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First 5 America’s Got Talent 2009 Finalists

Well, last night was kind of the end of the lameness that has been America’s Got Talent this year. Let’s just say that the show is trying far too hard. They need to just sit back and let us enjoy the talent and the built in drama of the good and bad. Free the judges to say what they really think and get some judges unlike the Hoff and Sharon who can’t tell us what they really feel about the acts for fear of backlash.

Ok, now that I got that out. Here’s the first 5 finalists:
Fab Five – Definitely deserving of the finals. They were spot on. It was a little cruel of the show to try and act like they were going to be eliminated. Sharon did a pretty nice job, but Piers and Hoff made it look totally scripted. Oh well, at least the Fab Five made it and they deserved it.

Grandma Lee – I can’t say Grandma Lee was all that good, but I’m ok with the token act to make it in when they’re as cute as Grandma Lee and they’re living such a special dream for them. Grandma Lee has never been as good as what the judges have said. However, we can all love her for being there and doing her thing. So, I’m cool with this one.

Kevin Skinner – This is a shame for me. I know a lot of people who read this site love Kevin Skinner and have made up all sorts of excuses for why he sucked in his performance. I’ve never been a fan of him and so I don’t know why I’d start now. However, as I said in one of my comments on this site, he’s got 2 thing that America loves: humility and a great story.

Texas Tenors – I actually have mixed feelings about this group. The blonde guy is a star and once they start singing together it’s a hot mess (I stole that description from one of my readers since it described them so well). So, the Blonde guy should be in the finals, but the other 2 shouldn’t.

The Voices of Glory – I’d have kicked these guys off just for being dumb and not forcing the producers to let the sister sing the whole time. Piers said it before and he was right. The sister has the potential to be a star. The brothers are nothing but a drag right now.

Now to those who were sent home…

Acrodunk really deserved it. So much for variety.

Paradizo Dance was cute, but had kind of run their course.

Drew Thomas Magic did kind of disappoint, but I’ll admit I’m a bit surprised that his daughter’s cuteness didn’t pull him through. She’s a star in my book for sure.

Tony and Rory. Seriously, do I have to talk about this one? Shouldn’t have been there in the first place.

Arcadian Broad will be remembered for a long time to come. I hope we find out if there was any fall out from his comments. However, I don’t think we will. I hope he keeps dancing and we’ll see him on So You Think You Can Dance once he’s old enough to compete on it.

September 3, 2009 I Written By

Arcadian Broad Calls Out America’s Got Talent Producers and Piers Becomes a Shill

Normally you’d find a nice discussion of the various contestants in the America’s Got Talent season 4 semi finals. Instead, you’re going to get a nice rant or two that just need to be said.

Arcadian Braod Calls Out America’s Got Talent Producers
First up is Arcadian Broad calling out the producers of America’s Got Talent for basically forcing him to do the High School Musical themed dance. This really is nothing new for those who read the site. We’ve long known that the producers basically force the contestants to do a certain song that they think will play well on the show. I hear they actually suggest a couple pieces, but there’s usually one that they really want you to do.

The funny part is that Arcadian Broad actually started to talk about this on the show. You could tell he wasn’t happy that he was doing High School musical. I’m glad he did. The producers should be held accountable for the choices they make if he’s going to be ripped by the judges. I think the mistake for Arcadian was actually having other dancers on stage with him. It basically showed that there are a lot of other dancers his age that are just about as good. Sure, he has a bit of the it quality in his face and performance, but it wasn’t all that different than the other dancers on stage. Maybe he should go back to the piano;-)

All of this said, Arcadian isn’t really the story here. He’s just the one who brought it up. I thought he performed well with what he was given. I wonder what the show will do now to ensure that something like this doesn’t happen again. I don’t think they like for America to know what involvement the producers actually have in the acts.

Now Piers Morgan the Shill…
In the past, I’ve always felt like Piers Morgan did a pretty good job of responding with his actual and natural feelings towards contestants. However, this show Piers felt like an absolute shill of the show. It was like the producers had written the script of their favorites and he was highlighting those favorites. Sure, Sharon and Hoff are going to pretty much say nice things about everyone. That’s felt scripted for a long time. However, I always use to feel like Piers could really say what he thinks. Too bad that ended tonight.

Let me give you some examples…
Piers can’t really like the 3 tenors. Once they all start singing together they don’t mix well at all. The blonde guy is a star and the other 2 are just ok. Piers would have pointed this out usually.

Voices of Glory would have been buzzed if they weren’t the most hyped story ever on America’s Got Talent. The brothers just aren’t good enough and Piers would have happily buzzed them if they were anyone else.

Kevin Skinner gave his worst performance and one of the worst performances by a singer in America’s Got Talent history. Yet, Piers raved about how he draws people in. That’s basically Piers trying to say something nice since he can’t actually say Kevin’s a good singer since he’s not. Piers knows he’s not, but felt like he was muzzled and couldn’t say it the way it was.

I could keep going. Let’s just say that tonight was a low point for me in America’s Got Talent. I’d like to say it jumped the shark. However, I’ll say that the judges have more than jumped the shark. Normally I’d hate to keep watching a show like this. If the performers weren’t so talented and entertaining I’d have switched the channel long ago.

Woo…
Glad I got that off my chest!!

Also…
The Fab Five were the most underrated by the judges. They were dead on and I hope they make it to the next round.

September 1, 2009 I Written By

America’s Got Talent Week 1 Quarterfinal Results

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. Read more..

August 7, 2009 I Written By

America’s Got Talent Quarterfinals Week 1

Tonight’s episode of America’s Got Talent confirmed all of my fears. I didn’t see any really amazing talent. Something was just missing from the show. Don’t ask me what it was. Nobody made me say, WOW! Just a bunch of pretty goods and what are they doing there?

BreakSk8 performed to “Smooth Criminal” Michael Jackson - The Essential Michael Jackson - Smooth Criminal by Michael Jackson. I think I’m with Piers in this being too slow. However, my biggest issue with them is that they had some ugly girl come out center stage to start their act.

Thia Megia Sang “The Climb” Miley Cyrus - Hannah Montana: The Movie (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) - The Climb by Miley Cyrus. This was a most disappointing act for me. Thia had a couple awesome moments, but this was just the absolutely wrong song for her. I still stick with my assertion that Thia is like Charice Pempengco, but she needs her David Foster to give her the right song.

The Platt Brothers were one of my favorite acts from the auditions. They were unique and interesting. The mouthing of the words wasn’t that interesting. However, they still had a few creative elements. I actually loved the twists from slow to fast. They also had a couple other nice tricks, but I’m still not sure what they’d do for a full act in Las Vegas.

The Diva League should have never been brought back. Piers was dead on with this one. They weren’t even good at lip syncing. Oh wait, that’s because lip syncing is never good. Just get them off the show already.

Manuela Horn looked really nice, but that was about it. What was she doing not yodeling? She’s a yodeler and so I expect her to yodel. I don’t want her to sing poorly.

Grandma Lee had some good jokes. She didn’t have one as good as her previous Krispy Kreme joke, but probably overall was a little better than her audition.

Mosaic Sang “Superstition” Stevie Wonder - Stevie Wonder: The Definitive Collection - Superstition by Stevie Wonder. I thought this was a good performance. The percussion person is really good. The singers and instruments are only so so in my book. So, it was just an ok performance. Man, it’s hard to write about a bunch of acts that were so so on this episode of America’s Got Talent.

AcroDunk actually surprised me. I thought it would be more of the same, but they did bring something different and nice. It was like a nice mix of trampoline and dunking. I like it. The only complaint I have is that it would probably be a lot more entertaining Live than it was on TV. They don’t know how to do the camera work for this type of act.

Arcadian Broad Played the piano briefly, then danced to “Footloose” Kenny Loggins - Footloose (15th Anniversary Collectors' Edition) - Footloose by Kenny Loggins. Arcadian made an absolute mistake playing the piano. He just looks amateur compared to the other pianist on the show. Imagine if they were on the same show. His dancing is where he shines. He’ll probably make it through since he stopped playing and danced, but what a bone head move.

Drew Thomas Magic had a nice trick, but missed some stage presence. I needed some music or something to add the drama. I needed some explanation, some jokes, some something. However, I was surprised that those were the girls. I’m definitely going to have to watch the trick again to know how good it really was. I still generally hate magic on TV.

Kevin Skinner Sang “Make You Feel My Love” Bob Dylan - Time Out of Mind - Make You Feel My Love by Bob Dylan. I’m still unimpressed. However, I think he did enough for all of his passionate fans to pass him through. It wasn’t horrible, but a few parts of it were quite bad. I wish that he weren’t such a fan favorite, because I’d have liked to hear Piers and even Sharon’s real thoughts on Kevin. My favorite was that his voice kind of cracked. However, we’ll be seeing more of him, and I do love seeing people like Kevin live their dreams. So no hard feelings if he makes it through.

Lake Houston Performing Arts Center Performed to “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual (Remastered) - Girls Just Want to Have Fun as covered by Miley Cyrus. I thought I wasn’t going to like this act. However, they actually were possibly my favorite act of the night. They had a ton of energy and the choreography was good. The judges thought there was too much, but since we’re only watching it through the camera, I think it was great. We missed a lot of what they would have seen with it being live. I loved it and I didn’t think that I would have.

So, what do you think? Any other thoughts about tonight’s show? Oh yes, I also loved how Nick Cannon was wearing a pimp suit while he pimped his wife on America’s Got Talent. Although, I have a feeling that her coming on the show is more about helping the show than it is helping her. Go Mariah (even if it will probably feel awkward to have you on the show).

August 4, 2009 I Written By

America’s Got Talent 2009 Top 40

I haven’t had a chance to do a writeup about tonight’s episode of America’s Got Talent where they finalized the America’s Got Talent top 40. However, just because I’m behind I didn’t see any reason that I should post the full list of America’s Got Talent 2009 top 40.

Pete Peterkin (impressionist)
Arcadian Broad (13 year old dancer)
AcroDunk (acrobatic basketball dunkers)
Platt Brothers (Pantomimers, dancers, and acrobats)
Recycled Percussion (percussion group)
David Johnson (Hasselhoff singer)
Thia Megia (14 year old singer)
G Force (dance band of young girls)
Erik & Rickie (8 year old dance couple)
Mosaic (a capella singers)
Texas Tenors (singing trio)
Manuela Horn (yodeling dominatrix)
The Fab Five (clogging sisters)
Drew Thomas (illusionist)
Hairo Torres (break dancing contortionist)
Lawrence Beamen (bass singer)
Kevin Skinner (singer)
Paradizo Dance (acrobatic dancers)
Ishaara (bollywood dancers)
FootworkKINGz (dance group)
Jeffrey Ou (pianist)
Eleisha Miller (singer and pianist)
Mario & Jenny (chainsaw juggler)
Marcus Terrell (singer)
BreakSk8 (break dancers on roller skates)
Voices of Glory (singing trio)
Barbara Padilla (opera singer)
Chris Allison (ate a lightbulb)
Rockin’ Rory (flying disc dog act)
Pam Martin and Viva (dancing dog)
Carol Lugo (62 year old dancer)
Charles DeWayne Dorsey (singer and pianist)
Pixie Mystere (preteen gymnastic troupe)
Grandma Lee (standup comic)
African High Flyers (acrobats)
Alizma (triplet violinists)
Anthony Morigerato & Matt Lucas (guitarist and tap dancer duo)
EriAm Sisters (trio of sisters)
BRI (singer and pianist)
Mia Boostrom (singer)

I think this will be a pretty interesting group of performances. I still think this is a bit of a down year for America’s Got Talent. I don’t see many (if any) real superstars in this list. However, it should still be quite entertaining and fun to hear their stories and see these people live their dreams.

July 29, 2009 I Written By

Review of America’s Got Talent 2009 Day 2 Auditions

The second night of America’s Got Talent was a nice step up from the first night. Gave me a little more hope for this season. No doubt there’s still a long way to go, but considering they didn’t even decide to follow the auditions from one city to the next you’d think they’d have made a better season premiere. That said, I still love to see all the stories and the crazy talent on this show.

One of the highlights from night one for me was Arcadian Broad. Maybe I just saw a little bit of me in him. I wish that someone would have taken an interest in me and had helped me to dance. I think I had the energy and fire, but no one to encourage it at that age. Sure, his technique isn’t the best, but he’s only 13 years old. I think his energy and enthusiasm are really going to blow people away. In case you missed it, here’s the video of Arcadian Broad dancing to “I’m Still Standing” Elton John - Elton John: The Greatest Hits 1970-2002 - I'm Still Standing by Elton John

My second favorite act of the night was probably Alizma. I actually had previously posted that Alizma was my most anticipated AGT act. I’ll admit that I didn’t know anything about them. I didn’t know they were triplets, I didn’t know they sang. I didn’t even know their name was Alizma. Yes, I’m biased to three beautiful blondes. However, I must admit that they didn’t disappoint. I agree they need to be more like Nuttin’ But Stringz from last year and not sing. Just play the violin. I even liked how they talked over each other. I thought it was really funny. Although the funniest part of this act might have been the Hoff freaking out when they walked on stage. In case you missed it, here’s Alizma’s performance of “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” The Charlie Daniels Band - Essential Super Hits of The Charlie Daniels Band - The Devil Went Down to Georgia originally by “The Charlie Daniels Band”

Other quick hits:

I thought Drew Thomas the illusionist was good, but I wasn’t as overwhelmed by it as the judges were. I have a hard time watching illusionists on TV though. I want to be there and be able to see it live.

Eric and Rickie were the cutest little kid dancers. Go to a ballroom competition and you’ll see dozens of little kids just like them. That’s so much fun to watch. I loved when they asked them about being boyfriend and girlfriend too. Hilarious.

I was really happy to see G-Force on the show. Turns out I first saw G-Force back at the end of February. Glad to see that someone that read the site during the America’s Got Talent auditions made it on the show. I wonder if anyone else will make it on the show that I talked about on here. I’ll be posting more of G-Force’s videos soon since we saw little of them on the show. The little girl on the drums(her name’s Olivia and she’s 7) is just so incredibly cute.

I’m not sure what to think about Comic Bots. That was just weird to watch, but impressive at the same time.

Then, of course, Manuela Horn, the yodeling dominatrix. There’s just not much I can say about that.

June 26, 2009 I Written By