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AGT Results Recap: August 29th
From Left to Right: Comedian Tom Cottor, Host Nick Cannon, Sand Artist Joe Castillo, and Earth Harpist William Close
Only three acts were eligible to advance to the finals of America’s Got Talent this week. Surprisingly, the competition actually got serious. There were 12 acts performing for a spot in the finals. Certainly more than three of the acts deserved to advance, but the AGT is finally realizing its potential. The tough eliminations made the hour exciting.
The hour opened with an unnecessary commentary on the semifinalists from guest comedian Steve Harvey. Harvey seemed to do a terrible job at crudely connecting the acts to his own personal life. He wasn’t funny at all. On the bright side, he was simply honest when it came time to talk about Tom Cotter, saying that he is pulling for him to win the competition. It’s a nice sentiment, but Harvey’s appearance was still a waste of time.
To make the show last an hour, Nick Cannon told the viewers that the results would be announced differently this week. First, the four acts with the highest vote totals would be announced in no particular order. Then, the three finalists would be revealed. The first grouping was Joe Castillo, Turf, and The Scott Brothers. It was a great performance night Tuesday with all these acts performing reasonably well. However, none of these acts seemed like standouts on Tuesday. That being said, of the three acts, it makes sense that Castillo got one of the Top 4 spots.
America’s Got Talent: Semifinals Round 1
The Scott Brothers
Overall, this season of America’s Got Talent has been subpar. The live shows started with 48 acts, more than half of whom did not deserve to be seen again. Including the YouTube show, roughly two-thirds of the acts seen on live television have been eliminated. That seems about right, although there are still some acts that shouldn’t have another shot. Only three acts out of the 12 performing are advancing this week.That being said, Tuesday’s show was full of talent. It makes the decision for who advances genuinely difficult for one of the only times in the entire season. However, as with the last quarterfinal performances, it seems too much of the best talent was put on one show.
Andrew De Leon
Andrew De Leon is a talented opera singer. His performance of “Ave Maria” was technically good, but it wasn’t special. There’s no doubt he would be a better singer with training, but, unfortunately, he went from singing in his bedroom straight to the national stage. The crowd seemed a lot less engaged in this performance than last week’s performance. There’s no question De Leon has a lot of natural talent, but he does not have star quality. If he was grouped with other acts or was in another stage of the competition, his performance might have been sufficient. However, it isn’t sufficient this time. De Leon’s time on AGT is most likely over. Read the rest of this entry
Tampa Bay’s Not So Hot for America’s Got Talent
Big Barry posing with Howard Stern
America’s Got Talent has gotten a lot of coverage lately after the Tim Poe controversy, but I was just hoping to see some quality or at least memorable acts on Tuesday’s show. After all, it’s what the show should be known for. Whether it’s showcasing the true idiots of the world or actually finding unique undiscovered talent, the show has failed to do either many times this season. Tuesday was another disappointment.
The second Tampa Bay Episode opened with a Latin dance crew called The Untouchables, which is made up of kids ranging from ages 8-13. It was obvious that the group would make it through, for the simple fact that they’re kids with high energy that can be endearing. It’s also horribly boring. There is almost never a large dance act that isn’t reasonably coordinated and refined. It is not good for the viewer to know who goes through in advance. It would have been a little better if the performance was great, but it wasn’t. It was average. The show is at its best when it showcases the superior and the atrocious. This was neither.
The montages, both successful and unsuccessful, also were not anything exciting. Granted, these are the acts deemed unworthy of a viewer’s full attention, but that shouldn’t lend itself to inadequacy and boredom. A singer with an okay voice, a dancing duo, an illusionist get sent to Las Vegas. A singer with a slightly worse voice and some variety acts whose talents are unclear do not move to the next round. They’re all basically the same. The people voted through will probably not be seen again. The people who were rejected won’t get talked about again. It just seems like an elaborate time filler.
Another act featured was a squirrel that water skis. Some animal novelty acts can be fun and entertaining. This one certainly wasn’t. As Sharon and Howard agreed, it is nowhere near big enough for a Vegas show. Howie disagreed only out of curiosity to see the act do better in Vegas. It honestly would have been more entertaining to watch the squirrel go too fast around the pool and fall multiple times. That would have been worth a proper and unequivocal rejection. Instead, the squirrel technically succeeded with the act. It just wasn’t good. This act was not good enough to be considered a worthy talent. It was not horrible enough to be considered a hopeless excuse for entertainment. If it does not fit either of those, it isn’t worthy of being aired at all.
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