Since my DVR is getting full, I'm going to combine two episodes of AGT into one blog post. I'm watching and writing again. We've got audition episode 7 and the first elimination episode to go.
I'm probably butchering the name, but Xavier Mortimer was pretty cool. Even though all we saw was a quick clip of his audition, I liked it. He seemed funny and I liked the gimmick of things appearing between cymbals. That's something I've not personally seen before.
Too much singing and dancing for my tastes, but that seems to be every episode. I would be really curious to see what would happen if AGT did "Magic Week" and "Singing Week" and "Dancing Week" and "Danger Week" and whatever else. I'm sure a lot of people would tune in for everything, but I personally would only watch a couple and probably other people would as well. I think the ratings would be interesting.
I wish I had the ability to do that human flag stuff. It's always seemed so fluid and magical to me. I'm a sucker for it. And since I'm talking about strength and acrobatic acts, Duo Volta was amazing. I think that was one of the few acts (besides magic, of course) that I would watch a whole show of.
Did Howie offer to bench press Heidi just so he could feel her up? Good work.
I think I found the first musical act I like. It could just be that I'm a sucker for Nina Simone ever since playing The Saboteur (and hearing Sinner Man in Sherlock) but I really really liked them. We'll see if I stay a fan after hearing them next time.
This show is fucking dragging. I feel bad because I recognize that these people have talent, I just don't care. Apropos of nothing, why does everyone call Mel B. Mel B? There aren't two Mel's on the panel. Just Mel would suffice. A minor annoyance I just realized annoyed me.
Okay, finally on to the judge cut rounds. Glad to see NPH on as a guest judge. These first dancers are very good. I've always liked the multimedia dance acts. I think they will stick around for a while.
I liked Paul Ponce in his first audition, not really sure how much I cared for this. I feel like it was about the same as the first time around, one stunt repeated over and over. It was certainly impressive, but I'm not sure about it. I think, though, it speaks to his multitude of skills. I have no doubt he could carry a show by himself, he's just not blowing through everything he can do at once.
At the beginning of this crossbow act, I'm more impressed by the guy balancing a bottle on top of a balloon than anything else. I've always liked the multiple crossbow thing where you shoot an apple from your own head. I'm sure that has a name, but I don't know what it is. Very cool.
Not a big fan of the big dance group. They are talented like crazy, don't get me wrong. I did enjoy the 90 seconds of their act, but I think that's about the threshold for my own personal enjoyment.
This professional cuddler is not making it through this round. She hasn't even started the act yet and I'm calling this. I took that opportunity to go to the bathroom and didn't even see the act, but when I came back she had four X's. Called that one.
Now we've got the little kids dancing and the little kids orchestra. Either of these have a shot, just based on the kid factor alone. I feel like they give more chances to the kids. I could be wrong, I have no data to back this up. I could probably find it, but this blog is about me spouting off bullshit, not research and facts.
I fast forwarded past the girl singing. She's lovely, but I just don't care. I'm a dick, I'm sorry.
Time for some magic now! Finally! Michael John is first up. I liked him the first time around, though after the fact I saw a lot of chatter about how can someone get through just using a Svengali deck. First of all, I didn't even realize it was a Svengali which is kind of embarrassing. Secondly, everyone seems to forget about the second half of the trick with still blew me away. Looks like he's doing Sinful here. I've played with this trick in the past. I feel like he doesn't have good presentational skills. He's talented for sure, but he needs to open up. Smoothini went quite far doing close up magic, but he has a much more gregarious personality. I don't think he's going to make it out of this round.
Motherfucking Piff! I love Piff, loved him since I first saw him on Fool Us. The only negative thing I can say about him, and I think I already said it, is he thought of this shtick before I could. I love it and wish I could steal it. Surprised he's working with Heidi again, I thought she was a pretty shitty assistant last time. I really liked this trick. Great presentation, great magic. Piff is going to go far. Golden buzzer yo!
Stand up comedian up next. I like comedy, I feel like this is a rough audience for comedians though. Myq was really funny. I would like to see him again, hopefully he makes it through.
Got some singers going on now. Not my cup of tea. I think I'm going to run out of time to watch the rest of this before I have to get to work.
Oh, my band's back! Gonna give these guys a shot and see if I still like them or if it was just Nina Simone. Yeah, I don't like them as much as I used to. They are very good and I don't hate them, but I'm not the biggest fan. They would be great as a bar band or playing at a keg party in a stereotypical college movie. I just don't feel it for the big picture. The judges completely disagree with me. Probably why I'm not a judge.
They're showing dance acts. I liked the bit I saw with the guy and his hats and twisting arms. I like the tumbling and gymnastic act. I don't think either of them is gonna be a Vegas show.
I gotta go to work. This is officially to be continued tonight.
OK, 9 hours later I'm back into this. Got about a half hour to go.
I genuinely don't know if this grandmaster kung fu guy is for real or not. I feel like at the very least he could be doing a shitty magic act, like someone who wants to be taken at face value. If that's the case, he needs to hit the tricks a little sooner so people quit booing. Special Head from a couple seasons ago was good at that. He stretched the chanting out a little bit longer than I feel a traditional magician would, but got to the levitation before the crowd completely hated him.
Have I mentioned I don't really care for singers? This last girl has some pipes though. Started off not fast forwarding because I was lazy, but I ended up listening because I liked it. Again, it's not that I don't think the singers have talent but I wish they'd go on a singing show. I can't go on The Voice and start doing card tricks. Or can I? I might have to try that...
All right, time to start actually sending people home. Let's see how this goes. Spoilers ahead, but it's probably too late for that anyway.
The tumblers and the children's orchestra are both going home. Personally, I'm okay with that. Makes me sad to see the kids cry though.
The big dance company is going through. Like I said above, they're crazy talented but they just don't do it for me. I would rather see a magician or variety act in their place.
Michael John got eliminated over Myq Kaplin and I think I'm okay with that. I love magic and would rather have had Michael over the dance group, but I agree that Michael really didn't bring it this round.
The multimedia dance group is going through, and I'm super happy about that. Freelusion. Finally caught their name. They're good, and I'm a sucker for that kind of stuff.
The rock band beat out the kid dancers and the dancer with the hats. I can't be mad about that, because I think I would have made the same decision even though I didn't really care for their last song.
Oh great, bring out mom and dad versus the child! Silvia Silvia is going through, and I think that's okay. I liked Paul's act, but I can see why they didn't think he was big enough for the live shows. I will be interested to see how Silvia brings it.
Finally, the girl with the great voice who sang last is going through. Of the three singers they brought out together, I liked her best. Not really any complaints here.
I have to say, I liked this cut down show better than how it's been handled on previous seasons. Seemed a lot shorter and to the point, which I appreciate. Gotta say, trying to watch 4 hours of this shit at once got a little rough.
Now that this is done, I've got Penn and Teller and Masters of Illusion to catch up on. Another day.
- Andster
No comments:
Post a Comment