S16.E09: Quarterfinals 1

[helenamonster]

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With the abbreviated Judge Cuts over, 12 performers take the stage live to vie for America's votes.

Original airdate: 8/10/21

[ams1001]

Quarterfinals! Let's see if I remember any of these people after all this time...

Terry's shoes appear to be a slightly different shade of red than his suit. Fire the wardrobe people!

Please tell me Simon's wearing shorts with his suit jacket.

Dogs are cute but that went on way too long. The judges aren't much less annoying in dog form. Still the same voices. And they missed a few frisbees.

Can we please make up our minds on whether or not we like covers or originals?

Indian comedian was better the first time. And I don't even remember what he talked about the first time.

The female comedian (Gina something?) was better.

Why is Sethward on my screen again?

Still not watching escape artist. Nopenopenope.

I like the last singer. He's different.

[Vermicious Knid]

Well, I can totally see Jimmie Herrod in a new version of Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory now. He's got the same hair as Gene Wilder!

My guess is getting to the Lives means you can't audition anymore. That's the only explanation for Sethward I have. Dogs were cute but nothing special. Female comedian was funnier. Liked the college guys. 10 year olds doing Whitney should be an automatic elimination.

[marketdoctor]

I liked the woman who sang Bulletproof, and the last guy.  The dogs were cute, and the magician had a good story, but not the most impressive trick (I thought Howie was a good choice to shuffle the box.)

 

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My guess is getting to the Lives means you can't audition anymore.

That, or they're testing if there's a "vote for the worst" effect, or both.

[saber5055]

This was an episode full of a lot of singers. I multi tasked during those performances since it was like listening to the radio. The only singer I liked was the woman who did the original "I've Been Dragged on Twitter" song for her audition, then got dragged by judges for doing a cover this week. Howie said doing a cover didn't make her stand out since there are a lot of GOOD singers this season. Funny thing though, of all the "good" singers this week, she was the only one I would pay to see. The others, I would tune my radio to another station if they were being played.

The dogs were so high energy, it didn't matter that not all the Frisbees were caught, they just kept going. The judge VOs with the dog-judge panel though, what's up with that, did the judges record all that convo for them? Well then, of course the act got a glowing review.

The magician is THE WORST. I knew exactly how he did his act in his audition, and I don't follow or watch any magician shows. It was just so obvious to this neophyte. As was last night's routine. As Howie was shaking up the cards in the tub, I kept wondering why the cards weren't changing positions or flipping over, they were all staying face up or down. Then as he performed his "trick," I knew why. I want to see him do that same trick with a deck I provide, not one purchased at an online magic store.

So Peacock Guy was back and Simon, who voted him through for this live round, gave him a big red X. WTH was up with that. And that act went on and on and on forever. The guy has to be a cousin of some show runner or producer or something because he sucks. Although at the very end when he kept putting his wing feathers in Terry's face, now THAT was funny.

Speaking of funny, Gina the comedian made me LOL at her pork-chop joke. I liked her, one of the best of the night. Maybe my favorite act of the night since pretty much everyone else were singers which, as mentioned above, I don't like. I didn't pay attention when the other comedian performed but I guess he was okay.

The Danger Guy, when he was undoing the last padlock by his head and his left arm was over his chest, I swear it should have been cut by the chain saw. But no ... did the saw have a fake rubber chain on it? A butter knife can cut through balsa wood, so could a rubber-chained chain saw. I also thought it was strange the assistant attached the middle chain with a twist-shut chain link, not the padlock. But ... camera angles. On a shallow note, the man's appearance was greatly improved with his beard in a ponytail. He actually was kinda hot looking then.

I guess we're suppose to vote for five (?) acts online or on an app or something, although looking at them, I don't remember any of them except the singer Storm. So I'll let the results fall where they may. Since really, I don't care who wins this.

[ams1001]

4 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

Speaking of funny, Gina the comedian made me LOL at her pork-chop joke. I liked her, one of the best of the night. Maybe my favorite act of the night since pretty much everyone else were singers which, as mentioned above, I don't like. I didn't pay attention when the other comedian performed but I guess he was okay.

 

I guess we're suppose to vote for five (?) acts online or on an app or something, although looking at them, I don't remember any of them except the singer Storm. So I'll let the results fall where they may. Since really, I don't care who wins this.

I liked that joke, too. I remember liking the other comedian at his audition but I felt like his delivery was a bit off last night.

I've never voted on a "reality" show and I'm not going to start now.

[saber5055]

7 minutes ago, ams1001 said:

I've never voted on a "reality" show and I'm not going to start now.

I voted like crazy for Josh Blue on Last Comic Standing ... remember him? Funny that Howie didn't.

[tomorrowgirl]

I've occasionally voted in the past, but not a single act last night motivated me to vote.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

Dogs drop discs and Simon praises a Broadway singer.  What's next, Howie starring with Hair?

I feel for the little boy singer (Peter?) because he got obliterated by that last singer.  

Sethward became the Phoenix.  Unfortunately, he was in Los Angeles.

Comedienne was La Stinka.  See?  I made a funny in Spanish!  I am ready for Pasadena.

I liked the diversity dude group.  Catchy tune and well executed.  The other men's group had really good harmonies...as well.

I think the dogs and the closing singer are shoo-ins tonight.    

[Diana Berry]

When the dude was doing the magic trick.  When he was counting the cards 8 hearts or whatever was the count right?  He was counting so fast and the camera wasn’t on the long enough for the audience to verify there were only 8 or whatever.  I did see they put in a camera shot of Simon and he kind of had a smirk on his face. I’m wondering if he could also tell that may be the cards weren’t matching up but the magician was just saying the number so fast and acting like it was right.

[marketdoctor]

1 hour ago, Diana Berry said:

I did see they put in a camera shot of Simon and he kind of had a smirk on his face. I’m wondering if he could also tell that may be the cards weren’t matching up but the magician was just saying the number so fast and acting like it was right.

That, or Simon suspected he knew how the trick was done, and he kept seeing more evidence that his hypothesis/theory was right. 

One of my favorite twists is when a magician does a known trick, and then reveals how they didn't do it the way you thought (like the potato at the end of Penn and Teller's cups and balls trick.)

[DaphneCat]

Hated the whole dogs as judges schtick.  It was mildly amusing during the auditions but got real old, real quick.  I did however like all the manic energy of the dogs running, around and performing.  Guess I just like dog acts.

Sethward wasn't funny the 9,783 other times I've seen him (wasn't he also a regular on The Gong Show?)  If they truly put him in the lives to make sure we never have to see him again, then OK.  Otherwise, whoever he has to comprising pictures of needs to decide if them being published is really more embarrassing than acting like Sethward has talent.

Magician is hoping his "heartwarming" story will be enough to get past the fact that he's a lousy magician.  His trick was boring and hauling his two children on stage just so we remember how wonderful and selfless he is didn't really liven up the act.  (Does he think last year's spoken word guy won only because he talked about being a father?  Nope, he won because of all those people who would NEVER listen to this stuff in real life voted for him because they thought he was "important" or "relevant" or some such crap.)

Didn't bother to watch the chain saw danger act but did manage to catch Simon telling him that the sounds he was making were a bit too theatrical - sort of like "let's all just acknowledge you were in no actual danger and this was supposed to be entertaining so I'm giving you tips on how to improve your performance so it seems less fake."

Gospel guys - good harmonies and somewhere there is an audience for them.

Diversity band - catchy tune and might be entertaining for more than one song.

Twitter singer - good voice but I also thought her original song had more interest.

Kid singer - talented, will find an audience but it won't be me.

Last singer - Yes, he is talented.  Could you stand to listen to an entire set of this stuff?  For me - nope.  One song is fine but I find his style of singing starts to grate after a while.

[saber5055]

39 minutes ago, DaphneCat said:

Magician is hoping his "heartwarming" story will be enough to get past the fact that he's a lousy magician.  His trick was boring and hauling his two children on stage just so we remember how wonderful and selfless he is didn't really liven up the act. 

Thanks for that, which probably contributes to why I dislike him so much besides being such a cr*p magician even I can see how his tricks are done. That someone wants to adopt kids has nothing to do with how good they are in their job. If that were true, this guy needs to adopt 10 or 20 more kids to make him a "barely average" magician, and maybe get some gigs at kid birthday parties.

41 minutes ago, DaphneCat said:

Didn't bother to watch the chain saw danger act but did manage to catch Simon telling him that the sounds he was making were a bit too theatrical - sort of like "let's all just acknowledge you were in no actual danger and this was supposed to be entertaining so I'm giving you tips on how to improve your performance so it seems less fake."

I know, that was so ... weird, right, that Simon said his moaning and oohing was too fake. More fake than the rubber-chained chain saw Simon? Guess we will never find out now.

[ketchuplover]

rubber chainsaw? 😭

[yankeefan]

On 8/11/2021 at 12:08 PM, saber5055 said:

I kept wondering why the cards weren't changing positions or flipping over, they were all staying face up or down. Then as he performed his "trick," I knew why. I want to see him do that same trick with a deck I provide, not one purchased at an online magic store.

Can you PM me the info? I have a couple of theories, but I'm not sure if I'm right.