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America’s Got Talent 5: First Semifinal Group

You are able to choose up to FIVE acts

August 25, 2010 I Written By

America’s Got Talent Semi Final Review

I was going to do a review of the acts from tonight’s semi final episode, but then I saw that Jason had already done so in the comments of another post. So, I’ll just share his comments for all to see and to comment on. Thanks Jason!

Tonight was interesting…started strong, got weak in the middle, then finished amazingly. My thoughts:

Anna & Patryk – It was a very good routine. Their movements are so precise, and it was a great song choice and theme. They should be in the finals.

Christina & Ali – It’s a great story, but I don’t think the singing is good enough. I like them when they sing alone, but not together. It’s probably over for them.

Antonio Restivo – A really nice trick, but I wasn’t really amazed during it. I still really like about him, and I think he could be in the finals.

Future Funk – The cuteness is wearing off, and they tried too much to make a story out of it. The older kid had a nice break dance, but the rest was only ok. They’re probably not going to advance.

Taylor Matthews – I don’t know what to make of him. He’s good, but not the best singer. He should lose the backup singers, his voice gets lost in them. Maybe he could make it to the finals.

Connor Doran – Another nice story, but the act didn’t take it up a notch. He definitely should have stuck to the quieter, more reflective music. I like him, but he’s probably done.

Dan Sperry – Are you serious with that trick? I had a flashback to season 2 with the magician Kevin James. I know that there’s some imagination to magic, but we generally know it’s fake and don’t need an obvious way to see that. At least throw up some fake blood or something to make it more believable. I cannot see him advancing at all.

Kristina Young – What was she thinking? If she had livened the song up and went to a pop version after stepping down from the piano, she might have had a shot. However, she didn’t, and completely blew it.

ArcAttack – I was skeptical that they could make the act better, but they did. I still see them as a long shot to win with some of the other acts still active, but they could be in the finals.

Michael Grimm – I don’t think he’s the best singer, but there’s still something I like about him. He’s probably in the finals.

AscenDance – The same as Connor, they should have stayed with the slower, peaceful music. It was nice, but I don’t think it was enough.

Prince Poppycock – Do I need to say anything? I guess I should. I couldn’t stop laughing during this act. Perfect song choice, perfect concept, it was a perfect act. It is going to be tough to top that in the finals. He’s the only slam dunk to make it through of the night.

I think Prince Poppycock, Anna & Patryk, ArcAttack, and Michael Grimm advance by America’s vote. Antonio Restivo and Taylor Matthews finish 5 and 6, and the judges take Antonio to the finals.

John’s Thoughts: I still love Christina and Ali. I can vote for story if I like:-) I think Taylor Matthews also has more of a chance than people are giving him. I also think that Michael Grimm is a sure thing to get through along with Poppycock. Does anyone else want to hear from the other female climber on Acendance? She’s incredibly attractive. Just saying.

August 24, 2010 I Written By

America’s Got Talent 5: Sixteen Act Breakdown

As we wait for the YouTube Auditions to commence on August 10th… let us take a look at the breakdown of the acts that have made it through to the next round… first the categorical breakdown:

CATEGORICAL BREAKDOWN

Singers
Alice Tan Ridley: Singer
Cristina & Ali: Singing Sisters
Prince Poppycock: Opera Singer
Debra Romer: Singer/Musician
Michael Grimm: Singer/Musician
Nathaniel Kenyon: Singer/Musician
Taylor Matthews: Singer/Musician

Now anyone that did any kind of singing get’s clumped into the singing group without question, which would make it a rather large group. However, when you break it down even further you’d notice that about half are solo singer/musicians meaning that they accompany themselves on a musical instrument while singing. Thus of the last three there is one pure singer, a singing duo and a performance/opera singer. When one breaks it down like that it doesn’t seem so bad…

It’s easy to argue that the number of singers still in the competition makes up about half of the total number of acts and as thus more of a singing competition than a talent competition. However, as easy as it is to say why don’t the singers move to American Idol, here’s my argument. The Idol series (Pop Idol, American Idol, etc) focuses on several things when choosing their contestants: physical look, vocal ability, entertainment value and the age-range. The Idol series focuses primarily on the “pop” genre or something pop-XXXX genre. Yes they have gotten better in including soul, rock and country… but the majority of the singers in the competition are primarily pop. Add to that the look and entertainment value and true talent tends to go out the window (which is why the puretvnet.com group doesn’t cover American Idol… we like talent shows 😀 ).

All kidding aside every one of these acts have the talent to do decently in the music business no matter where they end up. The real question is that after acts like Bianca Ryan, Terry Fator (though technically he is a singing ventriloquist), Eli Mattson, Neal E Boyd, and Kevin Skinner… do we really need another singer to take it all? Or is it time for another different kind of act to step forward?

Dance
Future Funk: Hip-Hop Dance Duo
Haspop: Popping Dancer
Studio One Young Beast Society: Dance Troupe

One common thread I noticed with the above acts… hip hop… It seems like Hip Hop dancing is the “in” thing now, it is what is hip or going on. The other thing I noticed is that the majority of the dancers are outside of the 18 – 30 age range of So You Think You Can Dance contestants for the most part.

Dance has been gaining traction thanks to the likes of Dancing with the Stars (ballroom dancing), So You Think You Can Dance (all styles), America’s Best Dance Crew (mostly hip hop and breaking)… but the fact that only generally hip hop dancers have made it this far and that most of the popular media deals with hip hop tells a bit of something about the genre in general.

Are any of the above strong enough to have a Las Vegas major production catered around them for well over an hour? I’m not entirely certain I could handle watching one type of dancing for that long… but that’s just me.

Magician/Illusionist
Antonio Restivo: Fire Artist/Illusionist
Murray: Magician/Illusionist

For many decades, magicians and illusionists have been a mainstay in Las Vegas. From the likes of Siegfried & Roy to Penn & Teller to Criss Angel when a magician has a show in Vegas they’ve hit the big time. Do either of the above have what it takes to not only provide magic and illusions that stretch beyond the parameters of those that came before them but to entertain the crowd as well?

Performance
ArcAttack: Technological Performance Group
AscenDance: Rock Climbing Acrobats/Dancers
Fighting Gravity: Blacklight Performers
Jeremy VanSchoonhoven: Extreme Cyclist

These particular acts are so unique, so different, and very dangerous in their own ways that I ended up clumping them into their own group.

Ever since the advent of Cirque du Soliel, the world of entertainment has been spun, stretch and re-imaged for a bigger and brighter world. Could any of the above acts sustain a show and stretch the boundaries of entertainment any further?

Keep in mind although these acts could be in existence in other countries outside of the United States (or on smaller scales IN the United States) it is through the show that what they do is coming to the forefront. Thus allowing similar acts to show and shine and recreate entertainment as we know it. All it takes is a single group to break down the wall for every else to rebuild it.

Categorical Conclusion
Singers make up a vast piece of the pie, but then again in American culture it is the singers that bring in the most revenue in the entertainment industry from record deals, to music downloads, to concert tours and television shows. So are we really all that surprised to see so many singers in the competition?

On the other hand, the other half of the pie is comprised of a variety of other acts that are jockeying for their piece of the entertainment industry pie. Is this the season for a non-singer to win the competition? Is America really ready for something other than singers?

VEGAS BREAKDOWN

Now, did anyone else find it interesting that there was a group of acts that were given a free ride into Hollywood? How did those acts do?

Straight to Hollywood
ArcAttack: Technological Performance Group
Fighting Gravity: Blacklight Performers
Future Funk: Hip-Hop Dance Duo
Haspop: Popping Dancer

Of the ten acts that made it straight to Hollywood, only four were chosen to go on to the next round. But what was the breakdown of the acts before and after America voted?

Seven of the ten acts were dance acts in some capacity from the one man show of Haspop to the cheerleading squad of SF Cheer. We also had a gymnast/acrobat, and two performance acts that simply did not fit anywhere else.

One thing of note is that no singers had a free pass to Hollywood. Another thing of note is that a fair number of dances acts made it through to Hollywood while others still had to audition in Vegas.

There were three non-dance acts of which two of the more unique ones made it through to the next round.

Standbys
Christina & Ali: Singing Sisters (?)
Nathaniel Kenyon: Singer/Musician
Jeremy VanSchoonhoven: Extreme Cyclist

Everyone saw the Standby acts performed. I think it is safe to say that for an act who was original standby to be continuing in the competition is saying a lot in their determination and focus on the goal at hand (whatever that may be). No matter how far in the competition a Standby act will go it is a safe bet to say that I tip my hat off to these acts for proving to the judges and America why they belonged…

August 10, 2010 I Written By

America’s Got Talent 5: The Results (Second Group)

Sorry for the tardiness… but better late than never, eh?

Anyway… since we already know who the four that were chosen were:
– Alice Tan Ridley
– Michael Grimm
– AscenDance
– Antonio Restivo
Which oddly enough is the same four as dictated by our un-scientific poll

The only addition is any music on the show:

Cirque du Soliel’s “Ka”

Train: Hey Soul Sister Hey,

America’s Choice
Group 1:
– Mona Sampath Dance Company
– AscenDance
– Ronith

Group 2:
– Cheer SF
– Iron Horse
– Alice Tan Ridley

Group 3:
– Michael Grimm
– Lil Chris
– The Strong Man

Judges Choice
Group 4
– Wreckless
– Antonio Restivo
– Hannibal Means

July 23, 2010 I Written By

America’s Got Talent 5: Second Group of Twelve

Here is the second group of twelve! Could they step up their game? How would they compare to that of last week’s group? Again, out of this twelve, four will be chosen to move on.

Feel free to leave your comments…

You are able to choose up to four acts.

July 20, 2010 I Written By

America’s Got Talent 5: Second Quarterfinal Group Music

Cheer SF
– Adam Lambert: For Your Entertainment For

Alice Tan Ridley
– Gladys Knight And The Pips: Midnight Train To Georgia Midnight

Mona Sampath Dance Company
– Bombay Dreams: Bombay Dreams Bombay
– Black Eyed Peas: Pump It Pump

Iron Horse
– Brad Paisley: American Saturday Night American

The Strong Man
– ?

Ronith

Hannibal Means
– Lion King: Circle of Life Circle
– Lion King: Can You Feel the Love Tonight Can

Wreckless
– Basement Jaxx: What’s a Girl Gotta Do What's
Creme de la Crumb: Merry Go (Many thanks to JoJo for discovering this little gem)

Lil Chris
– Ne-Yo: Closer Closer

AscenDance
– Snow Patrol: Chasing Cars Chasing

Antonio Restivo
– Ozzy Osbourne: Crazy Train (according to commentor R.J.) Crazy
– Ozzy Osbourne: Let Me Hear You Scream Let

Michael Grimm
– Al Green: Tired of Being Alone Tired

I Written By

America’s Got Talent 5: Las Vegas (Part 2)

So here it… who knows how many acts were in the ever so important Group A category as mentioned in the previous Las Vegas post. These acts were ones that the judges believed stand the best chance of moving on to Hollywood… every one of these acts were given the chance to audition once again for the judges.

In the primary lobby there were sheets set up in various categories breaking the acts down so they could practice together, and size up the competition. From here each group would be called up together where they would see each other perform from the wings. Talk about tension and competition.

I’ve managed to get a good list of categories and acts. So below is going to be all the acts that have gone on to Hollywood as broken down by category. I will try to list the audition city that we met various acts throughout the season thus far if applicable and link previous posts to them so you could learn more informtion about the acts that have made it thus far.

And now, without further ado… Group A!

Novelty
Maricar: Painting (Los Angeles)
Sally Cohn: Hand Whistler (Portland)

Magicians
Murray Sawchuck (Orlando)
Chipps Cooney: Comedic Magician (New York)

Danger
John Beatty: Strongman (Chicago)
Twisted Trystan & Krystan: Side Show Performers (Orlando)
Antonio Restivo: Fire Magician (New York)

Aerial/Movement/Acrobatic
AscenDance Project: Rock Climbing Dance (Portland)
Rudi Macaggi (New York)

Hip Hop Dance
Wreckless Dance Crew (Orlando)
Lindsey Stirling: Violinist/Dancer (Final Auditions)
Studio One Young Beast Society (Orlando)

Bollywood Dance
Mona Sampath Dance Company (Los Angeles)

Tap Dance
The Hot Shot Tap Dancers (Portland)

Ballroom Dance
Anna & Patryk (New York)

Youth Performers
CJ Dippa (Dallas)
Lil Chris (Orlando)

Harmonica
Harmonica Pierre Herbineaux (Portland)

Comedian
Doogie Horner (New York)

Classical Singers
Hannibal Means (Los Angeles)
Prince Poppycock (New York)

Female Singers
Mary Ellen: Yodeler (New York)
Alice Tan Ridley (New York)
Debra Romer (Chicago)

Male Singers
Taylor Matthews (Dallas)
Michael Grimm (Los Angeles)

July 7, 2010 I Written By

America’s Got Talent 5: New York City Auditions Day One

It’s New York City! Which means that this had better be a city full of above average talent… what do you think?

As always if anyone out there have any info to the following acts please either leave a comment or contact us.

Read more for spoilers!

Read more..

June 8, 2010 I Written By