Archer Ben Blaque

America’s Got Talent began Vegas Week last night and there really was no reason to be optimistic about this season. It has been a disappointment. There have been many acts that were terrible and not even remotely entertaining. Most of the acts that made it through to Vegas were only average.

The hour opened with the crowd of acts scrambling as they were told that they would be split into three groups: the judge’s favorites, the standbys, and those who weren’t on either list. The acts in the last group would not perform in Vegas and would either be sent home right away or sent straight to the New York rounds. This was very repetitive, as the acts were shown on camera all saying basically the same thing that they had a good performance at the auditions and they hope they make it through. This did not hold my attention at all and the time could’ve been used to give the acts more screen time.

Of course, more screen time for the acts wouldn’t have helped the night get better. The skill in past seasons simply doesn’t compare to what this season is offering.

The acts on Monday night performed terribly for the most part. The night started with the dangerous acts, which included a BMX team and archer Ben Blaque. The acts in this category for the most part either made a glaring mistake or were largely unimpressive. The judges were understandably disappointed. This is simply a poor standard of talent and the acts should be expected to be better at this point. None of the danger acts were capable of holding anyone’s attention. In fact, the performances were probably worse than before.

Next were the singers, they all “blew it,” which the judge kept repeating. Either their nerves got the best of them or they are simply not good. However, it doesn’t matter, neither circumstance is acceptable at this point. The stakes are simply too high. The judges sent one performer home immediately after her performance, which was incredibly disappointing. Even the so-called front runners were not good enough. I suppose it’s beneficial that Mary Joyner could no longer skate by based on who her parents are because I was really getting sick of that aspect of the show. Even Andrew De Leon, who was the shy kid that blew the judges away and seemed like a front runner, did poorly. During his Vegas performance, he stopped in the middle of his song. He wasn’t the only one. It was inexplicable and unacceptable for so many acts to apologize for poor performances. The most highly praised dancers also made really obvious mistakes and don’t deserve to go to the live shows.

Most of the acts are either unskilled or clearly not worthy of a million dollars. The problem is the judges have to pick 48 acts send to New York. I find it hard to believe that there are 48 acts that have a shot at winning at all, but the judges have to follow the show’s rules. It seems that is the only thing motivating them at this point. The truth is, the only impressive act of the night was Horse, whose talent (if you can call it that) is the ability to sustain blows to his testicles. I have no doubt America is going to hate him.

The judges usually have a hard time in Vegas sending people home. They usually say that the talent is overwhelming, which means the decision will be tough. In this case, the difficulty comes from the fact that the talent is unequivocally underwhelming and there are no true standouts.