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BGT Finals Today!

Hey all! I’ve been sick for the better part of this week, so naturally I used it as an excuse to stay in and watch the Britain’s Got Talent Semi-Finals. There were five shows and from each of those two acts moved on to the Finals: the act with the most audience votes, and either the second- or third-highest voted act as chosen by the judges (it’s the same thing as the judges’ save on AGT, and if there is a tie it goes to the audience vote). The judges also choose a Wildcard to perform in the Finals once the first live round is done; this year it’s a blood donation-themed choir.

One thing I was told about but didn’t get to really appreciate until I watched for myself was the wider variety of acts. Yes, most of the finalists this series are singing acts, but they covered so many different styles and genres I didn’t even care. And there were plenty of other types of performers as well, with several comedians, magicians, and dancers; way more than we’ve seen on AGT as of late.

The format is a little different than what I’ve grown accustomed to on AGT. BGT goes right from the audition round to the live Semi-Finals, with an offscreen deliberation in between to decide which acts that passed auditions will perform in the live shows. This can be a blessing for certain performers like the dance groups, balancing acts, and comedians; I often see complaints about these acts on AGT getting stale after awhile, but on BGT no act performs more than three times so the novelty generally doesn’t have time to wear off. Case in point: a balancing act made this years BGT Finals, while I can’t recall a time any of the ones on BGT have even passed the Vegas Week/Judge Cuts round.

However, there are some drawbacks: while both BGT and recent seasons of AGT have the same number of live episodes (six plus Results shows) BGT‘s all take place within a week. I suppose this method makes the show seem more like an event every year, but I like the “breathing room” we get between AGT‘s live shows that makes it easier to keep up with and allows anticipation to build for each one.

Here are some of the Finalists for Series 12 of Britain’s Got Talent! Remember: the stakes at hand are a slot in the Royal Variety Performance later this year!

June 3, 2018 I Written By

I'm obssessed with the entertainment industry, especially offbeat and nerdy things as well as those that involve live performance. The only thing I love more than geeking out over the things that entertain me is sharing in my excitement with others who share the same passions. America may have talent, but Canada has an up-and-coming blogger who is ready to take the internet by storm!

Pure AGT Season 11 Semi-Finals Week 1 – Power Rankings

So last week my Power Rankings were pretty off (was especially shocked Kadan cracked Top 5 and that The Passing Zone didn’t even manage to be in the Dunkin’ Save) and I’m fully expecting to be wrong about a few things again tonight. But I’ll try to make an educated guess as to how things will play out:

And as a reminder, this is a list of what I THINK the results will be, not necessarily what I’m hoping for.

1. Grace VanderWaal – The hype for this girl continues, and doesn’t seem like it’s letting up anytime soon. I found Grace’s performance last night pretty forgettable myself, but it seems America has fallen in love with her, and I’ll be very surprised if she isn’t one of the three automatically advancing acts tonight.

2. Tape Face – In all honesty, this spot and the next one are pretty much interchangeable. Both acts seemed to get a very positive reaction from viewers, and have gotten a lot of buzz throughout the season in general, but I think there’s a chance one or both of them could end up in the Dunkin’ Save. As for Tape Face’s performance last night, I enjoyed it but I think I enjoyed the package preceding it even more!

3. Laura Bretan – Between performing last-AGAIN-and the story about her grandfather, I have a feeling she’s making it through to the Finals, but I’m still not quite sure if opera is popular enough for her to crack tonight’s top three. I’m going to tentatively guess it is, but we’ll see.

4. Musicality – This was the other major tearjerking story of the night, but unlike their showing in the Quarter-Finals I think their performance actually backed it up quite nicely, and I predict that one way or another, we’ll be seeing them in the finals.

5. Malevo – They were good before, but they really stepped up their game last night to give us a very unique performance.They may end up in the top three tonight, but after being on the bubble last week I’m thinking maybe not. But I think their standout performance and their running order spot will be enough to get them into the Dunkin’ Save again.

6. Jon Dorenbos – No doubt that this guy has fans, both from the football world and now from this show. But I saw a lot of comments calling his act last night “messy” and I think he may have gotten lost in the shuffle a bit because of that. But I think there may still be hope for him if he managed to get into the Dunkin’ Save zone.

7. Sal Valentinetti – Again, like Jon, Sal seems to have a substantial following among fans of the show, but I fear he may have gotten lost in the shuffle last night (and going first probably didn’t help). If he makes the Dunkin’ Save again I think he might squeeze his way into the finals, but at this point I’m not sure whether or not he’ll be there.

8. Edgar – I love this family, and they gave a great performance last night, but I think this is another act that might not have been in the forefront of a lot of people’s minds when it came time to vote. But I do think they have a shot at making the Dunkin’ Save.

9. Deadly Games – I was very impressed at how much these two stepped up their game and added some nice variety to their act, but for whatever reason I get the feeling the audience has already chosen their favorites, and this act just might not be one of them. They MAY have cracked the top six for the Dunkin’ Save, but sadly I feel like they didn’t.

10. Blake Vogt – Another act I loved, but, due to running order and being up against another magician that I get the feeling might have more backers, I have a feeling his time on the show will be up tonight.

11. Lori Mae Hernandez – I think Lori has improved over the course of the competition, but I get the feeling that a lot of people don’t like her (whether it be for political reasons after the last time she was on or because they simply don’t find her funny) so I’m think she’ll be another act going home tonight.

I’m not even gonna touch the Dunkin’ Save possibilities this week because there are just too many variables at this point in the competition.

Now let’s see how wrong I am this week!

August 31, 2016 I Written By

I'm obssessed with the entertainment industry, especially offbeat and nerdy things as well as those that involve live performance. The only thing I love more than geeking out over the things that entertain me is sharing in my excitement with others who share the same passions. America may have talent, but Canada has an up-and-coming blogger who is ready to take the internet by storm!

Pure AGT Season 11 Quarter-Finals Week 3 – Power Rankings

The hiatus is over, and last night AGT returned for the final show of the Quarter-Finals! I actually think most of the acts were pretty much on par with each other last night compared to the mixed bag we got the first two weeks; I was mildly impressed by most of them, though not really “blown away” by anyone. Here is my guess for the order of who got the most to least votes, and remember: this is a prediction of what I think tonight’s result will be, not a ranking of how I personally felt about the performances.

1. Grace VanderWaal – This girl went viral after her audition performance aired, and I don’t think her fanbase is letting up anytime soon! A lot of people seemed even more impressed by her this time, and while I could tell she was nervous, it seems, like Howie said lat night, her imperfections make her all the more perfect in the eyes of the public.

2. Brian Justin Crum – Brian has a great voice, but I can’t even remember what song he sang last night. However, he seems to have a legion of fans who are voting like crazy for him, so I am fully expecting him to move on to the Semi-Finals.

3. Malevo – I enjoyed last night’s performance much more than their last one, I guess because they seemed more polished this time around. This act certainly does seem like it would fit right home in Vegas, and I think their uniqueness among the other contestants this season and their touching backstory.

4. The Passing Zone – Even though their act was a repeat from something they did last time they were on this show, the audience still seemed to love it (though most of them probably don’t remember the last time they did it since it was over a decade ago). I found them very entertaining last night (as always) and I think they have a good chance at escaping the Dunkin’ Save zone this round.

5. Linkin’ Bridge – This is another group with an emotional backstory and between that and the amount of praise they got from the judges after their performance I think we’ll be seeing them in the Semi-Finals, whether it be from votes, the Dunkin’ Save, or the Judges’ Save. I put them in this spot because I think their story garnered them a lot of votes and people seem to think they’re very talented, even though I didn’t enjoy this performance as much as previous ones they’ve done. Something in their voices just seemed a bit off to me last night.

6. Blake Vogt – I continue to be very impressed by Blake and his performance this week was my favorite of the evening, but I haven’t seen a lot of buzz surrounding him and of the votecards I’ve seen people are usually giving him 5-8 votes out of a possible 10. I think he’ll at least have a chance of being saved, but I’m not sure about automatically going through based on votes alone.

7. Edgar – I don’t know what it is about this group, but I just love them. They give me a happy feeling. And they seem to be getting a pretty positive response overall, but I don’t think they’re going to crack Top 5 tonight simply because their performance just didn’t seem as “big” as some of the other ones in the lineup.Wouldn’t be surprised to see them on middle ground tonight, but not sure whether or not they’ll be saved.

8. Kadan Bart and Brooklyn Rockett – These two are quite entertaining and know how to put on a show, but for some reason it seems they sort of faded away in a lot of people’s minds. Maybe it was because of their early running spot, maybe it was because they were overshadowed by other variety acts, but I think the best they can hope for tonight is to be on the bubble.

9. Julia Scotti – I really enjoyed Julia’s performance last night, but she’s another one who seems to have fallen through the cracks in the minds of the viewers, and being controversial due to being transgender probably won’t help the matter given who a good chunk of the AGT audience is. It’s be nice to see her get a chance at the Dunkin’ Save or to be saved by the judges, and I think there’s a chance of that happening, but I’m just not sure yet whether or not she managed to get there.

10. Ronee Martin – Ronee is a very talented singer, but between going early in the show and being a relatively simple act, I have a feeling she is yet another one who people might have forgotten about, though I think there’s a small chance she could be on the Dunkin’ Save bubble tonight.

11. Vello Vaher – So, this act was very slow, and I didn’t really understand the relevance of the pirate theme. Vello also seems to be getting pretty repetitive in his performances. He has an entertaining personality, but I think tonight will be the end of the road for him on this show, even after the fan outcry regarding Simon’s buzzer.

12. Alla and Daniel – This is the other act I think we’ll be saying goodbye to for sure. They’re cute, but again, the performance was very similar to what we’ve seen from them before. And maybe I’ve been spoiled from watching So You Think You Can Dance Next Gen all summer, but it’s very obvious that Daniel doesn’t match his mother in skill level yet, which is understandable, but was unfortunately a detriment to their act last night.

If the three I think are in the Dunkin’ Save end up there, I think Blake or MAYBE Edgar will be saved and from there if Blake is one of the two left he will be saved by the judges, Let me know your thoughts on this week’s acts, and I’ll be back next week for the start of the Semi-Finals!

August 24, 2016 I Written By

I'm obssessed with the entertainment industry, especially offbeat and nerdy things as well as those that involve live performance. The only thing I love more than geeking out over the things that entertain me is sharing in my excitement with others who share the same passions. America may have talent, but Canada has an up-and-coming blogger who is ready to take the internet by storm!

Pure AGT Season 11 Judge Cuts – The Live Show Acts Determined

There’s been an abundance on AGT on our screens lately, with NBC airing four episodes over the past two weeks, each featuring a guest judge and some tough choices for the panel. That’s right, it was the Judge Cuts round, which determined the rest of the acts moving on to the live shows!

The acts moving forward from the first night, which featured guest judge Ne-Yo, included:

Hara
Edgar
Lori Mae Hernandez
Jon Dorenbos (Golden Buzzer)
The Passing Zone
Ronee Martin
Linkin’ Bridge

Dorenbos was the first Golden Buzzer of the season that was not given to a singer, which was refreshing to see. I loved Jon’s act and think he absolutely deserved to go through, as did the other six. The Passing Zone is a particular favorite of mine; I love how they manage to combine a lot of different tricks without feeling like they’re going overboard. No complaints from me about this group!

Reba McEntire joined the panel for the second episode, and she and the others decided to send through:

Kadie Lynn Roberson
Vello Vaher
Sofie Dossi (Golden Buzzer)
Moya Angela
Kadan Bart Rockett
Julia Scotti
Deadly Games

Another great group of acts! I was so thrilled that Sofie got Reba’s Golden Buzzer because she has great showmanship and her act is exciting yet polished. And while I’m not thrilled with the abundance of singers, I was very happy to see Kadie get through, though Moya I could take or leave. I feel like she over-sings the songs sometimes, though I enjoyed her performance last week more than I did her first audition. Was also pleasantly surprised by Kadan, who I think polished up his act as well. The rest were great too!

The acts sent forward in the George Lopez episode were:

Daniel Joyner
Blake Vogt
Alla and Daniel Novikov
Tape Face
Malevo (Golden Buzzer)
Ryan Stock and AmberLynn
Brian Justin Crum

Okay, here’s where I started to disagree with the judges a bit. I don’t think it’s a good sign that as I look at this list the only act I have a clear memory of is Tape Face, and this episode only aired three days ago at the time I’m writing this. Well, okay, Blake was pretty good too, as was Brian, but that was expected since he’s already starred on Broadway. And I just have to say that even though I think the judges let through way too many singers, cutting Madison Watkins on a night where she clearly had a better showing than most was criminal.

And finally we had this past Wednesday’s episode featuring Louis Tomlinson as a guest judge. The advancing acts were:

ThroWings
The Outlawz
Jayna Brown (Golden Buzzer)
Viktor Kee
Sos and Victoria
Musicality
The Clairvoyants

So another singer got the Golden Buzzer, but I wasn’t surprised since I thought Louis, having been a singer discovered on a reality show himself, might want to “pay it forward” in a way, and I think Jayna really stepped up her game for this round. I was surprised to see the Outlawz do so well (even though I liked their first audition) and while I wasn’t quite as impressed by Musicality as I was the first time around I’m glad they got through. Not surprised about the rest at all, and looking forward to seeing them perform again in the live shows, which start NEXT WEEK!

Be sure to share your opinions on the advancing acts below, and if there were any you were sad to lose. See you next week for the first live show of the season!

July 22, 2016 I Written By

I'm obssessed with the entertainment industry, especially offbeat and nerdy things as well as those that involve live performance. The only thing I love more than geeking out over the things that entertain me is sharing in my excitement with others who share the same passions. America may have talent, but Canada has an up-and-coming blogger who is ready to take the internet by storm!

PureAGT Season 8 Live Show #4 – Power Rankings

Anyone else besides me think they could have just skipped the first hour of last night’s show and not really missed out on anything good? The first five acts really didn’t do much for me – I think I even mentioned on Twitter that the show this week was shaping up to be a big disappointment. 

Luckily, the second half of the show brough some much stronger performances – not necessarily GREAT performances (I really only think one act knocked it out of the park last night), but pretty good ones.  I still think this quarterfinal was one of the weaker ones – someone like Tone the Chiefrocca would have made it through without any problems if he was on last night, I think.

1.) Jimmy Rose – Ok, let me get this off  my chest: I’m all opera’d out and I’m all country’d out (likely due to all the ado about the opera and country acts), so it’s hard for me to really get enthusiastic about really any of the acts in this category at the moment.  I think Jimmy did pretty well – definitely better than Marty did in his quarterfinal, but like Mel I wasn’t really wowed by his song choice.  I don’t think it was one that really fit the twang of his voice well.  But America just seems to go crazy for their country boys, so I’m fully expecting that he’s going to make it through tonight.  Will be interesting to see he & Marty go head to head – I still think Jimmy is the more talented of the two, but I think Marty might be the more popular. 

2.) Cami Bradley – My favorite act of the night, and the only one that I think really delivered and exceeded expectations.  Love, love, LOVED the arrangement of “Believe” and the conviction with which she sang it – what really impresses me about her voice is that she has an incredible amount of control when she’s singing softly.  Incredibly hard to do (often moreso than singing really loudly), and she handled it beautifully.  I have to laugh when I think of how much I underestimated how she’d do in Vegas and then she was really the only female vocalist that didn’t somehow bungle her performance.  I think she flies under the radar because she’s so shy – but then she pulls out performances like this and just blindside people.  I may not be wild about how many singers are making it through to the semifinals, but I can get behind Cami – she’s the real deal.

3.) Timber Brown – Admittedly, I kind of went “Uh-oh, what’s this?” when I saw him come out with that suspended planet-shaped thingie instead of his usual pole.  But I think the gamble worked out in his favor – he was pulling some pretty impressive, high-speed tricks on that thing.  And I think it was Timber’s performance that really woke the show up – he had 4 rather ho-hum acts before him, and I was almost to the point of changing the channel when he came bursting onto the stage.  Glad he was able to salvage the show!

4.) Aerial Ice – I had really high hopes for Aerial Ice, based on their initial performance – but I think their larger set this time around may have been a bit detrimental to their performance, as they seemed to get lost in it.  Their stunts are amazing, no doubt – but I feel like the large set made them lose some cohesiveness, as it felt more like 3 separate couples doing stunts on their own, as opposed to a unified act.  Regardless, I still think that what they do is unique enough that they’ll advance to the semifinals.

5.) TIE: David Ferman & Taylor Williamson – Two guys that I really like, but also two guys who seemed to struggle last night…and the funny thing is, they seem to have the opposite problem: David has the content, but not the delivery…Taylor has the delivery, but not the content.  God love David, he seems like a really good kid with a lot of crazy, cool ideas in his head…and some cojones grandes to carry off these crazy stunts he dreams up.  But his delivery is just so…bland.  He comes off as robotic and stiff, and seems to rush his delivery – and the trick itself was over so quickly that it was hard to appreciate the difficulty of what he was doing.  If I were him, I’d get on YouTube and watch videos of Landon Swank from two seasons ago – kid had this butter-smooth delivery that really brought his tricks to life. Taylor, on the other hand, delivers his jokes with such endearing awkwardness that you find yourself laughing and smiling along with him…even if the joke isn’t particularly funny. And that was his major struggle last night – his material was only mildly funny, and not nearly as strong as we’ve seen from him previously.  I think one of these guys will end up joining Aerial Ice in the judges’ choice – I just can’t decide which one.

7.) 3Penny Chorus & Orchestra – Repeat after me: song choice is EVERYTHING.  And they unfortunately seemed to choose the wrong one – I thought that silly Taylor Swift song just came across as juvenile and annoying.  Truth be told, I wasn’t wild about “Call Me Maybe”, but their delivery of it was novel enough that I enjoyed it.  I didn’t get the same vibe this time around – I just found myself saying “this is silly”.  I also don’t think they benefitted much from going first, especially since the first half of the show was overall much weaker than the 2nd half – I think they might get lost in the shuffle of the weak first hour acts and not get as many votes as they probably should.

8.) Chloe Channell – Sweet, adorable girl, no doubt – but I just think she’s got a lot of maturing to do in her singing before she really becomes a force to be reckoned with.  I also think she’s picked the wrong songs two times in a row now – neither her song in Vegas nor her song last night seemed to serve her well.  I also think she just lacks a bit of stage presence…she doesn’t seem to know how to emote with her face, and just seems to pace back and forth as she’s singing.  Very bright future ahead of her – but I just think it may have been too early for her to make the leap to a show like AGT.

9.) The Robotix – I feel a bit bad for this group – they came into the competition at a bit of a disadvantage, since we didn’t get to see them perform in the audition round or Vegas…so right off the bat, they had to impress the viewers, since they came in with little to no fanbase.  Then they tried to tackle a song that was wayyyy too big for them – and I agree with Howard: the drummer was the raddest, most interesting member of the group to watch, and the rest of the group was just kind of there.  Like Chloe, I think they may have just attempted AGT when they weren’t quite ready. 

10.) SensEtion – A slight improvement from their initial audition, but all in all, they’re still just another “dancing in the dark” act looking to ride the coattails of Fighting Gravity, Team iLuminate, Lightwire Theater, etc.  I still don’t think they’re doing enough dancing in their performances – and the graphics they’re using seem a bit rudimentary and generic…like some kid playing around with Windows Movie Maker.  Just not enough to cut it, at this point.

11.) Champions Forever – I thought this act was a bit cheesy the first time we saw them…and I found them even cheesier this time.  It got repetitive really quickly, even if what they were doing was actually quite difficult; there’s only so many times I can watch a group on unicycles ride around in circles onstage.  Not much more to add – just not enough content at this point in the competition.

12.) Tummy Talk – Oy…the great Tummy Talk debate.  People seem to really hate this act, which is why I have them at the bottom – I don’t see any way they could possibly make it through tonight.  But I actually don’t mind this act too much…is it borderline icky? Sure, but so are a lot of the danger acts we’ve seen.  I actually thought they were pretty creative with their drumming last night, and you can tell these guys do have somewhat of a percussion background.  Let’s put it this way: I’d take them over Aaralyn & Izzy any day. 

So what did you guys think of last night’s performances? And who do you want to see in the semifinals?

August 14, 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 – Roster for 4th Live Show Airing August 13

Here’s the list of acts performing in next week’s live show:

3Penny Chorus & Orchestra (orchestral group)
The Robotix (band)
Aerial Ice (figure skating/aerial group)
Cami Bradley (singer)
David Ferman (dangerous juggler)
Jimmy Rose (country singer)
Champions Forever (aka Spintacular) (basketball trick group)
SensEtion (video screen dance group)
Taylor Williamson (comedian)
Timber Brown (aerial pole)
Chloe Channell (child country singer)
Tummy Talk (clapping percussion group)

I think the one really heavy-hitter here is Aerial Ice – unless they somehow really bomb (doubtful), I see them making it to the semifinals without much of a struggle.  I think Jimmy Rose is probably pretty likely to go through as well, cause America just LOVES their twangy country boys…at least Jimmy seems to have far more natural talent than Marty Brown.  Would love for Taylor Williamson to make it through – I think he’s the funniest comedian we have this season; really like Timber Brown as well, so hopefully he has something good up his sleeve.  I’m kind of lukewarm about the rest.  What do you guys think?

August 8, 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 – Roster for 3rd Live Show Airing August 6

So here’s the list of acts that Nick announced for next week’s live show:

Chicago Boyz (acrobatic group)
Deanna Dellacioppa (singer)
Mitsi Dancing School (Chinese folk dance group)
Brandon & Savannah (band)
Aerosphere (aerial balloon act)
Jim Meskimen (comedic impressionist)
Kenichi Ebina (dancer)
Kelsey & Bailey (dog trick act)
American Military Spouses Choir (choir)
Leon Etienne & Romy Low (illusionist)
Dave “The Cobra Kid” Weathers (snake handler)
Jonathan Allen (opera singer)

First impressions? The heavy hitters in this group are Kenichi, the Chicago Boyz, and Jim Meskimen – those are the 3 that I would guess have the best chance of making it through.  I’m thinking the American Military Spouses Choir is probably going to be toast, as is Mitsi Dancing School and possibly Aerosphere.  I really don’t think we need yet ANOTHER opera act in the semifinals, so I guess I’m kind of hoping that Jonathan Allen doesn’t have the juice to make it through.

What do you guys think?

August 1, 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!