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PureAGT Season 8 Audition Round Rundown #6 – L.A./New Orleans/New York Auditionss

Well, if nothing else, tonight saw the greatest amount of dissent amongst the judges as we’ve seen all season – seems like we had a lot of 3-against-1 situations when it came down to the vote, and Howie was often the lone dissenter.  He also showed up late to the L.A. auditions, and spent an awful lot of time wandering around the venue, pretending to be lost.  He’s special 🙂

Gonna go ahead and do the L.A. auditions tonight; look for the New Orleans and New York ones tomorrow.

Los Angeles:

Olivia Rox – age 14
The actSang and played an acoustic cover of Justin Bieber’s “As Long as You Love Me”.
The verdictAll three judges (minus Howie, who was still MIA at that point) said yes, but Mel cautioned her to be careful not to get too crazy when covering a song.
Court’s thoughts: Wow…she had the coolest-sounding, gravelly voice.  It’s what I might have imagined Florence Welch from Florence + The Machine might have sounded like as a teenager.  Loved the fact that she took a pretty lame song and turned it into a cool, edgy one.  But I do agree with Mel a bit – she did seem to really vacillate a lot between barely whispering the song and then belting it out full force.  Maybe tone it down just a bit.  I get the feeling we’re going to see her pitted against Anna Christine for a spot in the live shows.

Ronald Farnham – age 44
The actHe threw toilet plungers at a line of men with no shirts off, hoping to make them stick.
The verdictOnly one plunger actually stuck to its intended target, and Howard, Heidi, & Mel all said no…but they did remark that, had Howie been there, he probably would have said yes.
Court’s thoughts: I think this was nothing more than a case of “Hmmm, I want to be on tv.  What’s the quickest and easiest way to accomplish that goal? I KNOW! I just need to come up with some stupid act for AGT.” It’s acts like these that leave me a bit chagrined to the fact that AGT’s format is a bit of a double-edged sword: it leaves the door open for cool, unique acts to get some exposure, but it also tends to inadvertently invite bozos like this guy to come and just waste time and say they’ve been on national television.

Harry Kurtz – age 62
The actHe was rapping…about something.  Lord knows what.
The verdict: 3 no’s.
Court’s thoughts: Just another time-killer.

Mr. Television
The act: A guy telling corny puns behind a tv screen.
The verdictNo X 3.
Court’s thoughts: Was tonight the night of the bad pun? They seemed to be everywhere I turned.  Ack.

Tummy Talk – ages 26-31
The actThree guys rhythmically slapping a shirtless sumo wrestler as if he were a drum.
The verdictHoward wasn’t feeling it and said no, but the other 3 said yes.
Court’s thoughts: As ridiculous as this act sounds on paper, I actually found it pretty entertaining.  I get the feeling the guys doing the slapping probably have some sort of drumming experience, because they were actually creating some pretty complex patterns and rhythms – it sounded cool, even if it was the sound of hands slapping against jiggly flesh.  😛 I guess I just kind of feel sorry for the guy being slapped, although he didn’t look too much worse for the wear after it was all over.  A little red, maybe, but not upset.  I doubt these guys will make it to the live shows, but I don’t mid watching them one more time in Vegas.

Fresh Faces
The act5 adolescent girls doing a dance/gymnastics routine to “Die Young” by Ke$ha.
The verdictJudges loved it and said yes to Vegas.
Court’s thoughts: I was actually really impressed with how in sync these girls were – add to that the fact that they were doing some pretty tough shows of flexibility, and I wouldn’t mind seeing them perform again in Vegas.  Very cute girls, very cute act, very AGT-friendly.

Jim Meskimen
The actHe’s an impressionist that imitated Robert DeNiro, Robin Williams, and Ricky Gervais.
The verdictJudges praised how spot-on the impressions were and said yes to Vegas.
Court’s thoughts: I think Angela Hoover just met her biggest competition this season – and unfortunately for her, I think this guy is better.  I think what put him ahead for me was that he really seemed to embrace the mannerisms of the celebs he was imitating – he was pulling faces like DeNiro and flailing around like Robin Williams.  Angela’s good, but I think this guy is GREAT.  I could totally see him in the live shows.

“Sword-Swallowing Breakdancer”Alex Magala
The act: A guy swallowed a sword, then proceeded to breakdance while it was still down his throat.
The verdictJudges loved the danger factor – he’s through to Vegas.
Court’s thoughts: It was a bit odd for me – I don’t know that the sword swallowing part was significantly improved by the dancing, and vice-versa.  It just seemed like a “I’m gonna swallow a sword before I dance just so I can say I was thinking out of the box and being creative”.  That said, this guy actually seemed like a pretty good dancer – except that he was maybe moving a bit too cautiously due to the sword in his throat.  Not sure if I really think this one is live show-worthy…

“Aerial/Skating act”Aerial Ice
The actTwo couples performing pairs figure skating lifts & tricks, while a third couple did aerial work suspended above the “ice rink”.
The verdictJudges were blown away, especially by the fact that AGT has never had an ice skating act before.  They’re through to Vegas.
Court’s thoughts: My favorite audition of the night – this really was a genius act.  Sure, we’ve had aerialists and acrobats and couples doing lifts – but none of them were doing it while wearing skates.  Loved the combination of artistry and technique, and I really want them to make it to the live shows.

SenSetion
The actThey’re another “lights out” dance act that incorporates dancing with images projected onto blocks.
The verdictHeidi said it made her bored and said no.  Howard wanted more dance, but along with Mel & Howie, ended up saying yes to put them through to Vegas.
Court’s thoughts: *sigh* Ok, the whole “let’s dance in the dark with lasers!” act is getting a bit tired for me.  It was cool when Fighting Gravity did it in season 5; it was still kind of neat when Team iLuminate did it in season 6; it was getting a little old when Lightwire Theater did it last season; and now? I’m not sure America really wants another dance/optics act.  It was cool and fun to watch, no doubt – but I do agree with Howard that there could have been more dancing, and that they really need to work on their act a bit more.  They have a good idea; they just need to really flesh it out more.  Unless they blow the judges out of the water in Vegas, I don’t see them moving onto the live rounds.

New Orleans:

Yasha & Daniela – ages 9 & 8
The act: They’re ballroom dancing kids that performed a samba/jive medley to “Shake Senora” by Pitbull and “Proud Mary” by Tina Turner.
The verdict: Judges thought they were adorable and put them through to Vegas.
Court’s thoughts: Ok, here’s another opinion of mine that probably won’t be popular: I actually thought these two were kind of sloppy compared to D’Angelo & Amanda and Jonas & Ruby. Very cute, and good stage presence, but I don’t think their skill level is up to snuff with what the Castros are doing this season. And I still think that only one ballroom act is going to make it through to the live shows this season – and my money’s on D’Angelo & Amanda.

Aerosphere
The act:A girl in an aerial balloon floated over the audience, do all sorts of twists & turns.
The verdict: Judges praised her uniqueness and said yes to Vegas.
Court’s thoughts: We only got to see a brief clip, so I’m not sure if she did more than what was shown, but it just seemed to me like she’s another aerialist…just doing the same stuff while hanging from a balloon. It was cool, but I don’t know that the balloon made it particularly special.

Jimmy Rose – age 32, from Pikeville, KY
The act: Jimmy played the guitar and sang an original song called “Coal Keeps the Lights On”.
The verdict: Judges were amazed at his talent and said yes to Vegas.
Court’s thoughts: What a beautiful, vulnerable performance. This year is quickly becoming the year of the original song, and I thought this one was fantastic – loved how he incorporated his coal mining background into his music. I also loved his voice – it was a little shaky at times, but it’s the kind of country vocal that is sought after by so many and I feel like this guy is a natural. At this point, I’d actually pick Jimmy over Marty Brown for the live shows – I feel like Jimmy’s a bit more organic and has more of a natural talent.

Abel Marillo – age 50
The act: Yet another “homemade instrument” act.
The verdict: No’s across the board.
Court’s thoughts: Not only am I kind of over the whole “hey, let’s make instruments out of household items!” act, but it seemed like half this guy’s instruments didn’t even really work.

Captain Explosion – age 65
The act: He exploded a box…while he was inside of it.
The verdict: Judges were split – Howie & Mel said yes, Howard & Heidi said no. No Vegas for him.
Court’s thoughts: Was it kind of cool that he managed to survive an explosion? Sure. But I’m not really sure that there was any way this could have been parlayed into an entire Vegas show – what would he do? Just sit in random objects and explode them and then wave at the audience? Cool that he does this, but I think this is better as a one-time thing.

Chloe Chanel – age 11, from Pensacola, FL
The act: Chloe sang “All American Girl” by Carrie Underwood.
The verdict: Judges praised her voice and put her through to Vegas.
Court’s thoughts: I think this girl’s got a very natural, god-given singing voice. Definitely nice to listen to. But I feel like she really has no stage presence whatsoever – she just seemed to stand there, eerily staring at the audience, as she sang. If she wants to get past Vegas, I think she’s going to have to learn to move a bit more naturally onstage – she’s got a great personality offstage, so why not use it when she’s performing?

New York:

Megan Amigo – age 21
The act: She’s a self-described contortionist/belly dancer…and she’s a tad kooky.
The verdict: Judges liked her contortions, but found the belly dancing “corny”. Howie was a yes, the rest were a no.
Court’s thoughts: I admire her optimistic attitude and some of the creative contorting she was doing – but the kooky vibe and equally kooky music were lost on me.

Johnny Jetpack
The act: A puppeteering act where a little boy puppet got swallowed by a giant squirrel puppet.
The verdict: Do you even need to ask?
Court’s thoughts: If I had seen a puppet show like this when I was a kid, I would have been scarred for life.

Distraxion
The act: A “human puppet” and contortion act.
The verdict: I think the judges were having a hard time taking this one seriously, and it was an obvious no.
Court’s thoughts: Again…how do people dream this stuff up???

“Speed ice sculpting group”
The act: Ice sculptors with chain saws that carved ice really, really fast.
The verdict: No.
Court’s thoughts: I actually thought this was kind of cool (no pun intended), and may have fared better if they had put a twist on it like David Garabaldi & His CMYK’s last season.

“Girl Making Animal Noises”
The act: An attractive blonde that was making some alarmingly spot-on animal noises – pigs, donkeys, dogs, etc.
The verdict: No, no, no, no.
Court’s thoughts: Does she get a lot of dates with this act? 😛

212 Green – ages 14-22, from Harlem, NY
The act: A band that performed a rock/soul cover of Adele’s “Rumour Has It”.
The verdict: Judges (especially Mel B, who saw some of herself in the kids) loved them and put them through to Vegas.
Court’s thoughts: What a talented, gorgeous group of kids. I know the lead singer was talking about how tough it was growing up biracial and looking different than everyone else, but both she and her sister and brother? STUNNING. And they’ve got this very bohemian, artsy vibe about them – they seem to be a group that fuses different styles together well. Loved the rap section the brother did in the middle, loved the fact that the girls were evoking a sort of Motown girl group-vibe with the choreography they were doing at the mics. One group I’m excited to see in the live show 🙂

Al Harris – age 64, from Long Island, NY
The act: The second “corny pun” comedy act of the evening.
The verdict: No’s across the board – but the judges did seem to get a good chuckle out of it.
Court’s thoughts: I was irritated with this guy at first – the puns were corny, and it got old fast. But then, as I watched the judges try in vain to get this guy off the stage, and he just kept going…then I started to laugh. Gotta admire his persistence 😛 Normally I have no use for bad acts, but this one did make me grin a bit.

So who were your favorite acts from last night’s episode? Tune in tonight for the last audition show of the season before Vegas!!!

July 9, 2013 I Written By

Ultrasound specialist by day, entertainment blogger by night - with some amateur dancer, hair & makeup enthusiast, crazy cat lady, recreational chef, and Donnie Wahlberg/Norman Reedus fangirl peppered in to make things interesting ;-) Check out some of my other work over at puredwts.com!

PureAGT Season 8 Audition Round Rundown #5 – Chicago/San Antonio Auditions

I apologize for the tardiness of this rundown – the Midwest has been pummeled by rain and storms the past few weeks, and last night was no exception…consequently, my internet and cable were down for about an hour and 15 minutes of last night’s broadcast.  Woke up this morning to a functioning internet, but my DVR had only managed to capture about the last 45 minutes of the show.  Booooo! I took the afternoon off from work to start prepping food for my family’s annual 4th of July BBQ, and of course catch up on last night’s show on good ol’ Hulu 🙂 Since I managed to actually see all of the San Antonio auditions from my DVR recording, I’m going to start off with those – even though they were in the 2nd half of the show.  I’ll come back and do the Chicago half later 😉

Chicago:

Kelsey & Bailey – age 17 (Kelsey)
The act: Kelsey & her dog Bailey performed a series of tricks and dance moves to “We Go Together” from Grease.
The verdict: Judges all thought the act was adorable and said yes to Vegas.
Court’s thoughts: This was a cute act for sure, and Bailey the dog seemed to love performing.  However, I’m left feeling a little bit let down, just given the fact that last year’s winners, the Olate Dogs, had such an amazing act.  I’m afraid Kelsey & Bailey kind of pale in comparison, but I could see them sticking around for awhile – America seems to love animal acts, and they’re really the only animal act we’ve seen in this year’s auditions.  

Spintacular
The act: A family of 17 that performs tricks with basketballs.  
The verdict: Judges said yes to Vegas.
Court’s thoughts: My first thought was “They had HOW MANY kids??!!!”, followed shortly thereafter by “And they actually can get everyone focused for long enough to create their own version of the Harlem Globetrotters???!!!” Very cute act, with everyone from dad down to the little twin girls performing tricks. My one complaint is that there seemed to be a lot going on at one time – likely one drawback of having such a large family! – and it was hard to really appreciate everything they were doing when there was so much to pay attention to.  Maybe scale it back a bit and work on some synchronization for Vegas?  

Cami Bradley
The act: Cami sang “Over the Rainbow” a cappella.
The verdict: She’ll be in Vegas.
Court’s thoughts: *sigh* Maybe I’m being cynical, but I doubt the female vocalists are going to be reppin’ particularly hard in Vegas this season.  Cami was pleasant to listen to, but I didn’t find anything truly special about her voice – plus I thought she tried too hard to do a lot of those Christina Aguilera-esque riffs.  I wish some of these female vocalists would stop trying to put on these over-the-top, vocal acrobatics-heavy performances and just focus on really sounding good and doing their songs justice.

Tellavision
The act: A group of teenage boys and girls doing a modern/ballet-type dance to “What a Wonderful World” while holding LED screens that incorporated into their performance.
The verdict: Judges liked it, we’ll see them in Vegas.
Court’s thoughts: This is probably going to catch me some hell, but I thought this was the cheesiest, tackiest performance we’ve seen all season – and remember, we had JC Starbright in episode 2 😛 I just found the whole thing a bit too cutesy – that overused, schmaltzy song; the cutesy movements with LED screens; the cheesy stuff on the screens…I think I would have rather just seen a really good, garden-variety modern dance routine and scrapped the screens altogether.  I think they’re going to look pretty amateurish next to some of the other dance groups in Vegas.

David Ferman – age 18, from Jacksonville, FL
The act: David did some juggling, then balanced a Molotov cocktail on a balloon he held in his mouth.
The verdict: Judges were impressed with the level of danger and said yes to Vegas.
Court’s thoughts: Anyone remember Charles Peachock, the crazy guy that juggled the tasers back in season 6? I think we just found his successor 🙂 Loved the creativity of the Molotov cocktail, although I thought David may have come across a bit nervous and kind of rushed his delivery.  Hopefully he can shake the nerves and Vegas and give a bit more finesse in his delivery.

Chicago Boyz Acrobatic Team – ages 9-23, from Chicago, IL
The act: The do all sorts of flips and tumbling, and incoporate jump ropes into their act.
The verdict: Judges loved it and praised their energy.  We’ll see them in Vegas.
Court’s thoughts: Probably my favorite from the Chicago auditions – I think what struck me at first was just how happy and enthusiastic all of these guys are about what they do.  Everyone from the coach down to the youngest kid on the team just seemed to love what they’re doing – and that’s a kind of passion you can’t fake.  I was pretty impressed by some of the stunts they were doing too – tumbling runs, standing back tucks, jumping pushups…and using the little guy as a human jump rope was just genius.  I think these guys will breeze through Vegas and go straight to the live shows. 

2Unique – age 10
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Innovative Force
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Ciana Pelekani – age 12
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Mitsi Dancing School
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Pat McKillen
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Sully Dunn – age 18
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Branden James – age 34
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Trevor Stone (“Spontaneous Art”) – age 38
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Squared Circus Review
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Chris the Wedding DJ
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Enrique Reyes – age 34, from Mexico
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San Antonio:

David Fenley – 34, from Texas
The act: Dave sang and played an acoustic cover of Alex Clare’s “Too Close”.
The verdict: He got 4 yes’s, and Mel got “what she really, really wanted”. 🙂
Court’s thoughts: I found this guy really, really likeable – like a good-natured combination of Dom Deluise and John Popper from Blues Traveler.  Loved the gravelly sound of his voice, and his unique take on that song.  I’m guessing they’ll probably pit him against Paul Thomas Mitchell & Marty Brow in Vegas…all three are great, so it should be interesting to see how things pan out.

“Dancin'” Dylan Wilson – 17, from Huntington, Indiana
The act: Dylan did an animation hip-hop routine to “Cinema” by Skrillex.
The verdict: He made it to Vegas.
Court’s thoughts: INDIANA REPRESENT!!! Of course I’m going to root for this kid, as a fellow Hoosier 🙂 I thought he was fun to watch and has obviously worked hard to hone his craft – but maybe I’ve been a bit spoiled by SYTYCD, because I found his animating a bit amateurish next to likes of Cyrus, Blueprint, and some of the other animators from SYTYCD.  Unfortunately for Hunter, I’m guessing they’re going to compare him to Kenichi, who is also an animator…a REALLY, really good animator.  I like Dylan, but I doubt he’ll be able to make it past Vegas 🙁

Hunk-O-Mania’s International Men of Steel
The act: Four beefcakes in gladiator costumes, dancing to “Sexy & I Know It”.
The verdict: Heidi & Mel were all about it – but Howard & Howie said “no”.
Court’s thoughts: Ugh. I just do not get the appeal of male revue acts – I got to see Thunder from Down Under in Vegas last year for a bachelorette weekend, and I just didn’t “get” it: a bunch of unrealistically-muscled, oily guys doing basic boyband choreography with some hip thrusts and butt wiggles peppered in. Am I supposed to swoon? Cause I didn’t.

Lil Mike & Funny Bone, aka “Mike Bone” – 32 & 27, from Oklahoma
The act: Two Native American brothers of short stature, performing an original song called “Do the Rain Dance”.
The verdict: Judges were pleasantly surprised and put them through to Vegas.
Court’s thoughts: Ok, this might have been my favorite act of the night 🙂 Loved the charisma these two had, and how they didn’t let the fact that they stood only 4’4″ stop them from doing what they loved. And “Do the Rain Dance” is incredibly catchy – but so is “B-O-O-T-Y”. Anyone want to place any bets that we see these two up against Tone the Chiefrocca in Vegas for a spot in the live shows? We’ve got two rapping acts with original songs and big personalities. Who do you guys think has the juice to move on?

The American Hit Men – 28-34, from Salt Lake City, Utah
The act: They’re a rock band that performed a cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Simple Man”.
The verdict: Judges loved them – Howard in particular was very excited about having a good rock band this season. They got 4 yes’s.
Court’s thoughts: While I think this show should really be about the talent (and not so much focus placed on a schmaltzy backstory), I do commend these gentleman for their service to our country – and the fact that it was the music they made that kept their spirits up when they were Marines stationed in Fallujah. The lead singer had one of those gravelly, cool-sounding rock voices that only a few people seem to pull off, and I loved they way it sounded with this song. I’m hoping they can take some more current songs and put their own spin on them.

Stay tuned for my rundown of the Chicago acts – when I get done with Hulu 🙂 What did you guys think of the San Antonio acts?

July 3, 2013 I Written By

Ultrasound specialist by day, entertainment blogger by night - with some amateur dancer, hair & makeup enthusiast, crazy cat lady, recreational chef, and Donnie Wahlberg/Norman Reedus fangirl peppered in to make things interesting ;-) Check out some of my other work over at puredwts.com!