Liliana

As a lackluster audition season comes to a close, Monday’s episode of America’s Got Talent needed to leave a great impression. This was no time for awful acts that deserved to be laughed off the stage. This was no time for forgettable acts that would never be heard from again. This episode needed to find possible winners. Unfortunately, as soon as the show opened with an act featuring a pig, this night seemed doomed. It didn’t get much better afterwards.

The opening feature package showed a woman excited to show the world her pig’s talent. I could not imagine any talent that this act would show. As it turns out, the pig didn’t really have a talent. She ran into bowling pins seemingly accidentally and squeaked what looked like a bicycle horn with her mouth. The judges didn’t understand it and promptly rejected it. Of course, it wasn’t worth being shown on television at all, so AGT was continuing a problem it has had all season.

Both the “No” and the “Yes” montages that followed were just as forgettable. An average singer, some dance groups, and some acts that weren’t made clear got voted through to Vegas. Some bad singers and more variety acts that could never hold anyone’s attention were rejected from going to the next round. The montage sections of the show has been a constant disappointment throughout the auditions. They are supposed to give the viewer a sense of the talent and lack of talent that was found in various cities. They could never do that in two minutes. The montages just ended up being unnecessary parts of each hour.

Another full package story covered 6 year old tap dancer Liliana. I knew from the start that she would make it to Vegas, so naturally it got boring fast. She was an average dancer, but was not anything special. I gained some respect for Howard when he said no, saying that he didn’t see it as a million dollar act. This is completely true for a lot of child acts, but rarely said for fear of crushing the kid. Nonetheless, Sharon and Howie were entertained and Liliana made  it to Vegas. It seems that most of the acts that get accepted are only mildly entertaining. It’s truly unfortunate that it is too late in the season for a higher standard of talent to be found.

The show got even more disappointing when it featured a woman whose primary objective was to meet Howard Stern. As she babbled excitedly about getting to meet Howard and her package was set to Salt ‘N’ Peppa’s “Whatta Man”, I knew for sure this act was going to be terrible. I somehow knew she had no talent. I just had no idea how right I actually was. She came on stage claiming that she “talk[s] really fast and [she’s] a rapper.” After her audition proved to be a train wreck, she confessed that she just needed to make up a talent to meet Howard. Howard, of course, reacted very positively to this. All I could do was shake my head. This part of the show was absolutely pathetic. This was the last chance for the show to redeem itself and to find exceptional talent. Instead, they feature someone who didn’t even try to have a talent. AGT had no business airing this segment at all.

One of the few memorable acts of the night came from 23 year-old comedian Jacob Williams. His charmingly awkward stage presence and conversational wit won the crowd and the judges over. Howie made the very profound comment that people are going to remember him, but somehow I doubt that is going to be the case. Comedians have been few and far between in the show’s 7 year history and the ones that are shown have been known to get cut relatively fast. Williams did very well and I would be pleasantly surprised if he advanced, but I doubt that is going to happen.

The last act of the night was singer Mary Joyner. Her backstory had a lot of sentimentality. Having a pretty good indication that she was going to go through to Vegas, I was already bored. Her singing was alright, but only slightly better than most of the acts in the montages. Sentimental aspects should not be enough of a “hook”, but regrettably they are enough for most people.

Overall, Monday’s episode of AGT was a disappointment and I doubt the show will be able to redeem itself this season. The acts are going to have to seriously improve going forward if that assumption is going to be proven wrong.