giaNtsandYankees

It's been two months already, but here is the photo of the new Winder baby, Ephraim...

Holy $@!# ! Those eyebrows! No, Meri! No!

I'm glad that I'm not the only one that felt that way...

Looks like Joe and Cynthia are still good friends...

How many times and how many contestants are the judges going to say, "Be true to yourself" to? Seriously, isn't that universal advice? If we were to start a drinking game with that phrase, we'd be in trouble.

Catching up again on Hulu... Bir Khalsa is an interesting act, but hitting hammers against objects on or near the gentleman's body does get a little repetitive for my taste. "Coconuts on the coconuts." Okay, Simon. So much for this "being a family show." But G-Force is coming up to remind us that it is. Speaking of, I agreed with Howie on G-Force. I couldn't understand some of what they sang. But they made a song with Simon's name in it. Of course he's going to fight for them. I think they'll be perfect for Kidz Bop or the Disney Channel, but not for Vegas. Then again, I thought Grace would be great for Disney and she ended up winning her season... Oh. Sh**t. Moving forward... Gabrielle telling that she preferred Lamont's cocky. No, girl. Uh-uh. If I recall correctly from his first audition's package, he's been playing in small auditoriums (or for a small audience). He's not in the place to be cocky. In some interviews that I've seen with Little Richard, he seemed cocky. Although I don't think Little Richard is a cocky person, I do feel that he earned the right to be...and then some. Lamont is not at Little Richard level. But I guess it's a little "uppity" of me to say all new singers should be humble. Yeah, it's not my place. But I can't help think of Terrence Trent D'Arby who exploded on the scene in the late 1980's, but quickly disappeared after he got a little cocky. I rather enjoyed Alex Dowis Light Art Show, but he did remind me of the Sand Artist from Champions. Simon said what he said during his first (un-aired) audition because he knows best. Too bad that he didn't know his golden buzzer from last year had a few dents in his halo... V.Unbeatable...I'm now wondering in the "V." in their name stands for Vikas whom they had mentioned. The ending...wow. There's a lot a trust there. Nice to see that they received the Golden Buzzer over another singing act. I'll look forward to seeing them without the slow-motion edits on the Lives. Damn. ADEM was montaged...so it's obvious that they will not be going through. Even though the judges lauded them and said that they "stepped it up." I guess not enough to go through based on the judge's (producer's) decision. I'm hoping that they'll be a wildcard, but I have a feeling that it may go to Matthew from last week. We only get three: Two from Judge Cuts and one from the first Auditions. The other may go to Lamont - a la Daniel Emmet. I hope not though. I didn't get Verba Shadow's story. I couldn't find the plot. Sure, Simon said that it was "good vs. evil" but I still couldn't figure out the actual story. Plus I felt that it was too many screen graphics and not enough creativity with the shadows. I'm glad Robert Finley made it through. I love his old-school bluesy sound. He seems to have a sweet personality on top of that. If you ever forget, Howie and Simon will remind you seven, only seven (or six) will go through. Valerie Sassyfrass...Okay then. She and her "Sassyfrassers" remind me of some of the people that do bar karaoke after a number of shots. Valerie's got some subtle spunk though. I can admire Ryan poking fun at himself, but I hope that his future act(s) doesn't revolve around disability. Hopefully he can change it up. But then again, Samuel J. Comroe's entire act revolved around Tourette's Syndrom. And he made it to the Finals. I'm fine with some of the acts that had gone through. G-Force, not so much. Ah well. Till next week...

Yep...his looks make him such an outcast that he won Idol (Sweden) in 2017, and his EP and singles made the top ten in Sweden - beard, hair and all. Here's the receipt... I still like his voice though...I just don't care for the semi-sob story we're getting fed.

Okay, I missed most of AGT last night, so I re-watched it on Hulu. Lucas and Falco was a cute act, but it was mostly Falco running in circles. But Simon loves dogs, so of course they're going through. I knew Andy "The Tequila Guy" Rowell wasn't going to get past Judge Cuts. What he has is a gimmick, and gimmicks usually don't last. I can see why people liked it (even though it was a grab from Andy Kaufman), as it was their first time seeing it, but where else could he go with it? Didn't the judges know that (probably producer-driven though)? But he has a few videos on his YouTube channel with a good amount of views, so I guess they would keep him for another round for his followers' sake. It seems to be about fan bases sometimes. i.e. The PAC Dance Team. Think I'm joking? Check out their views on their YouTube videos. Berywam was not as good as the first time (but then again first times are usually good as you don't know what to expect). But for me they are a breath of fresh air with all of the singer acts we have (and most likely we will get in the following Judge Cuts). Hopefully they'll pick it up in the Lives. I agree that Dylan was probably brought in as filler as there were no clips of his audition...they usually show a clip of the auditions of the acts that we don't see in any of the auditions, but appear on Judge Cuts. Cute kid, but it was obvious that he wasn't going through. The Emerald Belles reminds me of a high school cheer-leading team that you would probably see during the half-time of their school's football game. But they went through. Shades of PAC Dance Team. We'll see if they can be a little more creative with their kick routines. I wasn't impressed with the act by The Sentimentalists...or as I call them, The Clairvoyants 2.0. I rolled my eyes a bit when I saw the looks of shock on the judges faces. I'll give Gabby, Julianne and Brad a pass though, because Howie and Simon had seen their trick before. WE had seen that trick before. We've seen the same format of "pick one...this is what I predicted what you would pick" routine done by Jon Dorenbos and The Clairvoyants. Look up the Clairvoyants "Jelly Bean" act on Anthony Ying's YouTube channel and tell me that that format was not extremely similar. You can also look up the "Drawing" and "Map" routines that Jon Dorenbos had done on the same season. Their acts on Champions were also very similar to what the Sentimentalists had done last night But I do love the costumes that the lady wears. I KNEW that Sophie (who i would call a mash-up of Grace Vanderwahl and Chase Gohring) was going to get the Golden Buzzer. Call it women's intuition if you will, but I just knew it. Even with Simon saying that she should stop writing/performing the "kinds of songs" she does. Producer-driven for sure. I don't really see her winning though. She might make it to the finals, though. I'm sure what Matthew does takes a lot of strength and balance to do what he does with that hoop, but I wonder what more he could do. I thought that he might get through based on his introduction and his story regarding his father. Maybe he'll be a Wild Card. The Damiyr and Christopher montage made it very obvious on what was to follow. Damiyr's performance was just something (sorry, can't find the right word) to lead up to Christopher's act and for him to have a one-up on Damiyr (who I'll take over Lamont). Damiyr gets a quick introduction and gives a decent performance, and then we get the full introduction of Christopher and him talking about how he is from a very small area, and how nobody looks like him. I've seen plenty a singers that have a look similar to his. Maybe on the Lives he'll sing an original about how "There is only one of him...and Baby, that's the fun of him..." Oh never mind. Christopher does have a great voice. I do wonder if he is set up to be the winner. We'll see if he gets "Pimp Spot"...not that that is relevant. We saw where it placed "Saint" Michael Ketterer in the finale... *loud and evil laugh* ' With everything the Messoudi Brothers had gone through - with having issues with their flight, the airline losing their luggage and making it to the show an hour prior to their upcoming performance there was no way they were getting cut...unless AGT wanted added drama. But I'm sure the producers wasn't going tot let us, the viewing audience, know these things and NOT send them through. But they earned their spot through. It's amazing what they do...and their father is wonderful shape. I need to be distracted just so I can hold a plank pose for one minute. I'm ready to be done after thirty seconds. I do enjoy the NDLOVU World Choir. I love their style, and they always bring a beautiful energy to their performances. But I'm not sure as to how far they will go in the Lives. But obviously, AGT is still pretty predictable in their set-up. You know that the montages aren't going through. And with the acts that are going through, you know that the producers aren't going to set up an introduction for you to somewhat really "get to know" the acts just to send them home. And I say "most" because Matthew and The Sentimentalists were cut. All right...until next week, folks.

I'm board too. I wanted to do a write up for that week's set of auditions, but I've been like the majority of what we've seen on this show...uninspired. That, and I actually forgot about a lot of the acts that showed up on the recent episode. But I will say this...there are quite a bit of 2.0's in this season. When we saw the Sentimentalists, I immediately thought Clairvoyants 2.0. I loved the lady's retro clothing. The Lady Molambo dancers were to me, Malevo 2.0 (also from Season 11, just like Clairvoyants), but it's women this time. I'm glad that Howie admitted, "We have seen this before." I know people are curious as to why they came all the way to AGT, but it does seem like the Argentine version of AGT (Talento Argentina) hasn't had a season since 2011, even though it looks like that show is coming back soon. Plus the prize money for Talento Argentino was $100,000 AP ($2,407.95 in USD), so I guess $1,000,000 USD ($41,530,000 Argentine Pesos) does sound more appealing. I looked up Robert's information and it's true that he's done quite a bit of work and toured with the Black Keys, but I still like him. I agree that he put Lamont from two weeks ago to shame with his voice and personality. Robert seems like such a sweetheart, where Lamont was just a little too cocky. I'm sure that he was recruited like many acts that come on AGT. I read on the AGT/SubReddit that Joseph O'Brien's (remember him?) father mentioned that his son was only one of two acts (in his Live's episode) that wasn't invited by the producers to come on the show (and from looking at Wikipedia he hasn't been on another reality singing competition), so his fan base wasn't as large as the other acts. His father's words according to a poster on Reddit. Since I'm speaking on recruitment and showing up on other shows, Christoffer Kläfford was the winner of Idol (Sweden) back in 2017. His EP and two of his singles made it into the top 10 of the charts in Sweden...one of them being...his cover of John Lennon's "Imagine." I'm certain that Simon knows of him (somewhat). But learning of this makes me question Kristoffer's story...what little I can remember of it. But hey, maybe he was recruited, maybe he wants a little more exposure. Who knows? But I am seeing shades of Glennis Grace with him, minus the son. I'm mostly underwhelmed with this season. I forgot most of the Golden Buzzers already. But the snark from you guys makes sitting though this show worth it. We'll see how the Judge Cuts go in a couple of days...

I remember while watching Real World Reunion: 2000 Joe stating that he and Nicole had broken up, and some of his roommates expressed relief over it. Per social media, Joe is now living in Los Angeles doing Social Work type of work. It looks like his partner is a lady named Melanie Garrison.

Some throwback "media" for you guys before it gets taken down from YouTube...

Lamont: *Pointing to audience* "What do you guys think?" "No clapping please. It's distracting." "I'm so humbled." "Okay, you guys can clap now." Me: *Eyeroll*

It wasn't mentioned that Lukas ad Falco won Das Supertalent in 2013. Emanne (Jackie Evancho 2.0 as Reddit refers to her) had won Arabs Got Talent in 2017. That also was not mentioned.

Why am I thinking of the Harlem Globetrotters when seeing Terry in his patriotic attire? Husband and wife, music/danger act...almost of like Paul Potts, Brian King Joseph and Deadly Games all rolled up into one. I was not expecting that. That's a brave woman holding the knife with her feet. I get nervous using the paper cutter at work! But if she has been practicing for years, I guess there's not much fear there. The singer/guitarist...seems like a sequel of Daniel Emmet with that whole episode. Beginning with Simon asking him if he had another song, and then insisting that he learn another song. We'll see if he gets cut on Judge Cuts and then brought back as a wild card, and (Dunkin') saved...and saved again. Just like Daniel Emmet. His voice makes me think of Adam Levine, for some strange reason. A low rent one. And this is what we got after all of that drama. Contrived drama no less. I wonder if with "Death's" story ("My father is God and my mother is Mother Nature. They divorced, and I was fourteen-million years old...which is a hard age...") if he was trying to be funny, or mocking some of the sob stories? People may disagree with me (and I do wish there were less singers), but I rather enjoyed the choir from South Africa. There was some different things going on with the vocals and it blended together beautifully, I think. That performance had a beautiful energy about it. I just hope we don't hear any "Greatest Showman" songs from them if we see them in Judge Cuts. Sorry to bring that up again. It's just that we were overloaded with it last year. Emman is a cute girl and seems very sweet. Lovely voice. We'll see if she can make herself stand out from the many other opera singers that the ...Got Talent shows had. I found Luka and Falco to be a sweet act. There's a lot of love there with them. I've seen a few silhouette/shape dancers before, but I appreciated that they had a combination of the live dancers and the silhouette dancers in this performance. Even though we've seen similar stories on ...Got Talent, I found this story that they told touching. So it's 9:53pm which means...its Golden Buzzer time! (...Or is it?) And the judges point out that Julianne is the only judge not to hit the Golden Buzzer. We meet Mr. Trigger (I already forgot his first name) who introduces himself as a dancer. Initially, I'm thinking, "I knew Julianne's GB would be a dancer...I KNEW it!" But as I watch him perform, I'm thinking, "I don't know if Julianne will hit the GB." But he does it for himself. (Interesting that it goes off, since when Ms. Retriever pushed it, it did not work) Mr. Trigger is a character for sure. I'll give him that. That was an unexpected closing segment for this episode, so I tip my hat off to AGT (and Mr. Trigger) for that. Until next week, ya'll. Hopefully things will pick up when we get to the Live's. But we have a number of episodes to go until then. Cheers!

I think this is her current "bindi." First it was the red bindi. Then is was the "white moon bindi" to three gold lines and now it's the "large gold bindi." I'm curious to know what is the Snowden meaning behind it... And there is a reason why I said "Snowden Meaning"! Because I'm sure they put their own twist on it, rather than the meaning of the culture that they "borrowed" it from.

One year, we had the Olate Dogs. Another year, we have the Pomeyo Family Dogs and Sara and Hero. Last year, we had the cats. This year we have...rats. With a stage-sized obstacle that looks almost close to the science projects I've seen while in grade school. Cute act though. I'm not sure about the spread eagle move the Miss did so Henta could run across. Ansley (?) comes out, and she is like a little ray of sunshine with her personality. She starts singing...Simon makes a face...Simon makes a comment regarding the track...I bet you he's going to call for a stop...his hand goes up...I knew it! So we go into an acapella. Her voice was a little loud to me, but not powerful. Maybe I'll need to watch her performance again. In some ways, she reminds me of Angelica Hale and Celine Tam, even though they were nine then and she is eleven. When Sos came on stage, I immediately though of Sos and Victoria/Quick Change from Season 11. When he brought the cards out, and when I heard the first line of the song, "We've seen this a hundred times..." that's how I felt about card tricks. I enjoyed Shin Lim and Jon Dorenbos, but I am growing a little weary of card magic. But Sos Jr. brought along something different with the cards. I'll give him that. Marchin with a gypsy jazz/gypsy swing/world version of Beethoven's 5th. Okay! I like it! Karaoke moment with the audience...okay. I guess it's fair that the audience has some additional fun. Here comes the karaoke montage...I should have known that that was coming. I was wondering what Andy would bring coming on AGT with karaoke, especially the shot with Simon leaning back and rolling his eyes when Andy said that that is what he was going to do. His "performance" was unexpected and quirky. Maybe on judge cuts he'll do "Macarena" or "YMCA"? Just the chorus of course. AdenShow(?)...I'm thinking "Mortal Kombat" when they show up. I get some shades of of Kinichi watching them. I wonder how the guy in blue was able to hold the one-legged position for the time he did? I struggle keeping "tree pose" for fifteen seconds. "Bring the Funny" commercial. Was that Samuel J. Komroe that I saw in that commercial? With Voices of Service, first I thank them for their service. Coming from a military family, much respect that they served, and that they are using this to cope with PTSD. I thought that their performance was rather lovely. Flute guy. His flute playing was "pitchy" here and there. When he was playing the first song, I wondered if that was all he was playing. Then "Pony" comes on...then a striptease...then grinding...What. The. Hell? I'm not that an uptight of a woman - I've been to a strip club once! I appreciate the male physique...but that was a little much...and random. Terry comes out...oh no, not the "pec dance" again. Ay querido! I hope the violin dude doesn't teach elementary school. That might be a little traumatic for them to catch... Funny I should mention of the Pomeyo Family Dogs from Season 12, because we have another family with an act the showcases their dogs and themselves. Dominguez Poodle Revue reminds me a lot of the Pompeo dogs. Adorable, still. Great discipline with the poodles as they just stood there while the judges were giving their comments. Berywam (?). not bad. I got shades of Elan and Josh from Season 11, but I still enjoyed them. A nice little mix of genres rolled up in one performance. The choir from Detroit - I respect the choir leader and what he is doing for these children. From what I've seen, some people tend to give up on or not give inner city youth much of a chance. the performance was cute, but if they're going to do the solo bits, they're going to need some polishing. I understand why Terry gave them the golden buzzer when he shared a bit of his story. Just no "Greatest Showman" songs for their following performance(s). Please. We've heard more than enough of it last season. I think that I may watch this show a little too much...or pay attention to it a little to much...

Brandy paid her condolences also...

Dimitri sending his condolences...

That's a good question. Mykelti just turned 23. Based on studies and what I've learned about Autism so far, women usually aren't diagnosed until they're in their 30's. One woman with Autism stated that doctors focus more on young boys when it comes to Autism than they do on young girls.

Hrm...I haven't paid attention to notice. But I am quite certain we haven't seen Gabrielle's boobs...or her in lingerie with a sheer sheath over it like we had with Mel. I did notice this (which I forgot to mention), Julienne did ask, "What just happened?!"

My thoughts as the episode went on... Marina...I'm glad that she did not come on with a sob story. She wanted to be like her brother...her mother wanted her to be more "girly" so signed her up for ballet. I kind of knew that that wasn't the only thing that she was going to bring to the table. But I liked her performance. I'm thinking of getting back into yoga...even though it will never make me contortionist flexible. But it will give me more strength and grace. When Dom came on, I was worried that it was going to be another card trick act. Not that I don't like those kind of acts, but I want to see something different. I felt like Dom may have dragged a bit, but he picked up. His personality added it to it, I think. Carmen Carter is 55? She looks great. I'm 37, and I'm hoping that I look that good when I read 55. But 55 is still young in my eyes. I love the INXS song "Never Tear Us Apart." I almost forgot that it was an INXS song when she sang it. I thought that she was stellar. Hopefully she does better in Judge Cuts. I remember how Miss Trish started strong in the Auditions, but fell apart in Judge Cuts. Hopefully that will not be the case for Carmen. Hopefully she's not as obnoxious as Christina Wells was last year... Sethward...whatever your day job is...please keep it. Unless you were hired by AGT to be comic relief. If that is the case, there's nothing we can do about that... Charlotte Summers has a great voice from what little I heard of her. There was a knock at my apartment door, I missed much of her segment. I felt for Kevin, and his dealings with anxiety. I was worried for him when he began, but it got better as he went on. I also loved the Issac Newton joke. MacKenzie did a great job taking on a Prince song. Howie, this should have been your Golden Buzzer. I do see MacKenzie being strong at ballads. I almost expected him to get a Golden Buzzer when his wife came on stage. Sometimes I worry about there being too many singers on this show, but I like him and Carmen. When Michael Paul was introduced in the pre-audition package, I knew that there was not a real bird in that covered cage. AGT, you have some work to do...your show is getting a little too predictable. Yet, I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was a ventriloquist comedy act. He was fun. Commercials end and it is 9:50...which means...it Golden Buzzer Time! I will admit, I expected Tyler to be a singer since that seems to be the act that always gets the golden buzzer from the judges (Julianne might give her GB to a dance act, but I could be wrong about that one). The music seemed to drown out his playing, but he is an okay player from what I heard. You know that they had to throw in a sob story in there, but it is great that he beat cancer. And the Golden Buzzer didn't go to a singer this time, but he did have a story...which seems to get to Simon considering his GB track record. This episode was a little better than last week's. Until next week, folks. From the previews, it looks like it might be Terry's week for the Golden Buzzer. Hopefully he'll get us a good one like he had done in Champions.

I guess I'll be bringing along a random change of "scenery" here. Some of you know that I've been working on the Allred/Thompson family tree in Aspyn's thread, but now I've got some sh!t on Meri. I started doing some research when a member on the Reddit board asked if the sister wives might be related to each other (and Kody) when they mentioned a tweet that Kody shared about how his and Janelle's ancestors served time for having multiple wives, and Meri chimed in that she did too. (Interesting that he left out Meri). But anyway, here is her family line... Meri is related to both Kody and Christine through Orissa Angela Bates. Meri's great-great grandfather was Orson Parley Bates. Orissa Angela Bates is Orson's aunt through Orson's father Ormus Ephraim Bates. Meri Brown ---> William James Barber ---> Emily Bates Hale ---> Gertrude Mae Bates ---> Orson Parley Bates Kody Brown ---> Genielle Tew ---> Daisy Josephine Allred ---> Nelson Calvert Allred ---> Orissa Angela Bates Christine Brown ---> Rex Clark Allred ---> Byron Harvey Allred, Jr. ---> Byron Harvey Allred, Sr. ---> William Moore Allred William More Allred and Orissa Angela Bates were married. Byron Harvey and Nelson Calvert were two of their ten children. Crazy stuff, huh?

AAAAANNNNDDDDD, there's more...

Okay you guys, I'm still trying to piece together the Allred and Thompson family tree (of sorts). I'll tell you, it's a challenge... I found a Shirley Jessop-Thompson who is the daughter of Joseph Lyman Jessop and Beth Allred (Beth, the full sister of Rulon Clark Allred). Shirley married Joseph Blaine Thompson. Joseph Blaine Thompson was the son of Joseph Orlando Thompson and Mary Viola Anderson-Thompson. Making Joseph Blaine the brother of Lynn Anderson Thompson. So there is a tie between Christine and Aspyn and Mitch. But it is through marriage. Lynn being Christine's great uncle-in-law. BUT, Lynn did marry two Allreds (as mentioned before). I'm still searching on them. Like I said, it has been a challenge... ETA: I know that I said that Christine was a descendant of a Jessop, but it seems Christine is only related to a Jessop mainly through marriage. But you never know with communities like these...

Maybe I'm expecting too much, but I was again left underwhelmed with this week's auditions. Dude coming outside of a suitcase, putting himself through a toilet lid and a tennis racket? I can do that! And I have a sob story for the judges. Maybe I should audition. Or call out one of the producers to recruit me. The Emerald Belles were in sync with their routine, but I'm not sure how far they'll get with a kick routine. It would be a good routine for the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade in my opinion. We'll see what they'll bring in Judge Cut's...if we see them there. Karamjit & Krawijit Singh was an okay act. I'm not sure what to expect next. And what was going though my mind was that I could have really used that wasted coconut milk for cooking my beans and rice. I guess I'm being a little anal with that... When Adaline Bates came to the stage, I was nearly expecting a 1960's soul feel...which I love. My parents played a lot of Motown, Stylistics and Isley Brothers when I was growing up. But when Adaline said that she had to get ready, I knew something else was going to go down. Her performance was cute, but let's be real...it's a gimmick. Certain gimmicks don't last long on AGT. i.e. Yumbo Dump and Human Fountain. The judges may have brought them to the lives...but they didn't make it past the first set of Live Shows. The Light Balance Kids were exactly as their name describes. Light Balance with a group of kids. It's a good act, but we've seen the set up and style before. I'm curious to see if they'll bring something new in Judge Cuts. I see G-Force as a Disney Channel version of the Spice Girls. I really hope this season picks up. Maybe I'm just a Debbie Downer, maybe I'm expecting too much, but I haven't really been impressed yet. Until next week, ya'll.