S15.E19: Semi-Finals 1

[helenamonster]

Quote

11 semi-finalists perform for a chance to win $1 million and be named the most talented act in America.

Original airdate: 9/8/20

[DietCokeJunkie]

Maybe it was my mood tonight, but nobody wowed me. 

[Mr. Sparkle]

Here's my predictions for tomorrow, I've been wrong all season, so let's see if I get it this time:

Definite: Archie, Brandon, Broken Roots

Good shot: Alan Silva, Roberta, Shaquira 

Long shot: Thomas Day, Malik Dope, Dance Town Family

No shot: Spyros Bros., Double Dragon

[Archer27]

14 minutes ago, Superclam said:

Here's my predictions for tomorrow, I've been wrong all season, so let's see if I get it this time:

Definite: Archie, Brandon, Broken Roots

Good shot: Alan Silva, Roberta, Shaquira 

Long shot: Thomas Day, Malik Dope, Dance Town Family

No shot: Spyros Bros., Double Dragon

I agree with your definites. I would move Roberta to a definite. For the fifth...I hope Shaquira, but I think it will be Alan Silva. 

[Diana Berry]

10 minutes ago, Archer27 said:

I agree with your definites. I would move Roberta to a definite. For the fifth...I hope Shaquira, but I think it will be Alan Silva. 

I would move Roberta to definite.  

[Lonesome Rhodes]

Oh man.  I really like Archie and his voice was so great in the early rounds.  This was a train wreck.  Me sad.

Broken Roots were way overproduced.  Typical AGT meddling ruined them.  They did the same thing to Shaquira(?), the soloist on the Fleetwood Mac tune.

Dancetown was a great wild card and they were really good.  I wonder about some of the editing and just how many takes were incorporated in the video.  

I am angry about drummer dude.  No way was the percussive audio that of the performance we saw.  He may have given that in a dress rehearsal or some such - but that was NOT what he did in that tape.  I'd sue if I could and he got through at my expense.

Spoken word guy failed to wow me again.  He has an intrinsic advantage in that he gets to perform his actual act in the intro package.  

Spyros at the castle were tremendous.  A highlight of the season for me.

I was wrong in my guess that Simon would appear.  I did notice a buzzer "X" with his name was hanging in the usual place.

  

 

 

[CrystalBlue]

Some of the acts Stepped It Up and one wasn't as good as I thought it would be.  I still think that Archie's backstory gives him an advantage, but sadly his performance tonight didn't wow me.  I'm not as sure now of him being the actual winner.  I think Shaquira outdid herself with Fleetwood Mac's "Chain."  (I am unabashedly biased toward any acts who perform my fave rock n roll songs, with the exception of Courtney "Janis Joplin" Hadwin.)  I wonder what Stevie Nicks thinks of Shaquira's rendition.

I agree with Superclam's lineup for the most part as far as tomorrow night's outcome is concerned.

[Vermicious Knid]

Too many singers in the same show. The only thing more pandering for Broken Roots to play would have been Lee Greenwood. Little Roberta has not yet gotten the memo on inappropriate smiling. Shaquira sounded good, but I don't think that's a particularly difficult song. Spyro Bros literally dropped the ball. Probably not a good sign. Didn't the jock/tool put out a video he was picking football over AGT? And now he's claiming Covid. One of those is a lie. Archie, man. Good song pick, bad performance. The power of his sob story will still carry him. Alan Silva was, confusing? Found it hard to pay attention to his act. Double Dragon was fun, if not very talented. They may score that tv show on a Spanish language network. Brandon was powerful and effective and I predict a MacArthur 'genius' Grant in his future. I was happy to see Dancetown come back, who deserved their spot much more than the football player. Drummer boy showed some more skills, but I don't know how he keeps getting through.

Archie, Brandon, Shaquira, Roberta, and Dancetown into the finale.

[rr2911]

I thought several contestants stepped up their game tonight. Those were Broken Roots, Double Dragon, and Dance Town Family. After their performances, the rest of the show went flat. Again, I think tomorrows results are going to be sob story driven.  This is how I ranked the 11 tonight....

11. The "Wokeman" - ..........................Who the hell was Tyrone?

10. Thomas Day - I really didn't remember him until he came out. Why was it reported that he didn't attend the live shows because of football? I think I know why I didn't remember him...he was awful!

09. Alan Silva - I was just bored with this act and probably any future acts Silva performs. Other than the fact that he's high above the ground, there wasn't enough there for him to continue.

08. Roberta Battaglia - I didn't like it one bit! She was pitchy. I didn't like the song also. There are too many singers that are better than her.

07. Malik Dope - I love to hear and see great drummers do their stuff. But for some reason I can't get into this guy's performance. I wish we could see him perform with a set of drums and him do a solo like in concerts and really hear him. He just didn't enough for me.

06. Spyros Bros - I liked their performance. I was very much entertained, and then ...oops! They made two mistakes! Well, at least they got the exposure they needed.

05. Archie Williams - I thought he took a bit of hit tonight. He wasn't as good as in his past performances, but he'll go through.

04. Shaquira McGrath - I love Fleetwood Mac and Shaquira has a great voice, but it wasn't her best in my opinion. That song doesn't need vocals with vibrato, especially that song. I didn't like her rendition. I think she's safe though.

03. Dance Town Family - I really liked them this time around. Maybe they rehearsed a million times, but that is the way it goes this Covid season. They certainly stepped up their games. 

02. Double Dragon - Their best performance to date! They dropped the comedy act and did what they do best....sing! Sure they took advantage of the space they had, but I think it all came together tonight. I'd like to see them go to the finals.

01. Broken Roots - Now, that was a performance! I loved the song. Loved their vocals. No frills. Just sing the song and have good time. 

 

Now, here is the part I don't like because some of the acts I liked probably aren't going through. Here is what I think America will vote through.

Archie Williams

The Wokeman - I wouldn't pay the loose change I find between the sofa cushions to hear someone woke!

Shaquira McGrath

Broken Roots

Malik Dope

 

[CrystalBlue]

I thought Dance Town Family performed the same as last time, on the same checkered floor set but with different costumes.  All I could think is this is what it's going to look like on Valentine's Day 2021 --  red, pink and white, complete with Covid masks.  I don't think they'll get beyond being in the top five, certainly not the top three.

Lots of shenanigans going on with Thomas Day.  First it was football, now it's COVID-19.  I don't think he's good enough to get through tomorrow and hope he doesn't.

[ams1001]

I swear TV Guide did not have a new episode listed for last night when I checked (but I can see back one day and it is listed now). I'll have to try to watch before the results show starts. Not that I probably missed much worth watching, judging by y'all's comments.

[Mr. Sparkle]

I can assure you that you missed nothing. The worst part about these later season shows is the intro videos. What else are we going to learn about them? That they were bullied on the way to the studio? 

 

8 hours ago, CrystalBlue said:

Lots of shenanigans going on with Thomas Day.  First it was football, now it's COVID-19.  I don't think he's good enough to get through tomorrow and hope he doesn't.

That is what happened, right? I'm curious about what actually occurred. I think he's a mediocre singer at best. He might stick around if he gets the cute boy vote. 

Edited September 9, 2020 by Superclam

[BuckeyeLou]

9 hours ago, Vermicious Knid said:

Too many singers in the same show. The only thing more pandering for Broken Roots to play would have been Lee Greenwood. Little Roberta has not yet gotten the memo on inappropriate smiling. Shaquira sounded good, but I don't think that's a particularly difficult song. Spyro Bros literally dropped the ball. Probably not a good sign. Didn't the jock/tool put out a video he was picking football over AGT? And now he's claiming Covid. One of those is a lie. Archie, man. Good song pick, bad performance. The power of his sob story will still carry him. Alan Silva was, confusing? Found it hard to pay attention to his act. Double Dragon was fun, if not very talented. They may score that tv show on a Spanish language network. Brandon was powerful and effective and I predict a MacArthur 'genius' Grant in his future. I was happy to see Dancetown come back, who deserved their spot much more than the football player. Drummer boy showed some more skills, but I don't know how he keeps getting through.

Archie, Brandon, Shaquira, Roberta, and Dancetown into the finale.

I felt badly for Archie...he seemed nervous...his voice sounded weak...he has talent but last night was a poor performance.  Broken Roots seem like they could get a recording deal in Nashville.  And Brandon has a career as a Motivational/Inspirational Speaker.   The Dancetown Family group are fun & energetic...I would like to see them advance...I can see them doing a show in Vegas.

[saber5055]

I actually paid attention to names so can include those this time. Luckily, I made notes about each so I can tell which name belongs to what act.

Double Dragon. I'm not a fan of these ladies, but they sure got a great video edit. Not sure they would be interesting or even sightly good if they were trapped on a stage without all the super-special editing effects.

DanceTown. I liked their salsa routine from last time better than this jive, but still they were very good and entertaining and interesting to watch. Kudos to the videographer and costume designer. The set, costumes, background were beautiful, and editing was stellar. Made this act awesome. And GOOD ON THEM for wearing masks. There are enough maskholes in this country so it was nice to see professional dancers staying safe.

Broken Roots. LOL they were at the Bates Motel. They should have been singing Ring of Fire. I thought this performance was cr*p. Loved them before, hated them last night. You dudes sucked.

Spyros Bros. Hey, so they dropped a couple. I thought the act was stellar and fun and wow, they were at Hogwarts and got Disney fireworks tossed in for free. A-plus from me. That, plus the one bro was really funny in his after remarks. Score!

Thomas Day/Ugly Sweater Guy (TM ams). WTH, now dude has a COVID excuse for last week? Big fat liar. He could have "phoned" it in last week if his COVID lie story was true. Everyone else managed to work remotely. My guess is, football got canceled so now he's all "Hey, what about ME?" I hope he gets kicked out and never heard from again. Hate him.

Alan Silva. I could really do w/o hearing all the judge comments while he's performing. Are they suppose to make an act better? Cuz it's not working, show. And what was up with the "Portions pre-recorded" that flashed on the screen? Aren't all his "portions" pre-recorded? His kid's pre-act recorded portion made me tear up though, so there's that.

Shakira. Just another AI singer who shouts a lot while supposedly singing, but that's what they all do now. *sigh*

Brandon Lee. Oh, dude, he's going to beat my Archie.

Malik the Drummer. I just don't like him for some reason.

Archie. He was wearing one beautiful suit.

11-year-old singer. Battaglia something. She got the pimp spot last night. I really liked her, thought she was best of the night, for singers anyway. She has the pipes and style for Broadway, like that boy from last year. Broadway bound, baby!

Meanwhile, Heidi's hair and outfit was exactly suited to me. Loved both, maybe because I would buy that outfit if I found it at Good Will, and my hair looks like that every day. So, yeay me.

[CrystalBlue]

3 hours ago, Superclam said:

I can assure you that you missed nothing. The worst part about these later season shows is the intro videos. What else are we going to learn about them? That they were bullied on the way to the studio? 

 

That is what happened, right? I'm curious about what actually occurred. I think he's a mediocre singer at best. He might stick around if he gets the cute boy vote. 

The Thomas Day story is all over reddit and other websites, I'm sure.  He became Thomas Douchebag when he charged people $25 paid online through PayPal for a Cameo video (it's a video-sharing website) revealing the true story.  Which was his football story.  Now he's switched stories to I got COVID-19 from my mommy.  There's even a conspiracy theory out there that the story change was to protect AGT from getting blasted for allowing a contestant to get coronavirus and the ensuing bad publicity.  Who knows?

[ams1001]

51 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

Alan Silva. I could really do w/o hearing all the judge comments while he's performing. Are they suppose to make an act better? Cuz it's not working, show. And what was up with the "Portions pre-recorded" that flashed on the screen? Aren't all his "portions" pre-recorded? His kid's pre-act recorded portion made me tear up though, so there's that.

Ugh, they did that again? It's so annoying. Last time he had they spikes beneath him for the drop. "They're spikes!" Yeah, geniuses, we can see that. You don't hear them going "that was a high C" or whatever when the singers hit a note. Just shush. Or turn off their mics.

[saber5055]

27 minutes ago, ams1001 said:

Ugh, they did that again? It's so annoying. Last time he had they spikes beneath him for the drop. "They're spikes!" Yeah, geniuses, we can see that. You don't hear them going "that was a high C" or whatever when the singers hit a note. Just shush. Or turn off their mics.

LOL! Yes, this time Alan flew around on chains, so the judges commented "It's CHAINS!" You know, like we dumbass viewers couldn't tell he was hanging from chains instead of silks.

It would have been funny if the judges said "We thought he quit to play football, wasn't he charging people money to see his football video?" when Ugly Sweater Boy came back (from the dead, apparently) to tell his fake Mommy-has-COVID story.

[BuckeyeLou]

2 hours ago, saber5055 said:

I actually paid attention to names so can include those this time. Luckily, I made notes about each so I can tell which name belongs to what act.

Double Dragon. I'm not a fan of these ladies, but they sure got a great video edit. Not sure they would be interesting or even sightly good if they were trapped on a stage without all the super-special editing effects.

DanceTown. I liked their salsa routine from last time better than this jive, but still they were very good and entertaining and interesting to watch. Kudos to the videographer and costume designer. The set, costumes, background were beautiful, and editing was stellar. Made this act awesome. And GOOD ON THEM for wearing masks. There are enough maskholes in this country so it was nice to see professional dancers staying safe.

Broken Roots. LOL they were at the Bates Motel. They should have been singing Ring of Fire. I thought this performance was cr*p. Loved them before, hated them last night. You dudes sucked.

Spyros Bros. Hey, so they dropped a couple. I thought the act was stellar and fun and wow, they were at Hogwarts and got Disney fireworks tossed in for free. A-plus from me. That, plus the one bro was really funny in his after remarks. Score!

Thomas Day/Ugly Sweater Guy (TM ams). WTH, now dude has a COVID excuse for last week? Big fat liar. He could have "phoned" it in last week if his COVID lie story was true. Everyone else managed to work remotely. My guess is, football got canceled so now he's all "Hey, what about ME?" I hope he gets kicked out and never heard from again. Hate him.

Alan Silva. I could really do w/o hearing all the judge comments while he's performing. Are they suppose to make an act better? Cuz it's not working, show. And what was up with the "Portions pre-recorded" that flashed on the screen? Aren't all his "portions" pre-recorded? His kid's pre-act recorded portion made me tear up though, so there's that.

Shakira. Just another AI singer who shouts a lot while supposedly singing, but that's what they all do now. *sigh*

Brandon Lee. Oh, dude, he's going to beat my Archie.

Malik the Drummer. I just don't like him for some reason.

Archie. He was wearing one beautiful suit.

11-year-old singer. Battaglia something. She got the pimp spot last night. I really liked her, thought she was best of the night, for singers anyway. She has the pipes and style for Broadway, like that boy from last year. Broadway bound, baby!

Meanwhile, Heidi's hair and outfit was exactly suited to me. Loved both, maybe because I would buy that outfit if I found it at Good Will, and my hair looks like that every day. So, yeay me.

I thought Heidi looked really cute last night: loved the colorful outfit & her 'pony"....you are lucky you can rock a "Pony", I dont have enough hair to pull back 🙂

[saber5055]

5 minutes ago, BuckeyeLou said:

I thought Heidi looked really cute last night:

Thank you! *blushes*

[ams1001]

Just started on demand at 6. Then checked the run time. Two hours and two minutes. Why?!

I'm sure I won't miss anything in the first two minutes of tonight's results...

Good thing Jeopardy's still reruns this week.

[Vermicious Knid]

Covid tends to damage lungs, would he really be able to sing this soon? His mother did say he tested negative, negative, negative and then it was positive. Could have been a false positive and yeah, I agree with saber, his school probably cancelled the football season.

[ams1001]

Turned it off while Howie was babbling at Roberta. Off to the results!

[saber5055]

1 hour ago, ams1001 said:

Turned it off while Howie was babbling at Roberta. Off to the results!

You actually saw the act high points on the results show. So, good choice of a time saver.