S19.E01: Auditions 1

[ams1001]

Figured I'd get the ball rolling...

Quote

Variety acts featuring contestants of all ages audition for the chance to win $1 million; there are more golden buzzers than ever before, each sending a lucky act directly to the live shows to compete for America's vote.

 

[ams1001]

"More golden buzzers than ever before"...were there two? The comedian from Zimbabwe and the singing janitor, right? Clearly I was not fully paying attention. I did like both of them (what I heard of the comedian, at least; I was partly listening from the kitchen and between that and his accent I didn't quite catch everything he said.

I started writing some notes while watching but I didn't bother for a lot of them.

High School dance group: too many people and too many different camera angles to even try to keep track of what was going on. Bored. Also I hate that song. I don't even know what it's called but please make it go away.

Two-year-old math kid is adorable. Why do I feel like the judges had no idea if 7x9=63 was correct? Him staring at Howie for talking was hilarious. He's ready to be a sub in a middle school math class with that look. And when he went back to the first board to cross the sevens his dad wrote. 😄

"There's not enough ballet on this show." Proceeds to do 12 seconds of ballet and then walk across a row of bottles in toe shoes.
Simon: I don't like ballet but you found a way to make it interesting. By not doing ballet. (Because during the actual ballet segment he was clearly bored, or at least pretending to be for the "drama.") Just because you're wearing ballet shoes doesn't mean you're doing ballet.

Country singer: I couldn't hear and/or understand 90% of what she was singing.

The 13-year-old dancer/contortionist from India...reminds me of the Mexican dancer around the same age from last year.

Richard the janitor/singer from Indiana: This is gonna either be really good or really bad.....okay, he's good. 

I have a feeling this show is going to be a lot of background noise for me this season...

[rr2911]

1.  The 2 year old kid was cute but this was not anything I would pay 10 cents to see.

2.  The comedian should not have gotten the GB.  I couldn't understand one word he said!

3.  Magician and his removable fingers is my favorite already.  Great act!  How the heck did he do that??

4.  I'm surprised the dog act didn't go through.  Thank God!!

[Vermicious Knid]

Faking us out with 2 Golden Buzzers in a single episode. I thought the first one was well deserved because he was genuinely funny, in a way most comedians appearing on this show are not. And I loved the accent. 

No mystery about the magician's fingers; I assume he's double jointed and just folding/bending his finger out of sight of the camera. Little math whiz is not an act and that reeked of exploitation. 

The contortionist should appear on a double bill with the Sacred Riana.

[LennieBriscoe]

School custodian was very good,  not Steve Perry level.  

I thought the Nigerian comic was just okay. 

The two dogs were boring. 

Ballet-on-Bottles was way too flawed. 

In general, I don't care for little kids, choral groups, or body contortionists/balancers.  

 

[xls]

On 5/29/2024 at 10:37 PM, ams1001 said:

"More golden buzzers than ever before"...were there two? The comedian from Zimbabwe and the singing janitor, right? Clearly I was not fully paying attention. I did like both of them (what I heard of the comedian, at least; I was partly listening from the kitchen and between that and his accent I didn't quite catch everything he said.

I started writing some notes while watching but I didn't bother for a lot of them.

High School dance group: too many people and too many different camera angles to even try to keep track of what was going on. Bored. Also I hate that song. I don't even know what it's called but please make it go away.

Two-year-old math kid is adorable. Why do I feel like the judges had no idea if 7x9=63 was correct? Him staring at Howie for talking was hilarious. He's ready to be a sub in a middle school math class with that look. And when he went back to the first board to cross the sevens his dad wrote. 😄

"There's not enough ballet on this show." Proceeds to do 12 seconds of ballet and then walk across a row of bottles in toe shoes.
Simon: I don't like ballet but you found a way to make it interesting. By not doing ballet. (Because during the actual ballet segment he was clearly bored, or at least pretending to be for the "drama.") Just because you're wearing ballet shoes doesn't mean you're doing ballet.

Country singer: I couldn't hear and/or understand 90% of what she was singing.

The 13-year-old dancer/contortionist from India...reminds me of the Mexican dancer around the same age from last year.

Richard the janitor/singer from Indiana: This is gonna either be really good or really bad.....okay, he's good. 

I have a feeling this show is going to be a lot of background noise for me this season...

Sounds boring!

[Chit Chat]

On 5/29/2024 at 9:37 PM, ams1001 said:

The comedian from Zimbabwe and the singing janitor, right? Clearly I was not fully paying attention. I did like both of them (what I heard of the comedian, at least; I was partly listening from the kitchen and between that and his accent I didn't quite catch everything he said.

 I loved the comedian!  I rewatched to make sure I caught what he said, and it was all pretty funny.  

He said that he admires Terry Crews, and after meeting him before he went on stage, he said that he could go home after meeting him!  I'm so glad that Terry did the GB for him.   YMMV.  

[Tango64]

I’d like this show more if they just made it a variety show. It’s the competition aspect that creates so much outrage, frustration, and condemnation. 

[Lonesome Rhodes]

I was so hoping Simon set up a cameo with the Dawg, Randy Jackson, who toured as Journey's bassist.  Coulda been an all-time moment.

The comedian's presentation was among the best ever on AGT.  Give him a hint of humorous remarks and folks will laugh, as happened in this audition.  His cultural difference asides were not that great.  But he sold them excellently.  With apologies to Tweety Bird, "I tawt I taw a poor white!"  This was one of the best comic lines evah.  An entire show could revolve around it.  Seriously.  I hope he has more where that came from.  I also loved, loved, loved the sequence of the confetti raining down on him while "Ain't No Mountain..."  was blaring.  The show has so often torn down the human spirit with ultimate denigration and cynicism, but this was ennobling and beautiful. YMMV.

I'm wearing...a BUZZER.

The human bottle cap (cork?) was certainly difficult.  The lady deserves applause.  But, what new torture will she bring the next time?

The Indian girl presented one of the best juxtapositions evah.  Kudos.  I don't see where she goes from here, since contortion has been done to death.  

Howie was right about the country singer.  Really good voice.  But, no hook and there are contrasting messages within the lyrics. 

Devon as an AGT finalist simply does not add up.  

The magician did something so many have done through the years, but did it better than all who came before:  Give Simon the finger.  Great sleight of hand.  Literally.

This was one of the better eps in recent years.  However, I am not liking the super tight editing and sequencing of the jidges' remarks.  The show is at its best when they go free form with genuine expression.

 

 

[Ellee]

Really enjoyed the janitor and look forward to his next performances. 

[tinkerbell]

I got the feeling that there's more to the janitor story. He's on tv and is wearing clothes from the "Big and Tall" store that were made for someone twice his size. Making him look like a pathetic creature to fit the poor downtrodden janitor image.

The "I'm wearing pants!" guy was ridiculous. I hated it.