Ashleigh and Pudsey

A  poor night of performances has become the norm on this season’s America’s Got Talent, so the result shows are not really exciting. It’s hard to root for anybody to advance. AGT makes it seem like sending four acts to the next round makes the decision tough because two-thirds of the acts get sent home. However, the real challenge is not deciding which acts have to go home, but rather which average acts will get an undeserving chance at winning the competition. In a season like this, a semifinal of 24 acts seems too big. America is forced to choose the best of the worse.

The first result grouped Mike Price, Jacob Williams, and Cristin Sandu. This was an easy decision for America, but it wasn’t a rewarding one. This group was made up of a juggler who dropped his props, a balancing act that failed, and a promising comedian whose skills are still raw. Williams was the only performer out of these three whose act went as planned. Of course, that gave him an advantage. I’m happy for Williams. While he may have deserved to advance, he also got pretty lucky.

After the first result was a performance by the winner of last season’s Britain’s Got Talent. It featured a 17-year old girl named Ashleigh who danced around with her dog, Pudsey.  I was surprised it was an animal act that won because they have usually done horribly in America.  Nonetheless, I thought that maybe Ashleigh and Pudsey would be able to set a standard that none of the acts on AGT have been able to set. Unfortunately, I was wrong. It looked like it would have been a good audition, but nothing happened that would have made her a front runner immediately. I’m not sure how famous they’ll become or if we’ll remember them for long.

The performance was followed by a montage of  Tuesday night’s behind the scenes footage that I’m sure most people ignored. The behind the scenes efforts may have made the show happen, but that’s irrelevant to the people watching. They just want to see the show. The montage was time filler. It was simply something used to make the show last an hour.  Though I happened to enjoy it, I’m pretty sure I’m in the minority.

The next group had Beef Patty, Inspire The Fire, and Lightwire Theater Company. This was once again a very easy decision. None of these acts should really have a shot at winning. I don’t think Lightwire Theater was as great as the audience reaction that followed it. However, they deserve to move forward, if only because one of these three has to go to the next round. Every judge thought they stole the night and I disagree. No act really did. I suppose they should have advanced, but I really wouldn’t care if they didn’t.

The third result featured The Untouchables, Jake Wesley Rogers, and Elusive.  None of these three acts were terrible and all of them seem to have a bit of promise. I thought that Rogers could have benefited from a different song with a better arrangement, though he also needs time to mature. Elusive is an okay dancer and looked better during auditions. The judges all loved The Untouchables and marveled at their young ages. Honestly, they are good dancers but not amazing. Either way, they advanced. These acts were all just average enough to make this result a tossup. Since none of them really deserved to move forward in the competition, it was very irritating.

Next was a performance by DJ Havana Brown. I had never heard of her and I didn’t know what to expect exactly. I just had a feeling I wasn’t going to like it very much. I was right even though she’s a professional act. She certainly was a good time filler as her act dragged on for way too long. Maybe it’s just bad luck, but even the professionals have been substandard at times this season.

In the final group of three, Spencer Horsman was eliminated first. He can clearly do better than Tuesday night’s performance, so I’m hoping he gets a wildcard spot. The judges choice was left between Wordspit, The Illest! and All Wheel Sports. I didn’t like Wordspit at all and I couldn’t pay that much attention to All Wheel Sports. I was nonetheless impressed with what I did see. Howard championed Wordspit, The Illest, so that was his vote. Howie thought that All Wheel Sports was worthy of headlining in Vegas. All America had to do was trust him. Sharon took forever to make her decision just because she doesn’t like rejecting acts. She ultimately went with All Wheel Sports.

Simply put, the quarterfinal acts haven’t been good. The performances that were considered amazing are only slightly better than average. I don’t know how much better the other 12 acts in the Top 48 can be. Considering how disappointing this season has been, I have little hope.