If Alex does somehow make it through tonight, I think in the next round she’ll really need to work on building the suspense of her act – holding her breath longer, taking more time to escape, maybe adding a clock or another element of danger to really amp things up.
7.) Special Head – I think the execution of this trick was so poorly carried out that even poor Nick wasn’t quite sure what to do! As I was discussing with my two right-hand men (Will & jimmbboe) last night, Special Head has sort of hit a plateau for me: we’ve basically seen the same trick from him 3 times now, just dressed up with different props so it looks like a new trick. And tonight, the trick was so clumsily executed that it wasn’t even impressive – we caught a glimpse of Special Head’s…well, head, after he had supposedly disappeared, and then a confused Nick was wandering out onstage, unsure of whether the trick was actually over or not. Cut to a video feed of Special Head out on the balcony at RCMH (which looked pre-taped to me), and everything just felt sloppy & haphazard. However, I did see “Special Head” trending for quite sometime on Twitter – no way to really be sure if that will translate to votes or not, but it did seem like people were talking about him. I don’t think he deserves to move on to the next round, but that doesn’t mean he won’t…
8.) Fresh Faces – I feel bad putting these cuties so low, but I feel like their act just may have gotten lost in the shuffle last night. I think the major problem with what they did was that it just felt messy and chaotic – rather than the organized, in-synch group we saw in the audition rounds, we basically got some semblence of a bunch of little girls running around giggling at a slumber party, which I think detracted from some of the really skilled tumbling and stretching moves they were doing. That dumb “I Love It” song didn’t seem to help matters, either. Very cute, very talented girls – but I think they suffered from the wrong kind of presentation in their act last night.
9.) Hype – The strangest thing about these guys? They actually seem better with less preparation than with more!!! They only had about 12 hours to come up with their routine for their audition, and it was fantastic; they have beaucoup time to come up with their Vegas and Radio City routines, and both fall flat. I just don’t get it – I really had high hopes for these guys, and while their two most recent routines have been marginally entertaining, they seem to lack the same inspiration that we saw in their initial audition. I think they may have blown their chances last night, and may not even have a hope and a prayer of getting asked back for the wild card. Ack.
10.) Aaralyn & Izzy – What can I say that I haven’t already said since the audition round? I don’t find them talented, entertaining, or particularly special…but at least now the judges are seeing it, too. “Stepping in dog poop”? That song maybe had 15 words, repeated 2-3 times…usually inaudibly. The only thing that I found semi-amusing about the whole act was Aaralyn’s semi-split at the end. For the individuals who think this act is artistic and wildly talented…I’d love to know what real metal artists think of Aaralyn & Izzy. I’d say we get Ozzy’s take on them, but I’m sure Sharon’s got him on a gag order since she left AGT.
11.) Tellavision – Another act that I’m glad the judges are finally realizing ain’t that great – I thought there was very little dancing in this number, they relied too heavily on the LCD screens, and the whole thing was just really cheesy and, as Howard put it, “artsy-fartsy”. I feel like we’ve got far stronger dance acts than this one this season, and the LCD screens are really more of a distraction than anything else.
12.) Kevin Downey Jr. – I just think Kevin got lost in the shuffle – his jokes were only slightly funny, and in the end, none of them were particularly memorable. I don’t think he was bad, per se – I just don’t think he was anything special.
So what did you guys think of last night’s acts? And who do you hope to see advancing to the next round?
Great rankings Courtney!
I gotta say I think I pretty much agree on all fronts. Collins nailed his act again like I hoped he would and he should have no problem getting through.
Branden?? Eh, I thought he did pretty well, but not great. I guess I’m just left with mixed feelings mainly due to the pimping. He’s good, but I feel that I would rather have Anna or Alex make it instead. But thanks to the song he picked and a bit of pimping that he got, I think he’s pretty much gonna be there too. He’s talented, but I think when they show him next to Forte…people would notice how much he pales in comparison.
Kristef Bros were a pleasant surprise for me as well. This routine at first had me going WTF?? But as it continued, I started to chuckle and thoroughly enjoy it in an odd way 😛 They are indeed very talented and have a great sense of humor. I can definitely say they’ve grown on me since I saw their first audition, and I might even end up preferring them over Duo Resonance thanks to their ability to entertain.
American Hit Men, Anna Christine, and Alex are the three I’m worried about and just am not sure how things will shake up. Part of me does agree with Courtney that Alex probably won’t make it, due to how easy it looked and the lack of intensity that we saw the first time. As much as I would LOVE to see Anna make it and as much as I think she deserves to make it…I’m scared that song might have squished her chances 🙁 I voted for her because I put trust in that Collins would be fine (though I did make my gf vote for him just in case :P), I just hope by some miracle she makes it. I really like the American Hit Men, and if Anna doesn’t make it, I want them too. I also felt like their song was way too tame. If you pick a slower song for a rock band, they need to sing it with a LOT of emotion and soul or it can just really fall flat.
Everyone else just suffered from nerves and other things. Tellavision, Special Head,Aaralyn & Izzy, and Kevin in particular were pretty supbar for me. Fresh Faces were cute, but just couldn’t pull it off. Hype was better than they were in Vegas. But that will not be enough.
Overall, I would say Collins & Branden are probably sure things. Kristef Bros are looking really likely. I’m thinking Anna Christine or American Hit Men are going to be the last spot. Alex might make it but I don’t know. The rest I don’t even think have a chance I’m afraid.
Favorite act of Night one Live Show Season eight- Kristef Brothers. Anna Christine suffered from wrong song choice and nerves-I think she still has a chance at getting voted through. I liked Collins key -I think he will be voted through. Branden James did me move me a little bit last night-something he had failed to do in his audition and Vegas. I still think that 3 penny Chorus and Orchestra and Forte are best classical singers in season 8 AGT. I think Kristef Brothers,Collins and Branden are looking likely with Anna or American Hitmen taking fourth spot.
The laser lights were distracting and I the sound needs to be improved-hopefully the technical glitches will be fixed in upcoming shows.
My favorite act last night was the Kristef Bros. I just thoroughly enjoy their humor. I’m really hoping the go through, I’m thinking they will.
I like American Hitmen’s performance, though I do hope if they go through, they pick a harder song. Nothing wrong with soft rock, but I feel they do better with hard rock.
Ok I too am in agreement with your choice of top 4 acts – again I feel kids are not ready for this type of exposure and acts need to be representative of what we are prepared to watch for an hour or hour and half – Alexandria is a one to two minute act and ok as a warmup act for someone – Fresh Faces while good are not excellent – there are probably just as good and much better acts all over the world – I loved the Kristef Brothers they bring a fresh new twist of humour on circus type acts but again would I be willing to watch their show for hour plus? Collins and Branden are definitely worth paying money to watch and shows could be built around them.
I liked Collins – I’ve no clue how he does what he does, and even if it is the same trick, it has the “feel” of being different. I am glad he made it through.
Glad that Anna Christine made it through, brothers as well.
Regarding Branden – I also don’t understand the hype. He is an OK tenor, but nothing special. I did like You raise me up a lot better than his Nessun Dorma. Also, what do judges mean when they said how he ‘sounds like a professional”? He has a voice degree, he’s earning his living as a singer with concerts and a full time paying job with benefits in Chicago Lyric Opera chorus. Sure, he didn’t get solo roles, but this still doesn’t make him amateur. All chorus members in major opera theaters are professionals. I think education and training is great, but why misrepresent him? Why not just say openly that he is a trained opera singer who didn’t get far in opera and wants to do crossover?
About Fresh Faces… “That dumb “I Love It” song didn’t seem to help matters, either.”
I felt that song was worse than dumb… but totally inappropriate to be playing behind a young girls dancing routine. The original lyrics have four letter words sh*t and b*tch, not to mention singing about crashing cars into a bridge???? This is the lyrics while 7-8 year olds are dancing on stage??? Turned their act into something on the verge of kiddie p*rn.
Their dancing was actually really good, but there was no meaning to their performance… That song turned their act into something chaotic and awful. How could their parents allow their young girls to perform with that song??? I’m actually worried about those innocent girls well being and being manipulated.
“I am sick of hearing ‘Beneath Your Beautiful’ & ‘I Love It’.”
btw… You’re Beautiful as in you are… I’m sick of both songs myself. And I Love It should crash into a bridge, fall into the river and drown… srsly.