S09.E13: Quarterfinals: Week 2 Results

[maraleia]

 

Five more acts advance to the semifinals.

 

[PepperMonkey]

Wow, I guess there's not much interest in AGT at all this season?

I hate to be labeled a "child hater" but I just do not care for Mara Justine. I don't think she can sing and something about her bugs me. I am not even sure what that something IS.

I wanted the wild west show guy to go through and I guess the same sex salsa dancers? They are every bit as talented as Baila conmigo or whatever their name is. It's getting harder and harder to tell them apart this year. There are only a very few that even stand out.

P.S. For me, AGT = ABS (ANYBODY but singers).

[MizStaken]

First time I saw Mara was the recap show and she bugged me hard because I just can't stand these over emoting twits who think they are the next Mariah. Hoping the aerial team goes all the way because that is something totally different and unique and I can see how they could build a Vegas show around it.

[Rapunzel]

Why do the judges get to pick the final act to go through? They have chosen to put through kids both weeks (and untalented kids at that). I know, there are adults on the ridiculously large, sloppy, error filled, repetitive salsa dance team, along with the often inappropriately costumed children, but Howard has admitted in two of the previous rounds that they only reason that he has voted to put them through was because of the kids. He keeps telling them how "smart" they are to have the kids be the center of attention in their show. The fact that they were picked over the jump ropers is unbelievable.

 

So tonight they put through the screaming 12 year old singer, Mara Justine, whose costume was just unfortunate. The girl is a bit  awkward looking already - don't make it worse by putting her in an unflattering silver lamee dress complete with matching high tops.

 

Wow, I guess there's not much interest in AGT at all this season?

I hate to be labeled a "child hater" but I just do not care for Mara Justine. I don't think she can sing and something about her bugs me. I am not even sure what that something IS.

PepperMonkey I know what you mean about something about Mara Justine bugging you. I have the same problem. The best I can describe it as is that she seems to come across as fake or insincere. She seems to think pretty highly of herself and I don't buy the overly rehearsed, cheesy "oh, thank you so much" line that she keeps repeating after every even remotely kind thing that is said to her.

 

The opera singers were not good either last night but I would have preferred them over Mara Justine. At least they had a good performance that got them put straight through to the live shows so they have more ability than the little screamer.

 

I know, I'm terrible for picking on the kids but they need to set a minimum age for this show as we're getting way too many kids sliding past round after round who really don't have a lot of talent or at least aren't nearly as talented as a lot of other acts that end up getting cut. I'm sick of the so-called "cuteness factor" just letting these kids slide right on through when I know that there is no way most of us would pay to see the majority of these acts.

 

And to think - we still have the One World Children's Choir to look forward to. I have a feeling this will be another judge's pick situation and we'll end up stuck with them in the semifinals.

Edited August 7, 2014 by Rapunzel

[Mumbles]

 

I hate to be labeled a "child hater" but I just do not care for Mara Justine. I don't think she can sing and something about her bugs me. I am not even sure what that something IS.

 

I'm with you. I think for me, she relies on American Idol-like tricks like melismas and power-belting, which can camouflage pitch problems. Plus, every time a young singer power-belts ballads, I think that it's coming from some place inauthentic. (I HOPE a twelve-year old hasn't suffered heartbreak or the blues yet).  Plus, I get a horrifying Mama Rose vibe from her mother.

 

Plus, after tonight, she can give Clare Danes a run for her money in the "best ugly cry" category.

[peggy06]

I don't dislike Mara Justine on a personal level; in fact, I think she comes off like a sweet kid. And I don't think she's terrible. Her song this week actually did have a few softer, subtler parts that sounded fine. I just do not like when kid singers ape adults. I gather from those more knowledgeable than me that it isn't good for their vocal chords, and at bottom, it is still getting by on the "good for their age" basis. The true test would be listening with your eyes closed, or turned around like on The Voice. Would the judges still be blown away if they didn't know her age? I don't know, because it's almost impossible to evaluate kid contestants on the same basis as adults. You just can't get past the kid factor. I really, really wish they would have a cutoff age of 17 or even higher. The way it's going, the show will be dominated by child acts.

 

That's if the show continues. They've gone out of their way to lose the audience this year, with the long hiatus/weeks of reruns and rehashes.

Edited August 7, 2014 by peggy06

[mrsdalgliesh]

I thought the producers did a real disservice to Mara Justine (and every other singer) last night with that overblown arrangement and backup (AKA drown-out) singers.  Even if she belts, the "pure" kid who does YouTube videos is the one that's interesting -- not the creature they were trying to turn her into.  I like the audition episodes, but RCMH has been bad both times I've seen it.

 

After seeing MJ tonight, I'm not in favor of her going further.  She was a wreck.  No kid needs to feel that way -- and though I'm not sure it's a Mama Rose vibe from Mom (could be, not sure), I do think MJ may be feeling the pressure to make money for the family.  And that's just wrong.

 

And if you're going to give a prize of a Vegas show, shouldn't you only have acts that could be a Vegas show?  A huge dance school of kids is not going to be a Vegas show.  For one thing, by the time it becomes reality, some kids will have left the troupe and others will have come in.  Ok, they didn't get through tonight, but still.  That kid who plays the piano (and not that well)?  No.  No to the others, too.

 

Meanwhile, the only way to watch any results show is to record and FF through the entire thing.  You don't even have to slow down for the announcement, since you can see who's leaving, who's crying, etc.  

Edited August 7, 2014 by mrsdalgliesh

[Kromm]

It hurts my heart that some annoying oversinging kid is probably going to take this show, over someone like the Aerial Animation lady who truly deserves it.

 

It also hurts that I'll probably see some photocopy of the Aerial Animationist next season on Britain's Got Talent's Youtube channel, and they'll probably win that show.

[PepperMonkey]

I love the aerialist, too. There is something about her that is wonderfully quirky and weird on a personal level as well.

And I don't dislike Mara on a personal level at all, just FYI. I dislike her singing and her "AGT persona" which has become the "talented saviour of the family of 5 children" and is her mom a single mom? So yeah, she's being touted as possible breadwinner for the family which should not figure into a judges' decision at all.

I'm sure she's a great kid in real life, but she's not a great singer and shouldn't have gone any further. The sad thing there is the choice was between her and the opera ladies whose performance was horrible imho, so there was no way Mara was not moving forward.

As stated before, I would have preferred the cowboy or better yet, BRING BACK THE JUMP ROPERS, ffs!

Edited August 7, 2014 by PepperMonkey

[ketchuplover]

I think all the jidges should've worn tube tops

[Lonesome Rhodes]

 

Why do the judges get to pick the final act to go through?

I'll never be able to prove it, but I'd bet anything TPTB ask, or suggest, a given 4th place act get the jidges' votes.  Most weeks, I'd be certain that the suggestion would win out all other things being equal in a jidge's mind.

 

For me, the only two who have a ghost of a chance to reach the semis are the magician and the aerial artist.  Orphan singer?  He is done.  Child singer?  She's gonna crack in performance.  I don't think strong/balancing dude will be able to change anything up and will bore too many.

 

I thought Howie's ticket broker shtick was too much on the mean side.  There's a line where having fun becomes belittling.  I say he crossed it tonight.

 

Not a good week for AGT.  No sirree. 

[bluepiano]

As a musician and someone who's worked with talented singers and respects the art and craft of singing, I've hated Mara Justine since she first opened her mouth at her audition and let out that horrible caterwauling shriek that the judges are trying to convince America is great singing. It is not great. Or singing.  On top of that the song choices have been ridiculously inappropriate for a 12 year old. When I say I've hated MJ, it's not about her personally. It's everything her act represents. And yes, the mother does creep me out.

 

When Howard was lecturing Juan Carlos about taking the space of some more deserving act, I was thinking about how many better singers there must've been than MJ who we probably never even heard perform. Because they have the misfortune to not be 12.  Please, please, please set an age limit, because all the cutesy kid acts are ruining this show. Everything they do, whether it's singing, dancing, playing piano, magic etc, is judged on a huge curve based on their age. There is no way they should be competing against adults.

 

About the only act from this week I would even care about seeing again is Mat the magician. Note to those two losers from last week who botched their trick and still made it through - that's how it's supposed to be done. And he seems like a genuinely nice guy, and not smarmy like Collins Key.

 

For me Aerial Animation is okay, but I feel like I've seen everything she has to offer. The judges are acting like it's the most original thing ever, but haven't other acts in the past done a similar thing, of interacting with projected animations?. Even using the same effect of falling into water and then swimming. And her imagination seems to fall completely within the world of Hallmark cards and unicorns and rainbows. Kenichi Ebina did a couple of "uplifting" pieces, but he also had a dark side that he was not afraid to explore. The range of his vision and the element of unpredictability was part of what made him so fascinating. I get none of that from Aerial Animation.

Edited August 7, 2014 by bluepiano

[gaPeach]

So my Cowboy boyfriend did not make it through. Sigh........

 

Then the bottom two choices are bad singing in stereo vs mono and of course the cute (?) kid makes it.  UGH!

 

This use to be a good show that I enjoyed watching because of  all the different acts.  But now, it has become a singing show and a bad one at that. 

[A Boston Gal]

Call me a mean old lady, but I cannot STAND Mara, and yes, at this point, it's verging on personal.  Forget her overblown and and trick-ridden "singing", it's her studied mannerisms and lip quivering, always-on-the-verge of breaking down way she waited to hear her results that put me over the top. 

 

As for other reasons why she's so distasteful, you all have nailed it in the posts previous to mine.

 

GaPeach, I'm also a bit sad that Loop didn't make it.

 

All the losers have been pretty much hustled straight off the stage; no goodbyes or good lucks or anything. I think we may see a few of them again as there's usually a "wild card" round where the judges can bring back some of their fave acts.

Edited August 7, 2014 by A Boston Gal

[Taeolas]

Hmm checking the results on Wiki. 

 

The Magician made it, I'm happy for that. He seemed to have a good act.

 

The cowboy didn't; but frankly, I didn't find his act as interesting as previously. The whips didn't crack as much and he seemed to have less energy.

 

Aerial Animation made it, I'm fine with that. Their act had a few hiccups, but was still interesting enough to watch.

 

Handbalancer, I fast forwarded through his act. Seemed like he didn't have anything really new this time (tough for his type of act granted). To see in person I'd go for it, but the 3rd (and now 4th time coming?) it's getting a bit long.

 

The Dance group, I might have wanted to go through, especially over the rest of the ones that did get through. They did seem to keep their "Hiding in plain sight" schtick going, even if we expected it.

 

And to Singing acts went through; bleh. I skipped them entirely. Howie makes a big deal about bands doing cover songs; but frankly, I think I'd rather see the groups take a chance with original work than just to see the umpteenth cover of Popular Song From The Past.

 

The actual acts were pretty sparse all in all; I think I watched the 2 hour show in about 45 minutes after fast forwarding. Only ones I would have voted for would have been the Magician and Aerial Animation and maybe the Dance group. The rest were just blah or blech to me.  

[elainemarie33]

I thought Howie's ticket broker shtick was too much on the mean side.  There's a line where having fun becomes belittling.  I say he crossed it tonight.

 

 

 

My goodness, but that was awful!  And endless.  At least they should have given them all front row seats and a bit of acknowledgment for being good sports.   The tongue bit was, well, very distasteful and making an elderly gentleman take off his shirt - geez oh man! Howie, hang your head in shame!   I would not mind one bit if they replaced him next year, he is a tired act himself.

 

I hope there is a wildcard round and the opera singers get one more try and do a real operatic number rather than the terrible pick of the night before.   I definitely would have given them one more chance over blubbering Mara.  How do you say no to someone who looks like she is about to dissolve in an ugly puddle of tears if she does not go through.    In any event,  if a singer HAS to win this season,  I would like it to be Emily West.  

 

I really enjoyed the violinist.  She looked like a little pixie up there with her violin.  I had no idea who she was and thought perhaps she had won the show, only to learn she was eliminated.  I guess that does give hope to those who have suffered the same fate.

 

And I like cutie patootie adopted boy.  I was glad he made it through, but the comment that he would now sing only for America - ouch!   That took a bit of shine off of him for me.  But again, Emily West is the gal for me if this is the season of a singer winning.

[UncleChuck]

I liked that girl violinist that they brought back as "filler", and I liked her message to the contestants that she LOST in this same round a few years ago and yet, has still managed to find her performing niche and makes albums, appearances, tours, etc., that pay the bills and give her a nice, modest career. 

However, violin girl needs to hire a more subtle front singer.  That woman was belting out the lyrics so LOUD that the star's violin was completely drowned out.  Violin girl needs to hire a singer to complement and support her violin music, not destroy it.

But good on the producers for reminding the performers that losing in the Semifinals is NOT the end of your life.

[Shermie]

I really enjoyed the violinist.  She looked like a little pixie up there with her violin.  I had no idea who she was and thought perhaps she had won the show, only to learn she was eliminated.  I guess that does give hope to those who have suffered the same fate.

 

That's not really news, is it? By now, there are dozens of stories of reality show contestants who have been voted out too early but go on to great success - even fame and fortune. Winning doesn't mean much. Just having these professionally-produced clips and an appearance on a TV show to add to a resume is huge. 

[callmebetty]

 

 

And I like cutie patootie adopted boy.  I was glad he made it through, but the comment that he would now sing only for America - ouch!   That took a bit of shine off of him for me.  But again, Emily West is the gal for me if this is the season of a singer winning.

I agree. I still like him though, but that comment yikes I cringed. I wish he would have said he was going to prove the judges wrong.

So glad aerial animation and the magician made it through, but ugghh to Mara. She needs lessons not further accolades that are only going to ruin her voice. I hope this isn't going to be too much pressure on her because she does seem like a nice girl.

[peggy06]

I hope there is a wildcard round and the opera singers get one more try and do a real operatic number rather than the terrible pick of the night before.   I definitely would have given them one more chance over blubbering Mara.

I was hoping they would do Sull'aria from "The Marriage of Figaro." Wonderful duet that is familiar to many from "The Shawshank Redemption." It never hurts IMO to do a song people know. IF (and it's a big if) they get a second chance, I agree that they need to do an actual aria.

Edited August 7, 2014 by peggy06

[daughtersofanarchy]

Agree with all the negative comments about Mara and her freaky-deaky mother.  When their family clip was shown, the message was clear that they expect Mara to get them a million dollars.  At the end of the clip they picked her up and carried her and all I could think was it looked like they were delivering her for sacrifice.  And the mother looks like she has two head's-worth of hair.

 

I wouldn't worry too much about Mara winning this contest, though.  Think of it from a math standpoint.  She came in either fifth or sixth in this week's vote, so the four other winning acts each got more votes than she did.  By the time we get through these current rounds of elimination there will be a total of sixteen other acts who each almost certainly got more votes than she did, and there will be three other acts who were chosen from fifth-sixth place as she was.  What do you think her chances will be up against those first-place winners, second-place winners, etc., from each week?  I think a lot of acts would have to drop out or die before she could win this thing.

 

Glad for aerialist, hand-balancer, magician.  I laughed when singing boy dissed the judges, because, really, I didn't think he had it in him.

[Rapunzel]

Mara's family really needs to read the fine print on the prize payout if they expect her to be their hero. Forbes did an article a couple of seasons ago on the fact that the winner isn't an instant millionaire. Here is a clip from that:

 

But if you read the fine print on the screen at the end of the finale last night, the million dollar prize is actually a 40-year long annuity. In reality, Murphy, whose impressive singing voice resembles that of Frank Sinatra, can expect an annual payout of only $25,000—before taxes, that is. Murphy will be offered a lump cash payment in lieu of the annuity, but this will likely be in the $300,000 range (again, before taxes).

So best case for Mara Justine is that she ends up with somewhere around $150k after taxes(it's probably a little more than this but I always estimate the taxes on the high side high as they do take a bigger chunk if it's prize money and I'm also not sure what her state and local taxes are) if she takes the lump sum. It's not complete peanuts but it's not going to go far in today's world and they'd be wise to put it towards college for her because she isn't going to have a voice left in a couple of years if she keeps screaming like she does.

 

It's probably completely irrelevant anyway as I agree that she does not have a prayer of winning this thing (at least I really hope that the judges/producers can't manipulate things any more than they already have) and I also don't think she will have any other offers pouring in after this season is over. Many non-winners have actually ended up getting better offers and have appreciated being able to accept some of those as they weren't locked into anything with NBC. I think the only thing Mara may get is a spot on the tour that some of the acts go on though I'm not sure how far you have to make it to get a spot there.

 

ETA: I was just thinking about the 100+ person kids choir that they put through and that'll we see in one of the next shows. If they took the lump sum they'd only end up with somewhere around $1500 to $2000 each. Bet they wish they only picked 20 of them to go on the show.

Edited August 8, 2014 by Rapunzel

[Miss Scarlet]

I thought Howie's ticket broker shtick was too much on the mean side.  There's a line where having fun becomes belittling.  I say he crossed it tonight.

I completely agree!! This made me feel so badly for those poor people. I kept hoping that they were in on the joke, or hired extras or something. They were just trying to get some show tickets and have a good time. Howie was ruining that and being a jerk.

 

And I like cutie patootie adopted boy.  I was glad he made it through, but the comment that he would now sing only for America - ouch!   That took a bit of shine off of him for me.  But again, Emily West is the gal for me if this is the season of a singer winning.

 

It did for me too, not that I was ever really a big fan of his. It just seemed like such a slight and so dismissive of the judges' (very valid) criticisms of his performance. 

 

I'll echo the Mara Justine comments. I felt really uncomfortable watching her during the results show. Calm down, girl! This isn't life or death. She was just way over the top with her emotional reactions.

Edited August 8, 2014 by wudpixie

[Shermie]

Mara's family really needs to read the fine print on the prize payout if they expect her to be their hero. Forbes did an article a couple of seasons ago on the fact that the winner isn't an instant millionaire.

 

I didn't think that was a big secret anymore. Winning AGT doesn't make you a millionaire, but doing well can be parlayed into a lucrative career that does make a lot of money (see: Terry Fator). This applies to lots of competitive reality shows; you don't have to win to "win". Not that that applies to Mara, methinks. 

 

I felt really uncomfortable watching her during the results show. Calm down, girl! This isn't life or death. She was just way over the top with her emotional reactions.

 

Heh, yeah. Some people react to reality show elimination as if they will be hauled off and executed. I've seen people on Survivor (and not just the booted person, but their teammates) bawl like the world was ending. Jeez, chill out, indeed.

[bluepiano]

Some people react to reality show elimination as if they will be hauled off and executed

 

 

I often think that's just people playing the reality show game, with encouragement from the producers no doubt. But another argument for not having little kids on reality shows is that they have no context for their emotions. To them it probably does feel like life and death. Especially when on top of their own emotions, they feel they're carrying the weight of the hopes and dreams of their family. (Sensitive kids can take that on even at a very young age).

 

It's like when you hear a teenager or pre-teen on these shows say it's something they've dreamed about for their "whole life." It sounds like a joke but then you realize that it's their reality.

 

Even though the consensus on this site seems to be that Mara Justine needs to go asap, I suspect (fear) that across much of America people are drinking the judges' Kool Aid, and they see this as an inspiring underdog story. And the longer those go on, the more momentum they build. Especially when there's a lack of truly awesome acts, which I think is the situation this year. So people feel that they may as well vote for the sentimental choice. There could lots more lip quavering to come.

 

And did the adopted singer (can't remember his name) really say that about now only singing for America?? (did not see that part). Wow, it's amazing how fast this show can turn what seemed like a nice, humble young man into a spoiled, entitled, D-bag. It's really the fault of the judges and their ridiculous overpraise and pimping of marginally talented people. Some of the contestants are able to stay humble, but some of them buy into the BS and it can warp them.

Edited August 8, 2014 by bluepiano

[daughtersofanarchy]

bluepiano: Regarding the singing orphan boy, when it was announced that he was going through, Nick came over to talk to him and asked him how he felt.  The boy said (paraphrasing):  "I'm so happy America voted me through, even though the judges said my performance wasn't good enough.  From now on I'm singing for America."

[theatremouse]

Sounds like average semi-defensive teen, to me. 

[marketdoctor]

 

P.S. For me, AGT = ABS (ANYBODY but singers).

 

I'd like to see them do a season of "no singers."  That might also rule out some bands, but bands don't seem to win as often as solo acts.

 

Violin girl might have been told to give herself a few years to keep getting better--and she's added a lot of showmanship to her act.

 

The other part that's sad about Mara* is that she's fighting to be the fifth most popular act--unless all the people who voted for the bottom seven are now switching to her, and not to any of the other half-dozen acts in the other part of her semi-finals, she's gone next week.  This is the flaw of the judge's save--it tells us who the judges are debating to give a tiny amount more exposure to before they're sent home next week.

 

* To balance out the sadness a little, I really hope her life gets better, and encourage her to study hard and eat breakfast every day, and remember that you can't choose your relatives but you can choose friends that will help you.

Edited August 10, 2014 by marketdoctor

[helenamonster]

Mat Franco, Aerial Animation, and Andrey Moraru deserved to go through.

 

Jaycob...ehh, he's kind of bland but definitely not the worst in a night of pretty bland performances. With regards to his "only singing for America" thing, I think he kind of misspoke. It seemed like he was trying to say that he was grateful to America for voting him through despite the judges' criticisms, but it came out incredibly douchey (Mel called him out on it right away, too, you could hear her in the background saying something like "oh guess he's not singing for us anymore"). I chalk it all up to nerves, especially because he'd previously misspoke (I can't remember if it was during the result show or right after his performance) where he said he loved being able to headline a show at Radio City. Um, it's not "headlining" if you're sharing the bill equally with 11 other acts.

 

And then Mara...huhhhh. Neither she nor Acte II had particularly good performances, but I'm still baffled that she got sent through over them. Stop trying to make Mara Justine happen. She's not going to happen.

 

I'm so over Howie. Last week they did the thing where he took the other judges around "his" Hollywood, and now this week with selling tickets. He's so incredibly smug, and he keeps giving over-the-top praise to mediocre acts then balks when the other judges don't agree with them. And then his whole "Mel is in a bad mood" thing. Um, no, she was just giving (imo) fair criticism to the acts that deserved it (except she is still drinking the Mara Justine Kool-Aid; come on, girl!). Just because she doesn't wet her pants over every little thing doesn't mean she's in a bad mood.