Free America's Got Talent Newsletter Want to receive the latest news on America's Got Talent sent straight to your email? Join hundreds of other AGT fans who subscribe to Pure AGT for FREE!

Pure AGT Season 11 Quarter-Finals Week 2 Power Rankings

Well, last night was certainly interesting. There may have been a few mistakes in some of the performances, but on the whole I found the show to be much more entertaining than last week’s…which means we’re in for quite a heartbreaking results show tonight. It also means these Power Rankings are much more likely to be off from the actual results than last week’s were.

Remember, this list is in order of who I think got the most to least votes last night, NOT necessarily who I personally want to see move forward or go home.

1. The Clairvoyants – Amid some speculation of some people on the internet possibly figuring out the secret to their previous performances, these two truly stepped up their game last night and brought something very different than what we’ve seen from them in the past. They are also the only act I am absolutely sure will get through based on last night’s votes alone.

2. Steven Brundage – The power of the internet strikes again! Steven Brundage is BACK and ready to play! It really is amazing how much this guy can do with just a few Rubik’s Cubes and a paper bag, and even though it is starting to get just a little repetitive, I think the audience’s votes will allow us to see him perform for us on the Dolby stage one more time.

3. Calysta Bevier – As Musicality proved last week, the inspirational vote is a powerful thing, and Calysta’s story is certainly inspirational. Fortunately, I think she gave a great performance to back it up, though I’m not a fan of her song choices thus far (I don’t really like generic “bravery” anthems in general). But yeah, I have a feeling she got enough votes to continue on to the Semi-Finals.

4. Sofie Dossi – I think this is one of the few “child” acts (okay, maybe “underage” would be a better term for some of them) that is just as impressive when you take away the age factor. Sofie’s performance last night was very similar to some things we’ve seen from her previously, but I definitely see her getting a spot in the next round. (The fact that she managed to successfully perform a move with her feet and blindfolded that we saw someone earlier in the night fail to complete while using her hands without a blindfold couldn’t have hurt her chances either.)

5. Sal Valentinetti – There’s only so much variety a singer can have in their performances, especially when sticking to one specific genre of music, but Sal managed to put a fun twist on it by rearranging a One Direction song! I know that turned some people off, but a lot of people seem to be responding well to him so far, so my guess is that he will go through to the Semi-Finals.

6. Viktor Kee – I think Viktor absolutely deserves to move forward, but I fear he may have gotten a bit lost in the shuffle last night, especially due going so early and making that mistake. However, I have seen some support for him so I’m thinking he’s gonna be on the bubble but make it through via the re-vote or the Judges’ Save tonight.

7. Kadie Lynn – This girl already seems to have built up quite the fanbase, and being the only country act remaining bodes quite well for her. But again, I fear between the running order and the fact that she didn’t do anything particularly new she’ll be at risk tonight. But depending on who else is in danger I think she has a decent chance of continuing on.

8. ThroWings –
This was another “more of the same” act and I originally had them lower on this list (aka definitely being eliminated tonight) but the surprising amount of support for them I saw last night makes me think they could make it to the yellow zone. If they do get there, I think their best shot at moving on is the audience vote, because the judges didn’t seem quite as impressed with them as they were with a lot of other performances this week.

9. Moya Angela – This was the act I originally had at #8 and I still think she has a shot at making the yellow zone but if she does I have a feeling she’ll be the one going home, as the judges seemed underwhelmed by last night’s performance (which was actually my favorite of hers yet because I felt like she had great stage presence and wasn’t over-singing the song) and I didn’t hear very much buzz about her from the viewers. But I did notice she got some votes from people who are normally very anti-singer when it comes to this show so that could mean something good.

10. Sos and Victoria – I was pleasantly surprised when I found out this act got the coveted “showstopping” slot of the night, but after an evening of excellent performances this one didn’t quite measure up to the majority of them for me, especially because of the mistakes. And if by chance we do see them on the bubble tonight, I don’t think they’ll get the Dunkin’ Save or the Judges’ Save.

11. Ryan and AmberLynn – First and foremost, I’m very happy Ryan is going to be okay. The two of them handled the mishap professionally and I admire them for that. I think there’s a very small possibility they could make it to the yellow zone tonight since I did see some votes thrown their way, but I imagine they’re going to be eliminated by the end of the evening either way.

12. FLIP – This act wasn’t a bad one by any means, but it wasn’t anything special compared to most of the others. Just goes to show just how good this week was, because if these ladies had performed on last week’s episode I think they would have had a decent shot at going forward (same goes for pretty much all of this week’s acts). But as is, I jut don’t see them moving forward, though it was nice to see them perform one last time as Wildcards.

Do you agree with my predictions? Disagree? We’ll find out in an hour who’s moving on!

August 3, 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!

Pure AGT Season 11 – Auditions Week 6

This was the last week of preliminary auditions this season! Like last week, we were treated to a variety of acts, but this time we had a significantly lower number of montages!

The show started off with a bunch of American-themed acts, including a lady standing on her head singing the National Anthem, a bottom-psychic, and a girl who gurgled the National Anthem. They were all rejected.

Cody “The Twirler” Carter: 14-year-old baton twirler who claimed to eventually want to be part of Cirque du Soleil. Launched right into a fast-paced routine involving multiple batons and even a bit of dancing! Mel B said it made her happy. Heidi said it was “extraordinary”. Howie said it was a bit “dated” and he wanted it to be a bit more up-to-date. Simon said he was a “born entertainer”.
The Verdict: 4 yes’s.

Just Us: Four friends who performed a “jazzy swingin’ vocal quartet”.They sang “All About that Bass” in a jazz style. I didn’t have enough time to form an opinion on it because…
The Verdict: All the judges buzzed them right away.

Ilan and Josh: Met in Israel a few years prior to their audition. They also performed an a capella cover of “All About that Bass” but this time as a beatbox number! At first the crowd didn’t seem to like it, but by the end they were on their feet cheering! Simon called it “cute’ to the confusion of Mel B. The other judges were quite impressed!
The Verdict: 4 yes’s.

We see a bunch of dance crew auditions will a bunch of conflicting opinions from Heidi and Simon.

The Outlaws: Group of male dancers from Arizona who never had any formal dance training. Launch into an energetic hip-hop number and the audience immediately goes nuts over it. I noticed they didn’t dance entirely in sync, instead giving individual dancers little moments in the spotlight, which I thought made the performance interesting and exciting to watch. Howie and Simon liked it, while Heidi didn’t and Mel B had mixed feelings. (Also, THOSE WERE NOT AMISH HATS, HOWIE!)
The Verdict: 3 yes’s from Howie, Simon, and after some prompting from the crowd, Mel B.

Daniel Joyner: 17-year-old singer from the “Bible Belt” in Tennessee. Sings “Try a Little Tenderness” His performances started off simple but the audience loved it. The he started tipping the mic stand and they went wild. Finally, he finished off with a return to the slow and simple feel of the beginning of the song. Heidi and Mel B commented on his stiffness and Simon said his act was “a little bit too perfect”, but all four judges said he had a great voice.
The Verdict: 4 yes’s.

John Bernhardt: Actuary who played “Should I Stay or Should I Go?” on a theremin. It started off strange but ended…still strange, but in a good way! Mel B hated it at first but loved it by the end.
The Verdict: 2 buzzers but 3 yes’s! (Howie, Mel B, and Simon)

Sila Sveta: Dancing duo who told a story via an elaborately lit background. They danced on the floor and there was a mirror projecting what was happening to the audience. The judges thought it was exciting and unique.
The Verdict: 4 yes’s.

Moya Angela: 32-year-old teacher with a powerhouse voice! Started off strong and only got stronger! The song she performed was “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” and it seemed like it was loved by audience and judges alike, as she got a standing ovation that lasted a long time. “That’s what we call a singer.” – Simon
The Verdict: 4 yes’s.

The Passing Zone: Jugglers named John and Owen (they actually met at a juggling convention!) from Southern California. Called Howie up onstage and had him lay down on a yoga mat. Owen straddled him and juggled three “danger items” and then John jumped over Howie and took over the juggling.
The Verdict: Howie pressed the buzzer after they said they would be including him in their next performance too, but the other 3 judges gave yes’s!

Steven Brundage: Obsessed with Rubix Cubes for most of his life and does a magic trick with them, also involving paper bags. Has Simon mix up a Rubix Cube and manages to “magically” solve another one to create the same patterns as his. The judges were absolutely blown away!
The Verdict: 4 yes’s.

Montage time! It featured a pair of spinning roller-skaters, a guy who did a stand-up routine about the “inappropriate” side of Disney movies, an a confident eleven-year-old girl who performed a rap song. All got 4 yes’s!

RL Bell: Singing massage therapist (not necessarily at the same time). His audition song was “Me and Mrs. Jones” and he really sold it. He took his jacket and glasses off in the middle of the number and the crowd went wild. Simon may have called it “corny” but I saw him smiling the whole way through. The other judges enjoyed it as well.
The Verdict: Howie gave him a no because he believed RL wasn’t going to take Simon’s advice. The other 3 gave yes’s (though Simon only barely).

Dorothy Williams: 90-year-old dancer from Hawaii. Before this audition we saw a clip saying it was the last one they did, but I guess that could easily have been edited in from a different part of that day. She started by singing “Let Me Entertain You” and then did a striptease. Yes, that happened. Simon gave it a standing ovation, Mel B enjoyed it, Heidi said it was “really really special”, and Howie said he was happy she was there. Then *fake gasps* Nick came out and told the crowd about their conversation behind-the-scenes about how dancing was always her life’s dream and then *bigger fake gasps* he jumped off the stage and HIT THE GOLDEN BUZZER!!!!!!! D

I wish they hadn’t hyped up that Nick was going to hit the Golden Buzzer because that would have been a legitimately shocking and buzz-worthy moment but it was still a sweet one! Next week will be the first of four “Judges Cuts” episodes, each featuring a special guest judge! Until then, comment below what your favourite audition this week was!

July 7, 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!