S15.E10: AGT: 15th Anniversary Special

[helenamonster]

Quote

Some of the most viral acts over the years, including winners Kodi Lee, Shin Lim, and Grace Vanderwaal, as well as V.Unbeatable and Season 13 performance troupe Zurcaroh, are featured in a celebratory retrospective.

Original airdate: 8/4/20

[InternetToughGuy]

With the amount of compilation episodes recently, this show feels more like a counselling session due to having to relive past trauma. I guess it will be entertaining to re-shit on old acts.

[Mr. Sparkle]

I think they're buying time while they figure out how they're going to do this show during these times. 

[Lonesome Rhodes]

The legacy networks are all sucking air when ti comes to programming.  They need as many reasonable hours of filler to get to a delayed "new" Fall season.  AGT is delivering the best numbers for Comcast, so it makes sense to drag it out as much as possible.

This ep gave SYCO maximum production leeway as to recording the acts and editing them, as well.

[saber5055]

I don't mind AGT is doing a Best Of episode. In the 15 years the show has been on, I remember only three winners, the puppet ventriloquist girl, Terry Fader and Kodi Lee from last year. Everyone else will be new to me since they've been forgotten.

[Swenson]

I believe I read they're doing the live shows at an outdoor venue with only a virtual audience,  not a real one.  But they won't be at home.  Four quarterfinal episodes with 11 performances each.  Beyond that....I'm not sure.

Edited August 4, 2020 by Swenson

[ams1001]

On 7/31/2020 at 5:51 PM, Superclam said:

I think they're buying time while they figure out how they're going to do this show during these times. 

Don't you mean "these difficult times"?

7 hours ago, saber5055 said:

I don't mind AGT is doing a Best Of episode. In the 15 years the show has been on, I remember only three winners, the puppet ventriloquist girl, Terry Fader and Kodi Lee from last year. Everyone else will be new to me since they've been forgotten.

I'm lucky if I remember most of the acts by the end of the episode, let alone 15 seasons later.

[saber5055]

18 minutes ago, ams1001 said:

Don't you mean "these difficult times"?

LOL! Or "trying times" or "unprecedented times." They are interchangeable!

Turns out it's not "best" acts, it's acts that have gone viral online. Pretty interesting after all. Nice switchup, show.

[ams1001]

Ugh. I hate the danger acts.

[ams1001]

I didn't think I could cringe any harder at the spitting water in each other's faces act, but now in "these times"... 

😱 😱 😱 😱 😱 😱

[NYGirl]

I am not a usual watcher but every so often I'd see parts of episodes.  Tonight I watched the Anniversary special and all I have to say is somebody come here and slap me around...all I did was cry!!  God when they press that gold button the tears came.every.single.time.

Some of these people are very talented.  I was also waiting for that older woman from the U.K.  I don't remember her name..something Boyle I think.

I couldn't get over the magician with the cards though.  I do see a lot of contestants as entertainment on cruises.  I try to do at least 2 cruises a year.

[Mr. Sparkle]

2 hours ago, ams1001 said:

Don't you mean "these difficult times"?

No. I clearly meant "these challenging times while we navigate the new normal. We're still here for you, buy our product or service!" 

[ams1001]

1 hour ago, NYGirl said:

Some of these people are very talented.  I was also waiting for that older woman from the U.K.  I don't remember her name..something Boyle I think.

Susan Boyle. She was on Britain's Got Talent.

[Mr. Sparkle]

Well, I'm on vacation, so I missed tonight. I have it taped, so I'll be able to fast forward through at least half of this crap! 

 

[ams1001]

Just now, Superclam said:

Well, I'm on vacation, so I missed tonight. I have it taped, so I'll be able to fast forward through at least half of this crap! 

I ended up half-watching a lot of it on mute while catching up on other stuff (my power was out all afternoon so I was catching up on work until almost 8, then catching up on personal stuff that I would have done after my normal work hours). The muting started with the danger act montage, because I just can't with those tonight, then I just wasn't paying attention for a bit, then Courtney Hadwin came on and I didn't want to hear that, so... Hence I have no bullet points tonight.

[Vermicious Knid]

I's guessing you were in the path of the hurricane?

Not the best acts, or the most memorable, but the ones with the highest views online. Which is some kind of qualitative, I'll give them that. Completely forgot about the guys with pans. Men with pans? Yes, it was stupidly funny. And apparently a quarter billion people thought so too. More views than Shin Lim, a winner. And they didn't even get a yes!

[InternetToughGuy]

Going into detail for every act seems pretty unnecessary since it's all old clips, but since the brain's format button is pressed the second the finale is over, this will all seem somewhat fresh (as in a clean toilet bowl, anyways).

Note: Everything I write is satirical, or at least the edgy/over the top stuff. I never know if people think I'm serious.

Grace Vanderwaal - I don't even remember which season this was, especially since the mirror shows me as perpetually 12 years old, I have no frame of reference for how much time has gone by. I'm not trying to be funny for the following 2 lines (and then back to business as usual), but Grace appears to have had a mental breakdown of sorts, since all of her pictures on Instagram over the past year or so hint at a gradual decline of stability appearance-wise. I don't remember her having a dead Dad sob story, but one would assume that was the case for her to look like she does. (break over) I'm not one to tell women how to dress, since I usually tell them to not wear anything, but I always wonder if Fathers "don't care" about their daughters acting like hussies on Instagram/Tik Tok. Anyway, as for the actual act, it was always overrated. Ukulele seems to have a dozen chords maximum, so it all sounds repetitive, not to mention a voice that sounds like your mother yelling at you while yawning makes for a very grating listen.

Special Head - Wow, we haven't gotten Head in years. Me personally not in a decade. Nothing to say about this act, especially since I don't remember how far he went. Howard "Master Of The Dark Arts" Stern looks rather unimpressed at a mere levitation act. Inter-splicing haunting organ music with a clip of Howard laughing really gives credence to the theory that he was replaced with a body double long ago.

Light Balance - It seems all of these light groups are from Ukraine; I suppose in a country with that little sunlight, you have to continually dance to remind yourself that you're still even slightly alive. I don't think the song 24 Karat Magic was a good choice, since even if they won, they'd get around $80,000 a member (never mind airfare home and the needed wall of seasonal affective disorder therapy lamps). I can't even remember who was the original light crew, but I hate whoever it was, since we have to endure this garbage every year. I do have to give props where they are due, since my frantic movements when looking for my stuffed animal when the nightlight flickers aren't nearly as fluid.

V. Unbeatable - When they're excited, I guess the expression of doing a (singular) backup doesn't mean much to them. The background music sounds like me stuttering out of nervousness in an unknown tongue when a girl says hello to me. Once again I've noticed there's almost never anything to say about the actual act, since despite listing my numerous flaws every week, I still manage to be a huge narcissist. Why is Howie the comedian the one giving these prophetic "bowed head" messages in that tone?

Shin Lim - I've been frantically calling Shin to help make my debts disappear before gangsters break my legs, despite knowing his act is an illusion, I'm too desperate to care. Even if he has stage presence and is good, I've always found him a bit irritating due to how much everyone kisses his ass and he radiates a certain "....I know" aura. Upon reading his Wikipedia, he's another example of that thing I've mentioned before where he was born in Canada and "just moves" to the US with no explanation. I want outta here!

Aaron Crow - How does a man have such charisma when not even saying anything? That would be a good workaround for my high social anxiety if either diapers were 100% absorbent or if everybody around me suddenly lost their sense of smell. I wonder if the vague trick to this act was just picking up where Howie's "no!" was coming from, assuming the more likely earpiece given to him with "a little to the left" being repeated wasn't the case. The cheer of the overweight audience when he killed the piece of fruit was a real sight to behold.

Tyler Butler Figueroa - Ah, the bullied cancer survivor. Wait a minute...he had an act? I only remember the sob story being repeated every week. The audition is even weaker than I remember; sometimes people who transcribe guitar music also do a track for the vocals and it's always extremely simple, since singers don't wildly switch keys, et al, there's only a few notes which are all close together, which is pretty much what he was doing here instead of actually playing "the song".

Celine Tam - I refer to her as Saline, due to the salty tears coming down my face realizing how many acts are left to watch. What kind of audience is this even for? I can't imagine a man under 50 finding this endearing, so I'm assuming it's exclusively for the Facebook crowd of middle aged women who respond to AGT posts asking them what their favorite audition was with an all lower case "hi terry". As good as some of Celine Dion's songs are, I am more inspired by her husband due to him dating her at 20 when he was 46. Upon seeing he wasn't even attractive, at least I have that tool in my arsenal. Upon my future addition of unsightly weight gain and rotten teeth, girls look out.

Men With Pans - Seeing how plain the male body is has renewed my faith in the breast augmentation surgery; unfortunately it was so expensive, I don't have enough money to buy a razor to shave my viking beard. It'd probably be the bar's closing time once the debate about whether or not I got in free for ladies night had been settled. They keep saying these inflated view counts, which obviously they are factoring in YouTube/Twitter/Facebook, but even doing that usually doesn't lead to an accurate total.

Tape Face - He is the mascot for the future of free speech (yes, that joke again). I loathe all of these acts that aren't even an act, especially since on and off the stage they always have some sort of "game face" on, like what they're doing is serious business. I used to include Puddles Pity Party in that group, but since I saw a (what I found) depressing poster of him with upcoming gigs, which I said to myself in a cartoonish voice "Puddles is coming to town!" I felt empathy/pity for him and stopped hating him. That was like 8 months ago and I still feel "sad" about it. There's no way to explain it other than me trying to find sadness in things that are probably nothing.

Angelica Hale - Another act nobody should give a damn about, since it's a combination of kid + singing, which should inspire a forceful push of the TV remote's off button akin to Thor smashing his hammer. Don't know why anybody would want to see a kid singer, especially when you wouldn't be able to differentiate one of their tantrums from having a primadonna complex or because they didn't get an afternoon nap.

Courtney Hadwin - "Courtney had win?" Sounds like a drunken me trying to remember the results of the previous season. Her voice sounds like a witch hobbling around a cauldron, plus with how Brits age, she'll look the part by around 20. I often refer to Janis Joplin as "JJ" to give off the impression that I am overly familiar with her, despite not even knowing if she's still alive.

Darci Lynne - I remember putting on my best cologne when seeing that puppet for the first time; a true low point for me. I don't know how her career is doing, since I don't actively keep up with the goings on of teenage girls, but my 70 year old mentally ill neighbor tells me that she's on a shitty Nickelodeon show now - he told me to keep the knowledge of his habits on the DL, which was no doubt a pun about her name, but since his computer was positioned a mere 6 inches away from a full bathtub, I think he was quite paranoid. I don't know if anyone can call getting on TV as a career leap anymore, since the viewership numbers for almost everything are abysmal now. I think the name Petunia is quite appropriate since one could presume the act itself grew out of a pile of manure.

Zurcaroh - Why do so many of these dance groups use it as the way to stay out of crime? Do they prance around like sissies until their testosterone levels plummet so they have no aggression? It would be quite a funny sight to see a masked criminal do a grand jete through a jewellery store window. I remember hating this act, so I will go with my memory.

Kodi Lee - I still think about a remark I made about his behavior correlating with his name being short for Codeine/Lean, because it's like the perfect coincidence that I wonder how it's possible that it just worked out that way. Kodi singing the lyric "10,000 people watching" seems to be an accurate statistic for next season's viewership if it continues being as boring as it is. Kodi's Mom is so hot - should I ever have the opportunity to hit on her, it's a blessing she's so used to autistic behavior that anything I say would probably be well received, even if the air was suddenly pierced by the smell of my nervous urination. I remember looking up what he was doing a few months ago and it seemed like he was performing at bars or random strawberry festivals or something like that, which is the exact joke made about every contestant. I don't get why almost nobody gets a real career after the show. I don't get why I can't even get the equivalent of a 15 year old's Summer job.

//

I don't know whether or not I'd call the episode "boring" because at least with a real stage and an audience, there was the illusion of something happening. I do not look forward to seeing clips of Sofia giggling on her couch while "unmemorable man #2" strums his guitar on webcam against a white backdrop.

 

 

Edited August 5, 2020 by InternetToughGuy

[ams1001]

9 hours ago, Vermicious Knid said:

I's guessing you were in the path of the hurricane?

Yeah, NJ. My parents are three miles away and they still don't have power (or didn't a few hours ago; I haven't heard anything more). Mine was only out for about 4 hours.

I'm just glad I didn't have to go to the office, because I would have if my power was still out.

[saber5055]

14 hours ago, Superclam said:

No. I clearly meant "these challenging times while we navigate the new normal. We're still here for you, buy our product or service!" 

"Because we are all in this together."

SHIN LIM! I'm going to add a few more million views to his online video. The guy is smokin' and, ahem, has great hands. And hair! And yes, ITG, I'd gladly kiss his ass and anything else if he wants to meet up with me. Dude rocks. It was worth watching last night just to see his first act again. I didn't catch which card-trick guy Simon was dissing before Shin came on. I'll catch it on the rerun.

I turned over to Prodigal Son's rerun for the back half so missed some acts that I didn't see when I flipped back during commercials on PS. I'll catch the rerun this weekend. I was disappointed all the acts with most views ended up being the ones that won, or almost won. I'd never seen the floating head guy who was shown first. In today's world, Simon would have Red X'd him asap so we never would have gotten to see him at all today.

It was fun to see Regis and Jerry hosting. Wish they could have gotten more air time, I'm more interested in the old acts than the present-day ones. But there was no SM back then, so of course they wouldn't have racked up the views that modern acts do. Unfair!

[Swenson]

It was more like the best acts of the past three seasons or so.....two of them reached back to the Stern years.  I switched channels twice .....once for TBF .....simply can't take anymore of it.......and Angelica Hale because I hated that song then,  and I still do.  Remember now these were only the most viral, not necessarily the best.

[Maverick]

 Yes, like so many reality shows that revisit their "past" (whether through clips or bringing back contestants) it was heavily weighted to the most recent seasons   Part of the problem here is due to judge turnover, the farther back you go the fewer judges there are to talk about it from firsthand experience.  Not that it would stop them.  They had Sophia talking about some acts as if she was there.  Maybe she's a fan of the show and actually watched them on TV, but even then she cant provide a different perspective than the average viewer.

 I wasn't paying full attention, but I don't think there was any tribute to Regis.  There wee several filler segments outside of the 15 featured acts so I would have thought there would be one for him.  If nothing else, it's the kind of sap that is this show's bread and butter.  

[Babalooie]

13 hours ago, InternetToughGuy said:

. I often refer to Janis Joplin as "JJ" to give off the impression that I am overly familiar with her, despite not even knowing if she's still alive.

Joplin died at age 27 in 1970.  She belongs to an exclusive club called "The 27 Club", comprised of celebrities who have all died at that age, usually of an overdose.  Jimi Hendrix was a member.  Lindsay Lohan was a prospective member until she passed that age.  

My objection to Courtney was the producer hijinks of having her pretend that she was so shy and then coming out like a madwoman Joplin clone.  

[saber5055]

1 hour ago, Babalooie said:

Joplin died at age 27 in 1970.  She belongs to an exclusive club called "The 27 Club", comprised of celebrities who have all died at that age, usually of an overdose.  Jimi Hendrix was a member.  Lindsay Lohan was a prospective member until she passed that age.  

My objection to Courtney was the producer hijinks of having her pretend that she was so shy and then coming out like a madwoman Joplin clone.  

Some of The 27 Club: Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse, Basquiat was a musician but is better known for his artwork/graffiti. Other members aren't so well known as the above.

I hated Courtney with a passion, for the exact reason you posted. I wanted her audition to get Red X-ed and her sent home.

[ams1001]

2 hours ago, Swenson said:

It was more like the best acts of the past three seasons or so.....two of them reached back to the Stern years.  I switched channels twice .....once for TBF .....simply can't take anymore of it.......and Angelica Hale because I hated that song then,  and I still do.  Remember now these were only the most viral, not necessarily the best.

I would guess part of it is if they're going by most social media views, they're not likely to have as much from the earliest seasons. The show started in 2006; Facebook/Twitter didn't really get big until a couple years later, I think. Posting things "for the views/likes" has only gotten more common over the years.

(On a related note, anyone else annoyed by the recentish trend of noting in articles how many "likes" something has gotten on social media? I've been noticing this more and more lately, and I every time I just think, "who cares?")

[saber5055]

33 minutes ago, ams1001 said:

(On a related note, anyone else annoyed by the recentish trend of noting in articles how many "likes" something has gotten on social media? I've been noticing this more and more lately, and I every time I just think, "who cares?")

Thank the gods the articles I read are not doing that. But if reality shows counted every time "like" was uttered by a contestant, every person on The Bachelor would be duking it out for first place.

[marketdoctor]

Quote

I would guess part of it is if they're going by most social media views, they're not likely to have as much from the earliest seasons.

I think the idea was that they'd show something they thought would be popular, while at the same time having a semi-objective standard.  ("Semi" for reasons you point out.)

They might have needed more time to do a tribute for Regis, or they could use that as a part of an episode.  (Many parts of this episode seemed kind of expendable, but I don't have 400 zillion views, so my opinion might count for less.)

It's also an example of how some acts work better online than in person, and some (Darci Lynn; Shin Lim, etc.) work either way.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

I hated how they were propping Sofia up with her commentaries for acts long ago.  Heck, she's a rookie.  I think she is doing really well, but AGT just can't help itself with agendae of over-promotion.

Any overall ranking of AGT which does not have Fator first is a farce.  $100 million and routinely voted most popular act in LV?  Case closed.

Tape Face's red dress dance was truly hilarious.  Shin's dry ice "freezing" trick was super innovative.  I had long forgotten each of these and welcomed the chance to see them again.

How insanely ironic that AGT chose to prominently feature and honor Howie's one instance of failing to properly social distance himself?  I loved it, but man, I bet that segment went through an intense vetting by Standards and Practices.

 

 

[Vermicious Knid]

Actually, Terry Fator's show had already received a notice of termination, even before everything shut down.

[saber5055]

Wow, I'd terminate Fader's show just for his being a big loser creep in his personal life. What a jerk.

[InternetToughGuy]

How ironic the ventriloquist's love for his wives were just lip service.

Edited August 11, 2020 by InternetToughGuy

[Vermicious Knid]

*rimshot*