Well, the “WTF?” train didn’t leave the station after last night – still more shocking eliminations (and even MORE shocking advances to the live shows) than last night. I’m now convinced that some acts are just going to be there for the sake of variety and to serve as cannon fodder for the REALLY good acts.
First, let’s get the verdicts out of the way…
Acts that made it to the live shows after performing in Vegas:
(acts with a * next to them did not appear in the audition round – Vegas is the first time we’ve seen them)
Collins Key
Leon Etienne & Romy Low
Brad Byers
Slackwire Sam
Alex Magala
Special Head
Brandon & Savannah
Forte
The American Hit Men
Marty Brown
Dave Fenley
Duo Resonance
Timber Brown
Kristef Brothers
Izzy & Aaralyn
Chloe Channell
2Unique
Ciana Pelekai
Taylor Williamson
John Wing*
Hype
Kid the Wiz
D’Angelo & Amanda
Jonas & Ruby
David Ferman
Rong Niu
Deanna Dellacioppa
Jonathan Allen
Cami Bradley (not shown, but advanced according to Wikipedia)
Selena Mykenzie Gordon (not shown, but advanced according to Wikipedia)
Court’s thoughts: Why the HELL are Aaralyn & Izzy still in this competition??? I find nothing about them talented, entertaining, cute, or unique – in fact, it actually disturbs me a bit that they’re being pushed in this direction musically, and that no one appears to be teaching this child proper vocal technique. At this rate, she’ll be lucky if she doesn’t have chronic laryngitis by the time she’s 16! I officially dub Aaralyn & Izzy this year’s “Horse”. Also a little miffed that 2Unique made it through – the DJ is pretty good, but I don’t think the other girl is anything special, nor do I think the act as a whole is worthy of a Vegas show. Also a bit skeptical that Chloe Channell made it through, despite giving a rather lackluster performance in Vegas. Gotta say, I’m surprised they took both D’Angelo & Amanda and Ruby & Jonas – not because one is less talented than the other, but because I thought for sure they were going to pit sibling-against-sibling for a slot in the live shows…guess they figured the sibling vs. sibling storyboarding angle could work for the live shows, too. Beyond the acts that I mentioned, I guess I’m pretty happy with the acts that made it through.
Acts that were cut after performing in Vegas:
Ariann Black*
Naathan Phan
RJ Cantu*
Tavi & Antonio
“Accro” Brandon Rosario*
Travis Pratt
Paul Thomas Mitchell
Lil Demon
Melody Caballeros*
Archbishop Molloy Step Team*
Art Spark*
Skilyr Hicks
Genesis Nava*
Jimmy Failla*
Eric Schwartz*
Megan Piphus
Kennedy Davenport*
Dylan Wilson
Lil Mike & Funny Bone (cut immediately after performing)
Court’s thoughts: First, I feel I must point out the pattern here: most of the acts that weren’t featured from the audition rounds, did not make it to the live shows. Guess that goes to show that if you don’t get a lot of airtime devoted to you, it’s probably because you won’t be sticking around long, anyway. Now, a “WTF?!” moment: why were Travis Pratt & Paul Thomas Mitchell cut??? I think the former’s unique voice would have been an asset in the live shows, and the latter also had a unique voice and some genuine songwriting talent. *sigh* Like Milton Patton, I guess I can only hope that they get called back for the wild card round. Beyond those two, I think I for the most part agree with the acts that were cut – seemed like some of them really blew it in Vegas (notably Megan Piphus and Skilyr Hicks) while others probably never really stood a chance to begin with (Dylan Wilson and Lil Mike & Funny Bone). The rest were acts that we didn’t really see much of, anyway, so it didn’t really affect me much to see them cut.
Acts that performed in Vegas (continued from Night #1)
Kid Musicians:
Aaralyn & Izzy
Chloe Channell
Genesis Nava*
Ciana Pelekai
Court’s thoughts: You already know how I feel about Aaralyn & Izzy….grrr. I thought Chloe Channell actually blew it with her song choice – her performance ended up being kind of blah, and she may have fared better if she had switched songs with Genesis. I think the only one that knocked it out of the park was Ciana – I was skeptical after seeing her in the audition round, but her rendition of “I’d Rather Go Blind” brought the house down.
Magicians:
RJ Cantu*
Naathan Phan
Collins Key
Ariann Black*
Leon Etienne & Romy Low
Court’s thoughts: Only one real standout for me – once again, Collins Key aced his performance. I love that he’s going the route of up-close, more intimate tricks as opposed to these large-scale illusions that so many other acts are going for. Ariann totally blew it – her trick went wrong and she refused to admit it. Thought RJ’s trick would have been far more impressive if he had done it with the lights on – it was so damn dark, you could tell he was trying to hide something. I agree with Howard about Naathan – his magic is good, but his delivery is awkward. I guess Leon & Romy’s trick was kind of cool, but it also struck me as a little boring.
Variety acts:
Special Head
Kennedy Davenport*
Megan Piphus
Lil Mike & Funny Bone
Court’s thoughts: This category was a little bit of a dud for me – nobody really seemed to rise to their full potential. Thought Special Head fared the best, but agreed with the judges that his audition trick was more impressive. If we’ve seen one dancing/lip syncing drag queen, I feel like we’ve seen them all – so I wasn’t terribly impressed by Kennedy Davenport. Megan and Lil Mike & Funny Bone both completely blew their Vegas performances – Megan looked downright amateurish trying to sing “ABC” with her puppet, and I don’t know that Lil Mike & Funny Bone even rehearsed at all, since they both seemed to be forgetting their choreography and just wandering around the stage aimlessly. I think the latter may have wasted their one great song on the audition round and just didn’t have anything else that was equally strong to fall back on…so who knows, maybe they were kind of doomed from the get-go. But they did seem rather lackadaisical about the whole thing, so I guess I agree with the judges eliminating them immediately after they performed.
Male singers:
Dave Fenley
Marty Brown
Paul Thomas Mitchell
Jonathan Allen
Travis Pratt
Court’s thoughts: I love Dave Fenley more and more each time I hear him perform – loved his gravelly acoustic take on “These Arms of Mine”. I agree with the judges that I thought Marty was better in his audition than he was in Vegas – he wasn’t terrible, per se, but I just found myself a bit bored. Seemed like Paul fumbled a bit with “Sunday Morning”, but I still loved his voice and thought for sure he’d be going to the live shows. Jonathan Allen definitely improved from his initial audition – seems like he has a lot better control over his voice now. Poor Travis Pratt – I think he did a commendable job with “Ave Maria”, but the judges just couldn’t seem to get past the fact that he sings like a woman.
So the roster is set for Radio City Music Hall!!! Who are you most excited to see in the live shows? And who are you sad to see eliminated?
