S10.E13: Judge Cuts Week 4

[PhD-Purgatory15]

4th and final week of cuts. Piers Morgan guest judges.

Edited August 5, 2015 by PhD-Purgatory15

[PhD-Purgatory15]

Definitely a mixed bag tonight.

I feel like the Gentlemen were a predetermined kids act AGT had already made up their mind on. Not as sharp or as in sync as their initial audition.

Stevie Starr. Only on AGT. Horrific and mesmerizing at the same time.

Alicia...fine, but I think she'll get lost in the shuffle at RCMH. Not the strongest singer.

The Magician caught a break...no way he gets through last week or the week before. I hate that I agree w/ Piers...but he was right. The trick didn't pop, and really that was on his setup and delivery. The trick itself could've been really strong.

Glad they went w/ Duo Volta over the Vladimirs. They had a noticeable bobble on exactly the same trick they did their first go round.

Stand up guy was okay but too reminiscent of Taylor Williamson's personality. I would've given the band, or even the solo dancer the nod over him.

Of the 12 performing next week...I counted three that are coming back as wild cards. I wonder if that'll end up being the average during these quarterfinal rounds..

Edited August 5, 2015 by PhD-Purgatory15

[Commando Cody]

I loved those gnomes.  

 

Was the Piers/Howie thing real or was it an act? I can't imagine Piers wanting to come back full time if Howie is still there. 

 

Those two kids were pretty smooth dancers. 

 

Butt crack card magician did okay.  I thought they would buzz him for taking so long to get to the trick. He does have pretty good wit though. 

 

The Vlads did the balancing knife trick last time.  Although, I'm not sure where they would go from there.  They did get a little wobbly at that point. 

 

The broken up trapeze couple was pretty impressive.  It seems like all the man does is be there to catch her. It might be nice to see him do a little more.

 

The three dancers, who lost a member when he hurt his knee, found a way to make it work. 

 

I don't think I liked the solo male dancer very much.  He seemed like he was all leaps and spins but no substance.  Almost like he can't transition well.  I suppose the best example would be like the singers who can only belt out the big notes, but can't sing softly.

 

I thought the multi media dancers were pretty cool this week.  However, I still don't think the dancing is great.  It gets kind of covered up by all the media flashing by. lots of smoke and mirrors so to speak.  It makes everything else look better.  I don't really believe that another multi media act is going to win again this year.

 

Gary made me laugh.  

 

I don't remember this Zayvon guy from the last time. I'm not sure how he got this far in the competition. He's really terrible.

 

I'm kind of neutral on Alex Boyle.  They might be fun at a wedding.  

 

Heidi's favorite act was the professional regurgitator?  I didn't recognize him when he came out. I don't know if he lost weight or if he just cleaned up better. His act is pretty impressive.  I just don't want to see it. 

 

 

No real surprises on the eliminations.

 

I guess they just eliminated all of the danger acts.  I'm not sure what the point of having them is if they are just going to pass over them. I know some of the acts went straight through to the live shows.  What happened to the stuttering comedian?

[marketdoctor]

 

Definitely a mixed bag tonight.

 

My thought exactly.

 

I felt bad for the juggler who tried to do 5 balls right out of the bag (nope, you've got to warm up first, no matter how good you are.)

 

I didn't remember Zayvon either, but an act like that lives or dies on its stage persona, and on how fast you can read the room.  Those might come in time, but it's not there yet.

 

I liked the magician, but there are flashier ways to do that trick.  (If I'm right, it's a variation on the "questions in the envelope" trick, and a good variation at that.)

 

 

What happened to the stuttering comedian?

 

He got Golden Buzzered and will be on next week's show.  I hope my hatred of the Golden Buzzer doesn't carry over to the contestants.

(I'd have been halfway back if Piers got the buttons confused, because that would have shown how arbitrary the process is, but they keep the GB under their table for that reason.)

[KarateKate]

Ugh. The regurgitator. 

There are many things I cannot do. There are many things that clearly require skill and practice and are, I guess, impressive? There is a much smaller number of those I find entertaining. 

This not only doesn't fall into the "Entertaining" cross section, it falls into the black subcategory of "Things that Actively Repulse Me". Not things I would pay to see, but things I would pay to NOT see.

[Panopticon]

My personal tastes were as out of sync with the judges' decisions as they have been in a long time. There were four eliminated acts I would have wanted to keep.

 

I would have kept Duo Vladimir even though they wobbled on their signature trick. (I would have kept Duo Volta too. I don't see why there can't be both a trapeze/aerial act and a balancing/strength act.)

 

I also had a soft spot for the dance trio who had to adjust on the fly because they lost a member during their audition. Yeah, there might be an element of a pity vote in there from me, but the judges put through the blind teenage dancer so it's not as if that's never done on this show. I would have liked to see them continue to change their act and maybe eventually get their fourth back if they lasted long enough.

 

I liked Vox. Unlike Howard, I remembered them at the end of the night, not least because someone actually hit the high notes at the end of Bring Him Home (which just doesn't happen as often as it might, to the point that Forbidden Broadway has a parody of the song mocking the issue). And I've never liked Heidi as much as when she announced that she knew about clothes and theirs were fine. Tell 'em, Heidi.

 

I thought Alex Boye had one of the strongest auditions of that whole round, and the constant reaction shots throughout this episode had me thinking that that would happen again. While this performance wasn't nearly as good as the first, I'm still irked that there won't be any more.

 

Meanwhile... no regurgitator for me. I have to not only fast forward but look away. If I wanted to make myself sick there are more fun methods.

 

The singer Alicia is no more distinguishable for me than any other singer. Solo singers are not why I watch.

 

I don't mind the Gentlemen Brothers as kid acts go but there were others I would have wanted in their place.

 

So I guess I liked almost nothing last week and almost everything this week.

[A Boston Gal]

Can I just vote for Piff and the Mexican girl singer now?

[PhD-Purgatory15]

The Mexican girl singer I remember getting cut two weeks ago (Alondra Santos?) is one of the 3 acts on next week's roster who (I'm assuming) are going to be classified as wild cards being brought back.

 

However the other two acts (Showproject...a male gymnastic act; and a random male/female dancing duo) I don't even remember them getting cut during any of the judge cut weeks. I do at least remember the Showproject guys getting 4 yeses during the audition episodes because I thought their use of parallel bars was an interesting prop to use for this particular kind of AGT act.

Edited August 5, 2015 by PhD-Purgatory15

[saber5055]

This show reminded me how much I dislike Piers Morgan. Maybe "dislike" is too weak of a word for the feeling I get whenever his face appears on my tv ...

 

Who got the golden buzzer from Piers? I missed it during channel flipping.

[PhD-Purgatory15]

That would be Siro-A, a Japanese Multimedia dance troupe.

 

I'm w/ Commando Cody though, if we are solely judging them on the actual dance component of their act...they fall way behind Freckled Sky and the Freelusion dancers. Although when you think that this "form" of AGT act started waaay back w/ Fighting Gravity....I'm amazed that it doesn't feel played out yet, the diversity on the multimedia side of things continues to be pretty mindbending...

[tominboston]

My guess is that the Regurgitator isn't actually swallowing anything all the way down, just storing and manipulating stuff in his mouth, not that it doesn't take a certain amount of skill. Doesn't Teller of Penn &... do something similar with a needle and thread?

 

And as for Piers Morgan, I rather like him as a judge. There is often too much sweetness and light from the current panel (with the occasional exception of Howard), and sometimes acts need to be told bluntly that they're just not that good.

[Squirrely]

I've enjoyed this show so much more since Piers left. I will never, ever forgive him for buzzing Prince Poppycock in the finale. Piers is too pissy, too intolerant, and just too full of himself. I think Howard has filled his shoes nicely as the so-called tougher judge while still showing respect and enjoyment.

I thought this episode blew. I enjoyed the 2 duos and wish they both were put through, though I did think the trapeze act was more entertaining and original. And I'll be at my table for 1 over here in the corner because I love the regurgitator. The rest ranged from meh to awful.

[bluepiano]

My guess is that the Regurgitator isn't actually swallowing anything all the way down, just storing and manipulating stuff in his mouth

 

Glad you said this, because I was thinking I was the only one who believes we're being hoodwinked. To accept the idea that he can not only selectively regurgitate objects that he's swallowed in a particular order, but somehow manipulate a razor blade inside his stomach to slice a cherry tomato (after "finding" that tomato) completely defies logic. As well as everything I understand about how human anatomy works. To me it's way more likely that he's a skilled sleight-of-hand artist.

 

Which is not a criticism of his act, because magic is about selling an illusion. Like a magician claiming he can really make a woman disappear, or teleport an object across the room. In this case, the illusion is being able to selectively regurgitate objects he's swallowed. So I give him points for originality. Add to that the sad story about having to swallow his money to protect it while in the orphanage, and it's pure show business. So if he can pull it off, and fool the judges and a national TV audience, more power to him.

Edited August 6, 2015 by bluepiano

[UsernameGoesHere]

I can't with The Gentlemen getting through. Whaaat? I thought they would be an easy cut. Both of the Latin dance groups and the beautiful Aaron Smyth were better.

 

The thumbtack guy (Leroy?) did essentially the same stupid nonsense he did last time, only this time he had mousetraps. What were the judges expecting?

 

The Robin Williams comedian/impressionist guy (whatever he was supposed to be) was beyond horrid. I was cringing for him.

 

Too bad Xavier sucked because his first audition was cool.

 

Alicia Michilli and Siro-A get a big yawn from me. Derek Hughes too.

 

Too bad the Alex Boye band didn't make it through :( I liked them.

 

The regurgitator is gross but in a good way, if that makes any sense. I'm not sure how what he does is even possible.

 

We have 4 golden buzzer acts performing next week. I'm mean but I'm really not looking forward to the stuttering comedian. I'm glad to see Showproject is still on the show though. How many of the 12 get to go through?

[Lonesome Rhodes]

Alicia was more memorable than the soul guy with the funky band?  In what universe?

 

Gentlemen over Il Volo II, who sang excellently?  There was a very, very, strategic edit right at the beginning of the Gentlemen which spared us from seeing that the boy stage right went past his stop point and had to take a full extra step as they were supposed to be at a full stop, or "pop."  

 

I'm guessing Piers was as obnoxious as ever?  I sure have a bad feeling he will replace Howard.  Did he say anything that would hint at this?  Will he be back this season?

 

The mentalists issue was that he never really sold us (me) that he had messed up the names.  So, when he did the reveals, it seemed like a fait accompli and therefore not that special.  

 

OK, Ameriker.  Do your job!  

[Apatee]

The Regurgitator has been around a long, long time; and yes, he does swallow the objects. He's inhaled things you cannot possibly store in your mouth on other shows (billard balls for example). He just has a really unique talent. I'd agree with the judge's decisions aside from the kids' act. I would've taken the trio dancers over them personally.

[SFoster21]

The Regurgitator has been around a long, long time; and yes, he does swallow the objects. He's inhaled things you cannot possibly store in your mouth on other shows (billard balls for example). He just has a really unique talent. I'd agree with the judge's decisions aside from the kids' act. I would've taken the trio dancers over them personally.

I read a book by a guy who joined the carnival and he described sword swallowing. You can train your gag reflex.

Edited August 6, 2015 by SFoster21

[needschocolate]

I've enjoyed this show so much more since Piers left. I will never, ever forgive him for buzzing Prince Poppycock in the finale. Piers is too pissy, too intolerant, and just too full of himself. I think Howard has filled his shoes nicely as the so-called tougher judge while still showing respect and enjoyment.

 

I never saw the Piers years, but I can see why it got better without him - he's rather insufferable.  I have only watched part of this week, but when he was critiquing the first magician (I don't know if there were more), Piers said he wasn't impressed.  I thought to myself, "he is probably just repeating what he has heard his wife/girlfriend say in the bedroom. The he said, "It needs to be bigger" and I knew my theory was right.

[bluepiano]

I didn't watch this show when Piers was a judge, and based on this episode, not looking forward to his return. I like the idea of a tougher, more honest judge, but I wish that didn't come with the superior smug Brit attitude. (Same way i felt about S. Cowell). So next year there will be no American judges on "America's Got Talent?"

It was clear to me in this episode the extent to which picks are made based on casting a show, and not on who really has the most talent. As someone posted earlier, "The Gentlemen" are the designated kid act. Otherwise, it's totally ludicrous that they were chosen over some really good adult dance acts, like the troupe from Miami, and especially the salsa trio. Who from what we saw, did some really cool, unusual moves. So, sometimes it's "America's Got Cuteness" instead of "America's Got Talent."

 

Alex seems like a nice guy, but his dancing isn't good enough to compensate for not being a strong vocalist. (no James Brown in either department). Still, his act is more entertaining than that solo female singer from Michigan. Technically, her performance was not good. There were a few points at which she completely lost the melody. But they chose her because she's cute and they think people will root for her. And I can see them pairing her against that solo female singer from Colombia, and creating a lot of drama about only one of them going through and realizing their dreams. (Many shots of the parents and the mother).

 

I think that Duo Vladimir got cut because their big moment was again the knife balancing, and they did it cleaner the first time. But even not nailing it perfectly, it's still the most amazing feat of strength and balance I've ever seen. Balancing with your entire weight on a knife point? Mind boggling. The male-female balancing act was more artistic, almost like aerial dance, but I found them kind of boring.

 

I thought that the magician who had been to prison was way better than Derek Hughes. He has kind of a smarmy personality, and the rhythm of his act seemed off. Crumpling the sheets of paper and tossing them aside, then retrieving them, was just weird and not funny. For comedy mixed with magic they already have Piff.

 

Agree with Gary the nerdy comedian being like Taylor Williamson. Just not as funny. I think he needs to be able to tell some jokes that are not about what a loser he is. After two brief appearances it's already old. (He's like a real life version of Ira the puppet. But at least "Ira" sings).

Edited August 6, 2015 by bluepiano

[Taeolas]

I'm a bit disappointed Alex didn't go on. I loved his first appearance and found his Youtube afterward and loved a lot of his other works. The song he picked was probably one of his weaker ones however. I suspect his song choice for AGT is more limited too; since he has done a number of Disney covers that probably can't be done on AGT. Still, I find his music style is different enough from the standard fare we hear nowadays to be distinctive. I almost hope he'll get a wildcard, but the judges reactions hint otherwise.

 

Otherwise, the only real standouts for me was the Dance Trio and the Multimedia acrobatics group (not sure I'd count them as dancers; but not really acrobats either really...)

 

Didn't really care to see Piers back either. As others said, he's too negative and too blunt. Howard shows how you can be the tough judge and still be human; Piers often comes off as just 'tough for toughness sake'. Combined with his act-biases as well, and he just isn't a good fit as a judge IMO. 

[Indy]

On the acts they showed performing next week, they had the young mariachi girl singer - wasn't she eliminated during the first week of Judge's Cuts? Did someone drop out? I'm really glad she's back, I thought she got hosed, but I'm just confused...

[Panopticon]

On the acts they showed performing next week, they had the young mariachi girl singer - wasn't she eliminated during the first week of Judge's Cuts? Did someone drop out? I'm really glad she's back, I thought she got hosed, but I'm just confused...

 

I (and apparently some others upthread) was operating on the assumption that there are second-chance wildcards available and she grabbed one of them.

[Taeolas]

4 Golden Buzzers from the audition rounds + 4 * 7 from the Judges rounds means 32 contestants. 

 

I suspect we've got 3 shows at this current level, but 3 doesn't divide in cleanly. If each judge is given a final wild card each, that gives us 36 acts.

 

36 acts means 3 shows of 12 acts each. Let 4 acts go through from each week, and we get 12 acts for the final show. That would put the final 12 episode on Sept 1st, the week before Labour Day weekend after which everyone shifts back to Autumn mode and the fall TV season.

 

*Edit* Yup a Top 36. All 36 acts are listed in that release. 

Edited August 6, 2015 by Taeolas

[UsernameGoesHere]

*Edit* Yup a Top 36. All 36 acts are listed in that release. 

 

Daditude? Are you freaking kidding me? Of all the acts to bring back...

[Commando Cody]

I wonder what Harry Connick Jr is doing these days.  

[Indy]

Looking at the list of the top 36, Sylvia Sylvia isn't listed. I wonder what that's about?

[LadyMustang65]

I thought the couple who did the aerial act, Duo Volta or something like that, got selected, but they're not on the list.  And where did Daditude come from?  And the kid who rides the boogie boards or something?  Also, as noted, Sylvia Sylvia isn't listed.  I was thinking maybe that list was wrong, but those are the same names that are on the website, and Sylvia Sylvia and Duo Volta aren't listed there either.  I have to say that looking through the listing on the website, there's a lot of fodder there. 

[PhD-Purgatory15]

If it turns out that Duo Volta and Sylvia Sylvia were (most likely) injury casualties...then you've got 6 wildcards from 4 judges....maybe giving 2 injury replacement spots to the flyboarder and the Metal Mulishia guys was a way to guarantee a "quota" of danger acts made the live shows.

I could see Heidi wasting her wc on Daditude, and Mel B. bringing back Alondra, the young singer. But that makes Howie and Howard's choices pretty inexplicable.....I'll be interested in seeing how it's addressed next week for sure.

Edited August 7, 2015 by PhD-Purgatory15

[Indy]

If it turns out that Duo Volta and Sylvia Sylvia were (most likely) injury casualties...

I just hope that Sylvia Sylvia didn't miss miss during a practice and put an arrow through her poor husband!  

 

ETA I went to Duo Volta's website (http://duovoltatrapeze.com/) and it says that they no longer perform together. It has AGT listed under past performances, so this is at least somewhat up to date.  I know they stated that they were exes but still performing together - maybe things deteriorated and they decided they no longer wanted to perform together on AGT.  

Edited August 7, 2015 by Indy

[Lonesome Rhodes]

Maybe they heard Piers was back involved with the show and ran?

[Vermicious Knid]

Piers is a homophobic asshole. I sincerely hope they aren't bringing him back as a judge. There's also his track record; the CNN show was a crashing failure and he was the editor of a newspaper when massive phone hacking was going on but he claims to know nothing about it...

 

The multimedia dance acts look just like Kenichi, with more people. Every time a judge said something like "We've never seen this before!" I want to yell at them, "Yes, you have!" The Japanese group is also a lot like Jabaawockeez. Who have a show on the Strip so we've already got that represented. I'm glad the young Mariachi singer is getting another shot.

[PepperMonkey]

I'm sorry to hear about DuoVolta, but they made me uncomfortable. You could tell she was hurting that they are no longer together and I honestly think it was hard on him as well. I don't know nor do I care what happened, but I do understand why they are no longer performing together.

 

See, I'm going to differ from most everyone here: for a kid act, I like The Gentlemen. I like their style and they're pretty decent dancers. Will they win it all? No. But I like the kids and I've seen worse acts go through to RCMH.

 

Piers is honestly NOT coming back to AGT full time next year, is he? I saw a story on People about him coming back for the guest judging, but I would think he would think it's a step back down? I like him okay as a judge and I LOVE LOVE LOVE when he is proven wrong, but I haven't forgiven him for buzzing Prince Poppycock in the final rounds, either.

 

I can't help it: I'm just not excited about the "white soul singer", Alicia, is it? I just don't think she's as special as the judges seem to think she is. Then again, massive aversion to most singers on this show. My one exception is Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. I don't know how his career's going now, but I loved the hell out of him on his season. And as I've said before, Piers reaction to his audition is still one of my favourite reality show moments ever.

[Gemma Violet]

Piers is a homophobic asshole. 

 

I can't believe I'm going to defend Piers Morgan, but I remember on his CNN show, he was very much in favor of gay rights to the point of sometimes showing great passion on the subject.  I never saw him be homophobic.  

[theabsolution]

I saw some of you notice that Silvia Silvia wasn't in the list so I did some research (read: looked at her Facebook) she withdrew from the competition due to a contract with a show in Israel.

Too bad, I liked her act. :)

Edited August 10, 2015 by theabsolution

[Vermicious Knid]

During his tenure as a judge any performer who was gay, or had an act that could be perceived as gay, was buzzed and denigrated by Piers. In addition to Prince Poppycock he was especially cruel to a male pole dancer. Not everyone's cup of tea but he demonstrated some pretty amazing athleticism. Piers buzzed him during the semis:

[Indy]

I saw some of you notice that Silvia Silvia wasn't in the list so I did some research (read: looked at her Facebook) she withdrew from the competition due to a contract with a show in Israel.

Too bad, I liked her act. :)

[Squirrely]

VK, I immediately thought of that pole dancer when I was hating on Piers earlier in this thread! He was an absolute douche to him. Regardless of what he's said on CNN, he came off as quite a bigot on his tenure at AGT.

I will admit that my beloved Poppycock did not do as well in his final performance on the show as he had done previously, but the judges should have enough respect and decency not to buzz acts that far into the show, even if they come out and do professional hugging. America voted him into the finals because they wanted him there and Piers spit in our faces when he did that.

[Indy]

I saw some of you notice that Silvia Silvia wasn't in the list so I did some research (read: looked at her Facebook) she withdrew from the competition due to a contract with a show in Israel.

Too bad, I liked her act. :)

That's a bummer. She was one of my favorite acts going into the live rounds.  But I'm glad at least she pulled out for a good reason and nobody has an arrow through an eye...

[helenamonster]

Shit, I am so behind on this show. That's what impromptu moving and switching internships will do to you.

 

You know, Mel B, shit like bringing Piers back as your guest judge is why you're only my second favorite Spice Girl. (Yes, I realize that this was in all likelihood executive meddling.)

 

Meh, I like The Gentlemen. Do I want them to win? No, but they're quite entertaining. Lol at the mom screaming and the embarrassed daughter trying to get her to be quiet.

 

I wanted to like Derek Hughes, and I could see what he was going for with his pattern and delivery, but something about it was just very disorganized and it didn't work for me. However, I do have a soft spot for magicians so we'll see how he does going forward.

 

It's too bad Duo Vladimir messed up the signature part of their trick, because I would have liked to see them go through along with Duo Volta. But apparently Duo Volta dropped out? Along with one of my faves, Sylvia Sylvia??? I remember a couple seasons back (when we were all still on TWoP) that someone found a copy of the contract the contestants had to sign and I remember it making the explicit point that once you committed to AGT you were stuck with the  show for quite some time, even after your season was over (you could only perform at AGT-sanctioned events, had to bill yourself as a contestant for so many years, etc.). Maybe the contract has changed, but I'm still surprised these two acts (which were very good and could have gone far) were allowed to drop out without an injury being the reason.

 

I would have liked to see the trio of ballroom dancers go through. I thought it was impressive how they adjusted their act, and it's different to see a man dance with two women. I would have liked to see more of them.

 

Ok, I say this as someone who has been a  die-hard Lady Gaga fan since the 2009 VMAs: Kayvon Zand was quite obviously a die-hard Lady Gaga fan who had gotten it into his head that he could co-opt her craziness and become a star in his own right (it wasn't just the costumes; she wore those exact contact lenses in the promotional photoshoot for her last solo tour). But as the judges (I think Howard?) so correctly pointed out, Lady Gaga has the voice and the raw musical talent to back up the theatricality of her persona. This dude did not. And how dare he speak to a Spice Girl with that tone. Even if said Spice Girl did (in theory) foist Piers Morgan upon the viewing public again. Although contestants talking back definitely makes for good TV.

 

Y'all, I can't watch the regurgitator. I literally can't. I fastforwarded through his act. As I said after his first audition, I get that he's talented, but ugh, he makes me want to regurgitate my lunch. As to whether or not he's hiding all the items in his mouth or actually swallowing them...I remember someone, maybe here, pointing out that his teeth are worn down, probably from all the bile he's been spitting up after doing this for so long, in the same way that a bulimic's teeth wear down after some time. Although that could be from something else, idk enough about human anatomy to know if what he says he's doing is actually physically possible. Either way, he has some kind of talent, whether it be illusion or actual regurgitation. I just can't watch it.