S09.E10: Quarter Finals Week 1: Performances

[maraleia]

 

Twelve of the top 48 acts perform in the hope of earning America's vote.

 

[Shermie]

So only five can go through?

My picks are jump rope group, fan dancing girls, Emily West, magic guys and ... I forget the acts already.m

I see Miguel got the pimp spot. I hate his knit hat. But he's cute and talented, so he'll go through.

I agree with Howie that the Willis family belongs in Branson. They may be quiverful types, but they're no Duggars. At least they're allowed to have lives.

Dan Naturman is like Wendy Leibman, an already successful comedian who is self promoting on reality TV for some reason. He's been on Letterman, Kimmel, Ferguson, et al. He has an imdb page. He doesn't need this, why is he on this show?

[peggy06]

Gotta say, the magician duo was a big disappointment tonight. Howard was right in that the trick was over-long and complicated. And they lost the flow through no fault of their own when Mel B. accidentally buzzed them. But the worst thing was how they tipped their hands by prompting Howie for a specific word. Look, you can't ask someone to pick a random word from a slip of paper, and then reject the first two suggestions. Clearly, they slipped a piece of paper into the counting-out process. I didn't actually see it, but the rest of the trick makes it pretty obvious that's how they worked it. Also, I'm done with tricks involving tweets and selfies and the like. Shades of Collins Key.

 

The Conmigo salsa dancers were OK, better than the auditions, and at least the little kids were decently costumed this time. But there are just too many of them, which makes it look hectic more than anything else.

 

The Willis Clan - I just can't. Average singing, barely-there backup, and of course, playing the cuteness card with the littlest ones. It was like a blah Up with People performance. America, don't put them through. At least the judges finally got real with them.

 

Jasmine Flowers - I wanted them to be great, but I didn't like it as well as the first performance. I think their effect is better with the fans than with the scarves. Big finish though.

 

Emily West, I missed in the auditions. She is a good singer and performer; the volume could have been better. I think she's going through for sure.

 

Miguel Dakota: Lose the hat. Sang well enough, had a couple of off-notes. I don't know what Howie is on about though.

[Lava VaVoom]

Emily West left me speechless.  She hit it out of the park tonight.  I liked Jasmine Flowers just because I like Jasmine Flowers and not the frenetic salsa brats.

 

I read about the Willis Clan and nothing I read suggests they're Quiverfulls.  What they are is mediocre.

 

Also nothing about this show indicates they're seeking great amateurs.  Some of the acts are, but the producers clearly are thinking of an entertaining Vegas variety show.  Many acts are known quantities invited to "compete."  The show is "America's Got Talent," not "America's Got Great Unknowns."   Stage presence takes time and effort to develop. 

[helenamonster]

Sean & Luke: Fellas, when there's only two of you, you need to be in sync. Lord almighty.

 

Valo & Bobby: This act is pretty cool. I kind of wanted them to do more but then I realized that they only have 90 seconds and they managed to fit changing...whatever you call those things...into it.

 

Julia Goodwin: Meh, I wanted her to be so much better. I think it was the song choice. She has a great, complex voice and the song was just too simple. She still needs to refer Mara Justine to her vocal coach, though. She's got amazing control.

 

Baila Conmigo: I mean, it was good, it's just so...frantic. There's way too much going on and I can't pay attention to it all. Cut a few of the dancers and simplify it a little bit.

 

David and Leeman: These guys have got charisma but what a hot mess. I know magic needs a participatory audience a lot of the time, but using the judges is such a risk. They get distracted easily, or Mel accidentally hits her buzzer, or whatever. Also the whole coaching of Howie into picking the right word was a really dumb idea. I mean, what are the odds that it would have been "camera-ready" when they took a selfie just before it?

 

The Willis Clan: I wasn't paying attention to their act but I caught the opening package and judges' commentary. Um, aren't they Quiverfull? So when they said their parents set out to have 12 children, doesn't that kind of go against the Quiverfull message of having as many children as God bestows on you? What happens if Mama Willis (who still looks young enough) pops out baby #13? And I have to agree with the judges, though I did snicker at whoever (Howie?) made the comment about them performing at the Grand Ole Oprey and they just stood there awkwardly because they already have (multiple times, I think).

 

Flight Crew Jump Rope: So awesome. An act that's entertaining and takes talent. For some reason that's a rarity on this show.

 

Jasmine Flowers: I'm still rooting for these girls. They might not be everybody's cup of tea but they are mine and they are spectacular.

 

Emily West: Give this girl a recording contract already. Voting her goes against my "no singer" principles but screw it. She is awesome.

 

JD Anderson: I was bored. Next.

 

Dan Naturman: I'm sure I've seen this guy a bunch of places but I don't care, he is funny.

 

Miguel Dakota: What the hell is Howie on? That was a performance worthy of a million dollars? I mean it wasn't awful but it was nothing special.

 

Glad to see the real Howard Stern has finally graced us with his presence. He finally called a lot of acts out on their shit and it was wonderful. And I still love Mel. She just gets so excited and it's hilarious.

 

Oy with the flashing lights. Every other act was barely visible (or maybe my tv's just shit). I'm not epileptic but they should at least put a warning onscreen for people.

 

My pick for the Top 5: Valo & Bobby, Flight Crew Jump Rope, Jasmine Flowers, Emily West, and Dan Naturman.

[theatremouse]

Look, you can't ask someone to pick a random word from a slip of paper, and then reject the first two suggestions.

True but they didn't ask him to pick a random word, I don't think. They told him to choose the longest word, which obviously they'd planted, but it required Howie to pay more attention than he did. So, bad trick-design there. "It can be a compound word" my ass. You need clear specific hard to fuck up instructions.

 

HOWEVER, they lost me way before they botched the word choice bit. They asked people to tear pages out of presumably real books. That's just wrong. I would've buzzed 'em right then.

 

Also it looked to me like the guy's hand actually hit the buzzer when he and Mel were futzing with the papers, or he bumped Mel's hand into it? I know she was apologizing (I think because it was her buzzer) but I don't think she's even the one who did it. I thought for a moment they were using that moment for their misdirect?

Edited July 30, 2014 by theatremouse

[camom]

Too bad we can't vote out Nick's shoes.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

Lady on a bike when the apparatus was supported with cables from above was aight, but not astounding.  Not even close.  Good enough for Ringling Bros.?  Sure.  This is a classic example where the apparatus is the star, not so much the humans - just like so many magic acts.

 

Baila Conmigo?  Vaya con Dios.  Way too frenetic with rotten lighting with ridiculous camera choices.  They came close to being great, but, there were too many occasions where stunts were not in sync.  The choreo lent itself to hiding movement that was not sharp.  Many, many moves were not completed by individuals, but with the pace, we aren't supposed to notice, eh?

 

Camera-ready?  How about wrong?  The premise was blown apart and not one judge chastised them.  Confusing presentation?  All-time level.  

 

Huey Lewis called - he wants the Willis Clan to go back.  Just go.  No future for them on AGT.

 

The ropers came close to meeting their potential.  I don't care so much for the art form, but they deserve credit for bringing it on cue. 

 

Shock beyond shock!  AGT production enhanced Jasmine Flowers.  I love them, so I admit my bias.  They were the best act of the night.  They added choreo and did not just use the fans.  Simply gorgeous with excellent quality of movement.  Howard is correct as to the audience not appreciating what they were seeing.

 

The biggest takeaway for me tonight is just how much the jidges have become shills.  They've all regressed to the Heidi mean.  Sad.

[ketchuplover]

Looked like the strong man botched the 3 stacks of ice to me.

[Kromm]

You know, for all the massive pain in the ass securing Howard's commitment must have been, for all the expense they had to go through to hold the show in New York City... I have to admit that it's become clear that Radio City works damn perfectly as the venue. Howard was right that it would help elevate the show. There's just an energy to holding the shows there that makes the pre-Radio-City seasons feel lame in comparison.

 

Now onto the actual acts...

 

Tappers - Boring. Howard has always been right about these guys.  That was a big bag of nothing. It's not that it's tap.  It's that I'm sure a hundred better tappers were in contention and didn't get through. These two did on the power of three of the judges seeing the Beiberism in them.  Yuck.

 

Balancers - It's impressive, but I can see this could get old pretty quickly.  That said, the bike inside the loop was VERY cool.  It was a real intelligent way to up the game with the same basic balancing stunt beneath it. Until it DOES get old?  Big points for this.  

 

Julia - For me a singer on this show has to be mega-impressive for me to care over the variety acts.  That said, I DO really like her style of singing.  It's not the best song in the world she picked, but she's got a really interesting tone.  I in no way want a singer to win this show.  Ever again.  EVER.  But I'll at least slightly laud the ones who don't suck (since a lot of sucky ones actually DO go far due to gimmicks--even this girl being 15 is kind of a gimmick, frankly).  She's on the strong side of okay-ish.

 

Salsa Kiddies & Adults - I'm over it already. To be fair, the cameramen and show director really made watching this even worse.  But part of the reason they had no idea where to put the camera was how big a frantic mess that was.  I know it was a crowd pleaser for the live crowd.  But it doesn't translate to TV at all.  Do we trust the crowd on this? I just don't know.

 

The Magicians/Mentalists (whatever they are) - Ouch.  That coulda gone so much better. Off with their heads!  No excuse for messing it up that transparently.  The audience must have been cheering by default, because by all rights they should have been booing.

 

Mormon Country Von Trapps: Branson is waiting!  I'm not.  (I'd been thinking the Branson thing during the performance, even before Howie mentioned it).  They aren't bad singers by any means.  It's just... not what I want to see.  At all.

 

Jump Ropers - I'm sure it was more impressive live.  It was okay on TV.  

 

Fan Dancers - Love them.  Also, they lucked out with far better camerawork and direction than the Latin dancers IMO.  I think we at home got a much closer sense of what it actually looked like.  That said, I think this will be less "accessible" to Maw and Paw America and probably won't get through the round.

 

Emily - She's got an incredible voice and delivery for sure.  That said, like the other girl I really don't want singers going forward on this show. But I could get a lot closer than with most singers with this girl to accepting a singer.  Doing that LIVE is what made that super-impressive.  The only downside is that HDTV is not Emily's friend (at least with that stage makeup).  But that's a shallow downside and inconsequential compared to her performance.

 

Strong Man - Go.  Away. (BTW: did the judges not even notice the part that went wrong?)  Mistakes aside, it's just not that INTERESTING to me.

 

Naturman - A comedian winning over variety is almost as lame as a singer, but Naturman IS a funny guy.  He paced that PERFECTLY too--it seemed like it started slow but that was very deliberate by him so he got the laughs to build joke by joke.  Heidi is an idiot about comedy if she liked the opening joke BEST.  It was meant to just be an opener Heidi. It's not INTENDED to be the best joke, German Lady!

 

Miguel - Howie is utterly insane.  How in any way was that better than Emily West, for example?  Giving this kid the pimp spot didn't magically make him better.  It was a good competent job, I won't lie, but hardly transcendent.  His energy level was the best thing about that, but underneath the benefit of a rock vibe (which plays well on TV AND live too), his actual voice was good, not great.  Howard is often as much a total shill as any of these guys, but in this case he was actually right.

 

 

Best moment of the night?  When Nick was doing the description of the show prize near the end and some yahoo just WALKED in front of the audience and started waving at the camera like a lunatic!  Radio City security fell down on that one, didn't they?

Edited July 30, 2014 by Kromm

[DrLar]

I only voted for Emily West the rest of the acts were meh to me.

 

Maybe the worst act was the so called mentalist magicians, clearly they slipped the piece of paper in (I think when the buzzer thingy happened), and asked for a specific word, the biggest one, I bet the rest of the words were 4 letters or less.

 

The Strong man came second worst, he only broke a few bats, he screwed up the bricks on fire and didn't break all the ice and the judges praised him? WTF?

 

For the Willis the lead singer should be perhaps the only one participating, the little kids danced awfully and again the judges praised them?

 

Jasmine Flowers act broke my TV, meaning I only saw pixels on the strobe light part, but perhaps that's my local station low bandwidth transmission.. 

[A Boston Gal]

I have to stop reading these comments before I see the whole show. I feel utterly drained of enthusiam now...don't know if I can muster up the motivation to hit the DVR "Play" button - except to see Emily West, who I'm happy to read has done good.

Edited July 30, 2014 by A Boston Gal

[Shermie]

Also nothing about this show indicates they're seeking great amateurs.

 

Maybe not, but they keep harping on how they want to discover great new talent. Putting comedians in the finals who have been on Kimmel and Letterman and Just for Laughs and have had specials and videos made? Hardly "discovering" a new talent there.

 

The balancing act was dull. The big showy part wasn't dangerous or difficult - the apparatus was pulled up and held up by cables, so the guy was just resting it on his head, not holding it up like he did with the smaller version when they came out (which is impressive). Plus, that bike is wedged within that wheel so tight there is no way it could ever fall out. Meh.

 

The Strong Man is just a... strong man. He's a big guy with a lot of gumption and strength. I know dozens of those right here in farm country. He won't go through anyway.

 

I think the salsa group would benefit if they had smaller groups dancing on their own, sort of a taking turns style, which we've seen other large dance groups do, and then maybe combine for a grand finale. But enough with the strobe lights, gawd. The group is large, they're moving a LOT, they have sparkly costumes - there's enough there to hold my attention for 90 seconds, producers, stop mucking it up with fancy gimmicks.

 

How old is Emily West? She looked about 40 last night, given the old-timey style.

[marketdoctor]

 

So only five can go through?

 

Yes--not counting wild cards, producer interference, etc.

 

I liked the magic guys, but it's a great example of how details can make or break a trick.  They should have been clearer about looking for a compound word--that would have been better than "a long word."  I liked how they used the judges' own books, but other than that, efforts to pick up the pace came off as "nervous" rather than "exciting."

 

I wonder if the Willis clan is actually auditioning for Branson, though they wouldn't object to winning the whole thing either.

 

Also:  huzzah!  New episode!  Was that so hard, NBC?  (It was?  OK, then, we'll go back to cable.)

[LoneHaranguer]

 

I have to stop reading these comments before I see the whole show. I feel utterly drained of enthusiam now...don't know if I can muster up the motivation to hit the DVR "Play" button - except to see Emily West, who I'm happy to read has done good.

The NBC web site currently has all of the performances as individual clips with nice short ads. I wish they'd be as courteous with everyone's time with the broadcast version. Nearly every time I tried to switch over last night, I was hitting ads or filler. I gave up. The network needs to cut the show in half and find something else to fill the other hour.

 

 

For the Willis the lead singer should be perhaps the only one participating, the little kids danced awfully and again the judges praised them?

I'm willing to be a little more generous, but agree that the younger ones aren't ready.

[helenamonster]

I think what annoyed me most about the praise the tap dancers got was that the judges were acting like being under 18 and a tap dancer was just such a rarity, how great that they were bringing the style back, etc...I can't remember exactly how it was phrased but that's the vibe I got. Tap is not an unusual style of dance for young people to study. Sure, not every studio offers it, but like most forms of dance or talent, it makes more sense to start it off young then when you're an adult. These guys are nothing unique, there are young tap dancers bringing a 21st-century vibe to the style all over the country.

 

Also, spare me with the "we've never done this act in front of a live audience before, we had minimal time to practice" BS they have the contestants saying in their intro packages. I am not impressed with someone's apparent ability to pull off an unrehearsed trick. Any professional performer wouldn't dare go onstage in front of an audience of millions with something that had not been properly prepared.

 

Yeah, I saw JD Anderson mess up on the fire trick (were those bricks? They looked like wooden crates on my tv). Idk how the judges didn't catch that.

[kechara]

I've seen way better tapping on SYTYCD

[Rapunzel]

Oy with the flashing lights. Every other act was barely visible (or maybe my tv's just shit). I'm not epileptic but they should at least put a warning onscreen for people.

It wasn't just your TV - I had the same issue. Who ever did the lighting for this episode needs to be fired. Between all the strobe/flash lighting and the fact that it was bouncing off of the very shiny floor a lot of the acts came across with a huge glare on them and it was a bit difficult to see everything that was going on.

 

Baila Conmigo: Please do not let this group go through. Howard told them at their initial audition that they only reason he was advancing them was because they brought out the little kids. Last night he said something similar and noted that it was smart of the adult dancers to move to the back and let the little ones take center stage. The little kids looked like all they were doing was stomping their feet a bit. As I've mentioned before, I really don't like the style of dance that they do in general as it is way too frantic and it's impossible to really tell what's going on with so many of them on stage.

 

Willis Clan: They are just not that good and I'm sick of them bringing out the little ones to pander to the audience. The two that were supposed to be "dancing" down in front towards the end weren't really doing anything more than just standing their holding hands and then they added in a clumsy dip at the end.

 

Jasmine Flowers: Love them and they are far superior to Baila Conmigo. The only bad thing was I had problems seeing the whole routine because of the crappy flashing lights. I hope that doesn't affect their chances of going through as I think they are very talented and are bringing a style of dance that is more unique than most of the other dance groups on this show.

 

Emily West: Love her and I love her renditions of the songs. It’s fairly original and she knows how to really showcase her voice. Typically I'm anti-singer on this show as well,  but if she doesn't get through I'll be kind of disappointed.

 

Strong Man: Nothing even remotely entertaining about his act and to top it off, he really did botch that thing with the bricks as others have noted. No idea why the judges loved this – I would never pay to see that act. Did we really need to see him stuff his face with that ginormous, sloppy burger? And please stop wearing unitards.

 

The acts I would like to see go through are Emily West, Jasmine Flowers, Dan Naturman, Jump Ropers and either Valo and Bobby or David and Leeman. I know that David and Leeman had some issues last night, but I liked their previous audition and at least it's an act that isn't singing or dancing so we get some more variety.

[daughtersofanarchy]

I have two-and-a-half choices to go through:  Emily, Jasmine Flowers, and, since reading above how much the comedian has been around already, I'm downgrading him to half a choice.

 

The Salsa dancers move their feet really fast, yet the steps are not intricate.  They are not the kind of steps where you can easily trip your partner if you are not doing things exactly right.  Hated their audition and hope to see them gone.

 

The strongman apparently gives himself multiple concussions at every performance.  He said he almost blacked out on the second trick.  This might constitute a Jackassery kind of entertainment in some other venue, but I wouldn't want to see him go through here.

 

Agree about those awful flashing lights.  The lights in the last act, Miguel, caused a white-out of the whole scene a couple of times.  You actually could not see the singer or the whole backup group.  How does this showcase anybody?  Between the lights and the loud backup, Miguel could have sung like Pavarotti and no one would be able to tell.  His personal performance was all but obliterated.

[LoneHaranguer]

 

Also, spare me with the "we've never done this act in front of a live audience before, we had minimal time to practice" BS they have the contestants saying in their intro packages. I am not impressed with someone's apparent ability to pull off an unrehearsed trick. Any professional performer wouldn't dare go onstage in front of an audience of millions with something that had not been properly prepared.

A musician once told me that the first thing you're taught after the basics is how to cover your mistakes. I expect that a similar principle applies to most of the acts we're seeing, and just shrugging off a problem, like the strongman did, seems to go a long way. So, who needs practice?

[DrLar]

Yeah the lighting guy is competing with the camera director of who can screw up more, this time the lighting guy won...

 

If you local TV station has problems with pixelization (see NFL games and other fast moving stuff get converted to squares)

[maraleia]

I agree the Willis Clan belongs in Branson or Nashville not Las Vegas. Their act isn't what Vegas is designed for and neither are most of the acts in the final. They have to think Circ de Sole or Penn and Teller or the like before they even audition for the show.

[Kromm]

Maybe the worst act was the so called mentalist magicians, clearly they slipped the piece of paper in (I think when the buzzer thingy happened), and asked for a specific word, the biggest one, I bet the rest of the words were 4 letters or less.

I've seen SO many of these acts over the years and the manipulation is always there (because it's what the tricks are inherently about), but it's subtle--and yet works anyway.  This was so clumsy I have to wonder if the judges were just massively pitying them to not call them out on it.  But it was strange (and maybe indicative of how live audiences work) that nobody in the live audience seemed  to notice either.  But from OUR side of the TV?  It seemed so awkward, so obvious.  

Yeah the lighting guy is competing with the camera director of who can screw up more, this time the lighting guy won...

I wonder who's fault it was that Nick didn't have a spotlight on him when they had him coming back from a commercial break (and then the spot appeared like halfway through).  Probably the same person who let that Yahoo through to wave like a maniac behind Nick in one of the later bits.

[peggy06]

Note to self: Watch on Wednesdays.They repeated this show without the filler in the hour before the results show. A much better viewing experience! Of course, this only works if you don't plan to vote.

[bluepiano]

Julia Goodwin is by far the best of the young singers. There is a big difference between 16 and 11. But I thought she did herself in with the song choice. The dress made her look more grown up but if he was going for "mature vocal artist" that song was a snoozer. Her peppy jazz style was much more fun. I'm okay with the judges being critical of her, but I expect that they are going to gush all over that horrible screaming 11 year old girl who makes my ears bleed. The favoritism of the judges for the chosen ones is one of the worst things about this show.

 

I hope we've seen the end of the Willis Clan. I don't even think they're good enough for Branson. The lead singer has a thin voice that goes off pitch, and most of the others are just taking up space. Could Heidi have sounded dumber when, after Howie said their sound didn't fill the stage, she suggested that they turn the mikes up higher? And did Mel B, who is supposed to be a singer, really not know what the Grand Ole Opry is? I hate to sound sexist, but this show has really become the male judges being the ones whose opinions matter and the women there for eye candy and comic relief.

 

Can't believe they praised the magic act after that debacle over Howie not providing the pre-chosen "magic" word.

 

The tap dancing guys always look clumsy to me, and tap is supposed to be about grace and style. And I'm no teenaged girl, but I don't they're half as cute as they think they are. The dancing girls in the background were just a distraction, as were the flashing lights. Terrible staging.

 

The strong man has no act. I can't imagine anyone paying money to watch him hurt himself. How did he ever get this far?

 

I'm rooting for the Bulgarian  circus couple because they seem like really nice people. And because they came all the way from Bulgaria and wound up living in Texas. In a trailer.

 

Edited July 31, 2014 by bluepiano

[Kromm]

 And did Mel B, who is supposed to be a singer, really not know what the Grand Ole Opry is?

Why would she?  

 

I know the Opry is standard knowledge in the South, but Mel's only real cultural tie to the US is L.A. (and even there she's only an occasional resident).

Howie, the Canadian, knows it because he's probably toured in the South, because he's lived in the US almost exclusively for a long time, and because when it comes to Country Music dedication, Canadians are practically Southerners.  I'm sure Heidi had no idea either (not that she matters).

[backformore]

Gotta say, the magician duo was a big disappointment tonight. Howard was right in that the trick was over-long and complicated. And they lost the flow through no fault of their own when Mel B. accidentally buzzed them. But the worst thing was how they tipped their hands by prompting Howie for a specific word

 

I didn't think Mel B buzzed them - the guy's hand bumped hers, maybe on purpose to create a distraction.  The only "trick"  was how they slipped the paper with the chosen word in.  If it wasn't at the buzzer, it was a little sleight-of-hand when he was saying "you could have picked this one, or this one, or..."   All he had to do is give the RIGHT paper to Howie, and then prompt Howie to read the right  word.  The mistake was that the chosen WORD was "Camera-ready", which a lot of people might see as two words, not one.   They didn't specify to howie they wanted the LONGEST word, until he picked a different one.    So, all that elaborate stuff, and it's all the same as a  "pick a card, any card" trick .  except this time, the magician says  "pick a card, any card.  no, not that card, the other one!  No!  THIS one!"    YEAY!  you picked  a random card and I guessed it! 

 

The Willis family singing Power of Love -  Hate.      It reminds me of when my sister asked my parents to buy her the Beatles "Yellow Submarine" album, and My mom bought a record called "The kids from California sing Yellow submarine and other popular hits" .  Maybe the Willis Clan could do an ironic thing, and whitewash some current hip-hop and rap songs. 

 

The strong man was terrible.  yes, he was supposed to do the three wood things at once - with both hands and the middle one with his head, and he messed up, then punched each one separately.   He looked like a doofus in his outfit, dancing around.  What's his talent again?  Oh yeah, breaking stuff.  

[bluepiano]

Why would she?  

 

I know the Opry is standard knowledge in the South, but Mel's only real cultural tie to the US is L.A. (and even there she's only an occasional resident).

 

American popular music of all kinds, including country, is huge around the world, including in England. So an institution as famous as The Grand Ole Opry should be common knowledge among any Brit who is a pop musician. I'm an American, but I know about The Royal Albert Hall, and that The Beatles came from Liverpool. I am sure that Tom Jones, Elvis Costello, and Adele, to name a few Brits who spring to mind, know all about The Grand Ole Opry.

[Kromm]

American popular music of all kinds, including country, is huge around the world, including in England. So an institution as famous as The Grand Ole Opry should be common knowledge among any Brit who is a pop musician. I'm an American, but I know about The Royal Albert Hall, and that The Beatles came from Liverpool. I am sure that Tom Jones, Elvis Costello, and Adele, to name a few Brits who spring to mind, know all about The Grand Ole Opry.

True, but Tom Jones, Elvis Costello, and Adele all perform types of music that border on Country music (standards, roots music, soul).  The artists you named have all appeared on Austin City Limits, just to refer to another institution that borders on the same territory as the Opry.  I imagine any artist who's been on that show has also absorbed a lot of the same musical cues to know what the Opry is.

 

EDIT - In fact, a bit of checking shows that Jones and Costello have both performed at the Opry itself.

 

Meanwhile, Mel B. is a Pop/Urban music artist.  If she's even even BEEN to either Austin, or Nashville, it's been to play an Arena for a Spice Girls concert, decades ago.

 

And I bet if you asked most Country artists about Royal Albert Hall, they wouldn't know what it was unless they'd performed there (or they'd guess based on the "Royal" in the name).

Edited July 31, 2014 by Kromm

[gaPeach]

Note to self: Watch on Wednesdays.They repeated this show without the filler in the hour before the results show. A much better viewing experience! Of course, this only works if you don't plan to vote.

 

I found this out too and will watch the condensed version right before the results on Wednesday.  It was so much nicer watching it that way and not having to ff as much. 

[Dagrnsnipa]

It was the worst magic trick I ever seen. Sloppy. The paper was in his hand the whole time. It was under the boom he had in his hand

[Lava VaVoom]

All things considered, it must be tough to be a performer and expected to "up your game" every time you appear on this show, without even knowing if you'll make it through to the next round or not.  You give a dynamite performance during the audition.  Then what do you do?  I'm thinking of variety acts mostly, not singers and musicians.  How do you handle the bigger and better things required for Vegas that you may not have rehearsed or planned for in your act, or maybe even can't do?

[A Boston Gal]

I think Jasmine Flowers got done in by the act's  blindingly bright light display and other producer-driven distractions. I can't think how the speedy-salsa dancers could be considered better than those young ladies.

 

Of course, this wouldn't be the first time show-runners had a hand tipping the scales by being overly involved in an act's production.

[peggy06]

I think Jasmine Flowers got done in by the act's  blindingly bright light display and other producer-driven distractions. I can't think how the speedy-salsa dancers could be considered better than those young ladies.

I think you are right. I thought - both times I saw the performance - that the light show distracted from the dancing, the line, the unison and the patterns they were creating. Whoever had the idea, it wasn't a good choice for them.

[Shermie]

All things considered, it must be tough to be a performer and expected to "up your game" every time you appear on this show

 

 

This. I'm sure a Beyonce concert is pretty much the same thing each time, just changing up the song list a bit. She sings, she sashays, she sings. That's what people expect; that's what they get. That applies to most magic shows, singers, dancing, thrill shows. You've seen one Riverdance, you've seen 'em all. And that's okay, because if you like it, that's what you want to see.

 

Yet, these (supposedly) amateur nobodies are supposed to up their game every night. I understand the judges asking a thrill act not to do the exact same bit each time, but to expect increasingly amazing, increasingly dangerous stunts is unfair. The singers just keep on singing.

Edited July 31, 2014 by Shermie

[Kerrey92]

I was at the show and the lighting was terrible. We couldn't see Miguel at all (not that any of us were jonesing to see Beanie Boy) and Baila Conmiga was a hot frenetic mess in person too. We weren't sure why the crowd went soooo crazy for them.

[LoneHaranguer]

 

I understand the judges asking a thrill act not to do the exact same bit each time, but to expect increasingly amazing, increasingly dangerous stunts is unfair.

They don't really have to be. They just have to look it, and the contestants have the production staff to help (more and more as the season progresses).

[Kromm]

I think Jasmine Flowers got done in by the act's  blindingly bright light display and other producer-driven distractions. I can't think how the speedy-salsa dancers could be considered better than those young ladies.

 

Of course, this wouldn't be the first time show-runners had a hand tipping the scales by being overly involved in an act's production.

Even still, I was amazed the Salsa dancers won the public vote (it must have been all the judge hawking and the nutty out of control live audience reaction pushing emotional buttons with the home viewers). Because as weird as the lighting was for Jasmine Flowers, the CAMERA positioning and editing was much better than the Salsa dancers got.  The camerawork/shot decisions on the Salsa dancers was just frighteningly bad, but I guess in the end home viewers are more affected by hearing cheering and lauds than camerawork.

[peggy06]

Perhaps it's the music that got the crowd going for Baila Conmigo? I remember when Howard cast the deciding vote, he said they "brought the party." I know nothing about salsa and you couldn't really focus on any dancer in that number anyway, to evaluate quality of dancing. But they used high-energy music and bright costumes, and maybe that plays better to a crowd? I have not liked them since their first appearance, where I liked Jasmine Flower a lot. So maybe I'm bringing my own bias.

 

The magic act is still the most inexplicable to me.

[Miss Scarlet]

Baila Conmigo - The director/choreographer freaks me out. She's very intense and I feel like the she's the type that would be too harsh on the child dancers.

 

JD Anderson - He makes me uncomfortable. I don't enjoy watching his act at all.

 

Jasmine Flowers - I liked this performance of theirs the best. I thought they did a great job at making it more than just a fan dance and filling the stage at Radio City.

 

Emily West - Liked her, but didn't really like this song. Not sure why the judges say that she or her look are unique. It seems pretty obvious she's trying to look Marilyn Monroe/40s esque.  Does anyone else remember seeing her on the Celebrity Apprentice when they celebrities had to style an upcoming musical artist? The men's team had Luke Bryan and the women's team, with Cyndi Lauper, had Emily. She performed a song on the show and made Cyndi cry. 

 

 

Miguel Dakota: What the hell is Howie on? That was a performance worthy of a million dollars? I mean it wasn't awful but it was nothing special.

Seriously. He was fine, but also very drowned out by his back-up singers. I find it interesting that several of the judges mentioned that he's charismatic. I like him enough, but there's nothing charismatic about him. Is charismatic code for good-looking? Speaking of that, enough of Heidi and Mel drooling over him because they think he's cute. I don't like it when the male judges do that over female artists either, like when Howie and Howard kept mentioning how "perfect" Emily West's look is.

 

Also, he definitely knows where all the cameras are. Too much staring straight into them.

Edited August 3, 2014 by wudpixie

[Miss Scarlet]

 

I hate to sound sexist, but this show has really become the male judges being the ones whose opinions matter and the women there for eye candy and comic relief.

This is completely true and I think it's a super depressing commentary on the presentation of women in the media. It's also noticeable how much the conversation about Mel and Heidi is centered around their looks, whatever they were wearing that night and who's "hotter". Nobody ever talks that way about Howard and Howie. I wish they would either replace Mel B. and Heidi with female judges who give insightful critiques or change the way the show promotes them/other judges interact with them so that their opinions are seen as equally important as Howard's and Howie's feedback.

 

Speaking of judges whose opinions matter, has anyone else noticed that Howie usually look over at Howard to see his reaction the acts? He especially does it during the comedy acts to see if Howard is laughing. It's pretty funny.

Edited August 3, 2014 by wudpixie

[peggy06]

Speaking for myself, I put more stock in Mel B.'s opinion than in Howie Mandel's. Actually I don't think any of them have it over the others in terms of judging talent, except perhaps Mel when it's a singer, and Howard/Howie when it's a comedian. I certainly don't bow to either of those guys when they judge musical talent. Just the way they fawn over kids aping adult styles, and anybody singing anything vaguely operatic, tells me they don't have an especial ear. Mel is my favorite judge simply for the honesty of her reactions. She also doesn't try to make it about herself - Howard/Howie do that a lot.

 

It's true that there is too much talk about Heidi's looks in particular. But that's what she's famous for, that's her career.

[Shermie]

I agree with peggy06; I don't think the make judges have the valid opinions and the female judges are just ther for decoration. Not remotely. Maybe Heidi, somewhat, but she is famous for looking pretty. I do,think she also - for better or for worse - brings the "mom" opinion, as she often comments whether an act is appropriate for her kids.

Mel,has made many astute and knowledgeable comments to the acts, as well as giving them advice to help them go further. Howard also does this. Howie seems to be there for comic relief, he often seems drawn to acts that are odd or silly or outside mainstream appeal. Sometimes this is good, sometimes it wastes time and space on stupid acts.

My order of judges, as my favourites, are Mel, Howard, Howie, Heidi.

[Kromm]

Yeah, if there's fluff, it's the combo of Heidi and Howie, not Heidi and Mel.

 

Howie is there to make sweeping inspirational statements like "And now America will know your name" or "And now all America loves you". And to provide banter with Howard.  Heidi is there for.. actually I don't know why Heidi is there.  Mel could do the "Moms say" POV when needed.  There's no fashion stuff for Heidi to judge.  She's totally unaware/unable to judge comedy.  Or music.  She's useless on this panel (at least Howie can judge comedy--sort of--he's too likely to just give a hand-wave to any fellow comedian who gets that far).

Edited August 7, 2014 by Kromm

[helenamonster]

Responding to the commentary about the judges in the judge thread.