S10.E15: Quarterfinal 1

[Commando Cody]

Twelve of the Top 36 acts perform at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

 

 

[Commando Cody]

I just can't get into Siro-A. it is the lackluster dancing. Their performance was too dark in some places and too busy in others.  All those bright spots showed how much they really lack in dance skills.  The dancing was amateurish and it looked like some of the performers were a little off. The beginning of the act was very slow. 

 

The sound quality for Alondra Santos was terrible.  Every time the audience cheered I could barely hear her.  When the audience was quiet the sound was still poor. 

 

Vita Radionova: She got screwed by the set designer. Everything was black.  She wasn't well lit. Her outfit matched the background. She's very flexible, but I don't think many would pay to watch her for 90 minutes.

 

Triple Threat: Right off the bat, they didn't sound good.  Very poor choice of song. Poor stage show. Ridiculous looking high school jackets.  It looked like they got "Arcadian Broad-ed"  At least they ended the song well. 

 

The Gentlemen: They looked off this week. Kind of like they weren't really feeling it.  

 

Piff:  I really like his sense of humor. I found the trick a bit of a letdown.  I think someone does this act every year - or at least it seems that way. "The girl with the dragon to do list" was a pretty good line.  I like that his act never stops.  He's going to be famous no matter what.  

 

Benton Blount: He sounded like he was out of tune. He could have picked a better song - or maybe at this point it's all producer interference.

 

Craig and Micheline: They are incredibly strong.  That's all I have on them.  Once again, terrible lighting.  

 

Drew Lynch: Seems happy enough. With all of the giggling he was doing, he came off as kind of stoned. I couldn't understand most of his jokes.

He made a joke about Piff?

 

Showproject: I would watch these guys over Craig and Micheline. I think their parallel bar routine was more interesting, but I really like them tonight too.  Heidi's comments about how they looked sounded like she watching male strippers. 

 

Paul Zerdin: He has a really good act.  I have always love ventriloquism. I have never seen anyone walk away from the dummy before. He would have a really fun show. They should have given him the pimp spot - instead of sad backstory Samantha Johnson. At least they could have ended on a happy note. 

 

Samantha Johnson: I wouldn't buy her record - if she ever has one...or go to one of her shows. i'm getting tired of all of these belters. 

[Panopticon]

Siri-A: If you aren't as good at the tecnology/dance mix as Kenichi Ebina (and they aren't), I'm not that interested.

Alondra: Glad to see her back, but I liked her better when there was less of a spectacle around her.

Vita: I thought she did well, with a nice mix of dance and tricks.

Triple Threat: I admit it: I gave them some votes. (I also admit that I've been drinking, which I think we can all agree improves this show.) It DID feel a bit like satire, and that amused me. Plus I don't approve of judges buzzing mid-act once we get to the audience voting rounds. Buzz like crazy in the auditions and judges cuts, but after that hands off in the absence of legitimately offensive material.

Gentlemen: Nice kids. Definitely off. Should've been cut last week.

Piff: I get that he's a comedian, but I needed at least a little bit of magic. Telling Howie at the beginning of the act which box to avoid was not magic.

Benton: Solo singer. Don't care.

Craig/Michelene: I was distracted by the bad lighting.

Drew: Good for him to pursue his dream, but entertainment-wise it was a meh.

Show Project: It seemed more Olympics than variety act. Lacking in the showmanship we usually get from gymnasts/acrobats.

Paul: He was excellent, and ventriloquists are NOT my thing.

Samantha: Not here for solo singers.

[PhD-Purgatory15]

If history is an AGT guide,then Benton and Samantha aren't going anywhere. She's fine, although w/ AGT singers of her age range...I always wonder if there are "no's" in her past from AI and the Voice that we as the audience don't hear about. As for Benton, he's been progressively more average each time we've see him.

If you isolate just Siro-A's dancing,it's really rudimentary. Yet I still think the act works on some level.

Kids tend to get votes so I wouldn't be shocked if both the Gentlemen and Alondra get through. They were much stronger than the Judge Cuts round...and Alondra was alright. I do wonder if not singing in English will cost her a certain number of votes...

Vita is fodder, Showproject brings the sexy but still is probably fodder, the dancing couple is fodder, Paul and Piff should advance, Triple Threat had an epic flame out. If Alondra doesn't make it...I guess that leaves Drew....I don't really know what to make of him, particularly w/ tonight's performance.

[Dust Bunny]

Please let this be Heidi's last year. It's clear the other three judges don't respect many of her opinions. Mel B and Howie exchanged looks of "preach, Howard!" while Howard shouted down Heidi's critique of Paul. If they hadn't been laughing during it, it could have been even more cringeworthy.

[ShannaB]

I liked Piff and Paul but I was pleasantly surprised with Samantha Johnson.  I am sick to death of the vocal gymnastics/runs and she toned that down nicely tonight.  I actually got flashes of Shirley Bassey  singing a Bond movie song and NO ONE gives me a Shirley Bassey vibe except Shirley Bassey.  There was a definite power in Samantha's performance.

[Vermicious Knid]

The dancing couple were boring. It was just a lot of lifts, with distracting special effects. Ventriloquist was good even if you could clearly see his lips moving. The remote controlled puppet was pretty genius, but the kind of thing you can just do once. Alondra was overwhelmed by the staging and dancers and made the bad mistake of picking a song with too many pauses. She won't win, but the night she gets eliminated I hope there's a guy holding a recoding contract for a Spanish language label standing in the wings.

 

I thought the trick was that Mr Piffles wasn't actually in any of the boxes as they were hanging. That was the only magic in the act. But as a comedy routine it was funny. Bit more about Piff:

http://www.reviewjournal.com/columns-blogs/mike-weatherford/summer-and-tv-good-magic-the-strip

[Lonesome Rhodes]

I'm gonna be sad that Piff gets sent packing.  The whole thing just did not work.  I also do not appreciate that he was able to bring in a part of his professional act - the throne, which must have cost a ton.  

 

The ventriloquist was out of this world fantastic.  Straight to the finals, as far as I am concerned.

 

Aer-o was excellent - the best of the choreographed acts tonight.  The Gentlemen shouldn't even have been advanced to this stage.  The gymnasts got very bad Director's choices.  This is the AGT I remember - horrible staging and TV.  Not their fault.  They were a bit off on some timing, though.

 

I was pretty much shocked with some of the direct criticisms by Mel, especially.  Really good stuff.  I can't recall a one which was out of bounds.

 

It was nice to see Nick returned to some prominence in the overall staging of the show.

 

i was thrilled for Alondra (?).  I think she's safe.  I was not impressed with all the business surrounding her.  She did amazingly well responding to the jostling and the direct hit in the face she took from a stray vale.  She also was having obvious problems with her audio feedback to her ear.  Phenomenal composure for one so inexperienced.

[tobysmom]

I only watched the first hour (had to turn to Face Off at 9 :)  )  but the first act I was so surprised when it was done that all the judges raved about them.   I went what!!!  They were playing air musical instruments and they weren't in sync at all. 

 

Loved Alondra.  I agree with Howard that the beginning when she sang acapella  was really good and you can hear what a really good voice she has.  Then of course they had to have all the busyiness. 

 

I loathe how AGT stages the acts - which was one of the really bad things about Triple Threat - but their singing was just bad too, there were times when I cringed.  I loved them at their first audition - what happened??

 

I can't imagine anyone going to a full show of Vita's???

 

Piff - I just didn't understand the act - what was magic about it??????  And I agree with Heidi that the whole time I felt bad for Mr. Piffles being in that box.  Made me sad.

Edited August 12, 2015 by tobysmom

[SFoster21]

Don't get the gymnasts. Doesn't Cirque duSoleil do this sort of thing better? And I even find that dull.

[tominboston]

 

Piff - I just didn't understand the act - what was magic about it??????

 

My guess is that Mr. Piffles wasn't in any of the boxes and that Piff pulled off some sort of sleight of hand trick when he pulled him out of box #3. Otherwise, if we believe that Howie wasn't in on the trick (and I believe he wasn't), there would be no assurrance that the puppy-wuppy wouldn't get stomped or shredded. Having said that, I do agree that the performance wasn't as cool as his earlier ones, although he wa still funny.

 

The video effects behind most of the acts last night were distracting. I understand that the producers want to liven things up, but all that color and flashing and movement and the the like sometimes made it hard to watch the actual performer. Tone it down, guys!

 

I do really like the ventriloquist, but I'm also pulling for Samantha Johnson, who aside from being a semi-local girl here has great stage presence and a fantastic rocker/soul voice. Hope she makes it through another round or two.

[tobysmom]

My guess is that Mr. Piffles wasn't in any of the boxes and that Piff pulled off some sort of sleight of hand trick when he pulled him out of box #3. Otherwise, if we believe that Howie wasn't in on the trick (and I believe he wasn't), there would be no assurrance that the puppy-wuppy wouldn't get stomped or shredded. Having said that, I do agree that the performance wasn't as cool as his earlier ones, although he wa still funny.

 

ahh okay, that makes sense :) ..  Makes me feel better about Mr. Piffles

[LadyMustang65]

I am definitely in the group that thinks the buzzers should be retired at this point.  Triple Threat was not as good as they were in their two previous performances, but they were, as Heidi said, definitely not buzz-worthy.  That was just rude.  So I gave them a bunch of votes since I have liked them throughout and didn't think last night's performance was that bad. 

 

Alondra Santos has a nice voice, but I didn't care for this performance.  I didn't think Benton had a particularly good song choice or version of it either.  And Samantha Johnson needs to be shot for absolutely butchering such an iconic song.  Both DH and I hated it so much our kids asked to hear the original version. They agreed her version stunk, although my younger son said he liked the version they did at the end of "San Andreas" the best.  I agree that was a great cover.  SJ's was not.  Absolutely not.  The Gentlemen are cute and definitely talented, but not so talented that I'd want to watch them perform at this stage of the game.  If they keep up their dancing, they could be spectacular in their teens and early 20s.  Vita Radionova was okay.  She is very flexible, but this performance just wasn't that inspiring, and the staging, lighting and costuming did her no favors.  Siro-A is fun to watch, but last night's performance was not one of their best, and I got really annoyed that the gymnasts got called out for not being in sync (which is ridiculously hard to do on gymnastics equipment) but these guys got told they were perfect, when anyone with eyes could see they were not. 

 

I really liked Craig and Michelline.  I enjoy that style of show dancing anyway.  I would have liked a bit more dancing and a few less lifts, but I voted for them and would like to see them go through.  ShowProject was fantastic, although I may be a bit biased because my younger son was a competitive gymnast from age 6 through 19 and twice made it to the Junior Olympics.  I love watching gymnasts, and I know how hard it is to do what they do.  To be perfectly synchronized as well is asking a lot.  Even without perfect synchronicity, these guys were fun to watch, and I would definitely pay to see a show of them using the different apparatus as well as floor.  I would find that very entertaining. 

 

I love Piff, but last night was kind of off as far as the magic went.  The comedy was great, but I'm not exactly sure what the magic part was.  He did basically tell Howie at the beginning that Mr. Piffles was in Box #3.  Saying "or maybe I'm just trying to throw you off" wasn't much of a cover.  But again I thoroughly enjoyed his humor, including have take-out brought in and sticking Nick with the balance of the bill, and his previous performances were so good that I cut him some slack at a trick that wasn't quite as 'magic' as it could have/should have been.

 

Paul the ventriloquist is adorable and talented and funny and original, and his performance last night was just perfection.  It will be an absolute travesty if he doesn't get through.  And Drew Lynch is wonderful.  I thought he was really funny the first time around, but as did some others, I wondered if he'd have enough material to keep going.  The answer is absolutely yes.  His opening bit referencing Piff's act showed that he is capable of thinking fast and adjusting on the fly, and it was funny.  His entire act had us laughing out loud.  He and Paul were the top 2 for us last night. 

[saber5055]

I was wondering how many viewers at home got sent into seizures by the flashing lights behind all of these acts. I swear, I couldn't see half of them, lights were blasting my eyeballs.

 

The Gentlemen made a mistake having those girls dancing their same steps in the background. It just made me realize that the boys weren't all that good after all since those girls were doing their steps better than they were.

 

What's up with buzzing an act the judges have put through to the live rounds, where their buzzing means nothing? The heck with that. Their crummy critiques will sway viewer votes enough without the useless dramatics of buzzing. I hope viewers put Triple Threat through to next round just as a "take that" to the smart alec judges.

 

I wish Howie would have picked box 3 for Piff's act. I'm sure he would have had an out and a joke if it went that way since yes, Mr. Piffles really WAS in that box the whole time. I've seen Piff before, and this time I disliked everything about his act. I'd be okay with him going back to Vegas on his own dime.

 

I like the ventriloquist too. At least I could see his act without being blinded by flashing lights, neon-colored boxes and a mis-mosh of background dancers and singers to distract me.

Edited August 12, 2015 by saber5055

[friendperidot]

Had closed captioning on screen, always use them and sometimes they are quite amusing. I looked up at the screen in time to see "a lone bra", puzzled me for a second til I realized it should have been "Alondra". I like her, but I don't like all that stuff going on around her, it does not enhance, it detracts. I don't think any of the acts benefit from all the stuff.

 

I like Piff, but agree this time was a little flat. The country singer guy was lost in all the stuff and poor sound, I couldn't hear him well. I like the stutter comedian, and I admire him for doing stand up and using his stutter as his comedy. The Piff joke did show quick thinking. If he decides to not make stand up as a career, he should have a nice career as a writer. 

 

The ventriloquist was fantastic and I'm not particularly a fan of ventriloquism. The rest, I don't remember much.

[UsernameGoesHere]

How is it fair that you can now vote at the beginning of the show? That sucks if you don't go until late in the episode.

 

The best part of Alondra's act was the a capella. She sounded great. The rest wasn't that interesting to me.

 

I wonder how much of Vita's performance the live audience could really see because she totally blended in with the background. I kept waiting for her to fall over in those heels. I love her but contortionists never fare well in the live rounds.

 

Poor Triple Threat. I didn't think it was worthy of 3 X's. It wasn't THAT bad. They should be an easy elimination but it's just as possible that people will feel bad and vote them through. Has anyone ever gotten all 4 buzzers (or 3 in earlier seasons) in the live rounds? I was kind of hoping it would happen since they were already at 3 LOL! I felt bad for them though.

 

There wasn't much magic in Piff's act (especially since he specifically pointed out box 3 in the beginning) but it was still fun. I cracked up when the woodchipper was brought out. It would've been hilarious if Mr. Piffles wasn't in any of the boxes and just walked out on stage at the end.

 

Oh look, The Gentlemen are doing the sames moves yet again.

 

Benton Blount was completely forgettable and boring.

 

Craig and Micheline, whoever they are, are probably really amazing but this just looked like a bunch of lifts and twirls to me. And as always, the lighting/effects were just terrible. When will the show realize all the lightning and craziness going on in the background takes away from the act?

 

I'm sorry but I just can't take Drew Lynch. I actually did laugh at a couple of his jokes, but overall he's painful and awkward to watch for me and his act just seems to go on forever and it takes forever to get to the punchlines. And the constant giggling needs to stop. I feel so mean. I know he's a lock to go through though.

 

Showproject is really impressive but I did prefer their original audition. This was still great though and I loved the song choice. I hope they go through because I want to see what else they can do.

 

Paul Zerdin is just fantastic. I loved the whole bit with him leaving the stage and the puppet coming to life. What is Heidi talking about? LOL at the other judges laughing at her nonsense.

 

Oh look, a sob story solo singer getting the pimp spot. Next.

 

Predictions...

1. Paul Zerdin
2. Piff
3. Siro-A
4. Drew Lynch
5. Samantha Johnson

 

Not sure about the other two so I'll say Showproject and Alondra. Can't wait to see how wrong I am tonight.

[LadyMustang65]

Predictions...

1. Paul Zerdin

2. Piff

3. Siro-A

4. Drew Lynch

5. Samantha Johnson

 

Not sure about the other two so I'll say Showproject and Alondra. Can't wait to see how wrong I am tonight.

 

I hope you're not too wrong.  My predictions (my hopes actually) are very similar to yours except take out Samantha Johnson and Alondra and put in Triple Threat and Craig & Michelline,  So we share 5 out of 7. 

[A Boston Gal]

Siro-A's over-use of lights just masks their aveage dancing. It was distracting and migraine-inducing, starting off slow, and only working its way up to live-show worthiness towards the end.

 

They also are forcing me to use far more hyphens than is necessary.

Edited August 12, 2015 by A Boston Gal

[saber5055]

How is it fair that you can now vote at the beginning of the show? That sucks if you don't go until late in the episode.

 

 

I didn't realize that. I was waiting for a review of each act and their voting numbers at the end of the show, but it didn't happen. I had already forgotten what acts went first.

 

A Lone Bra (too funny) said she got a call because "a spot opened up." Does anyone know who dropped out/was kicked out?

[LadyMustang65]

DuoVolta voluntarily dropped out because the act broke up, and they said they wanted someone else to have a chance.  Sylvia Sylvia had to drop out I think because of a contract to perform elsewhere or something like that.  Alondra and Daditude were the two acts that got the calls to replace them.

[UsernameGoesHere]

They should have brought back Duo Vladimir instead of Daditude. The judges kept going on and on about how they and Duo Volta are so similar and they can only pick one. Daditude just makes no sense on any level.

[Ohwell]

I only watched the first hour because I turned to "Zoo."  

 

I didn't get all the fuss about the first act and I was mostly confused by it all. 

 

The Piff dude's act fell flat for me. 

 

I was disappointed that Triple Threat messed up.  I think the backup dancers threw them off their game and they would have been so much better without them.  They still didn't deserve to get buzzed though.  I thought that was rude.  Oh well, at least they didn't get buzzed in the finale like that a-hole did to Prince Poppycock. 

 

I really liked The Gentleman and I was sorry they got so much negative feedback.

 

Spanish singing girl has a nice voice but I am just turned off people who say they are doing it for their family.  Like a 13 year old feels like she needs to bring in money for the family.  Maybe dad should find a better job?

[Lonesome Rhodes]

 

How is it fair that you can now vote at the beginning of the show? That sucks if you don't go until late in the episode.

As demonstrated on American Idol, it is a significant disadvantage to go first/early.  Out of sight, out of mind.  This offsets that problem.

[RTPGiants]

Piffles wasn't in any of the boxes, that's the point of the trick. He got a bit unlucky in that Howie is a bad choice for this act and probably did avoid #3 due to the banter. A lot of other people wouldn't do that. The other issue is that this is a trick that requires the audience to "get it", but AGT is a tough stage for that. I can sort of understand the audience not knowing Piffles wasn't in a box, but the judges should have figured this out. Piffles, for his part was in/behind the chair Piff used to set #3 on at the end of the trick.

[Drogo]

Folks, please do not discuss results in this thread.  Live Results show thread can be found here.

[saber5055]

If so, this is why one should never sh*t where they eat.

 

 

Yeah, I'd break up with my partner, too, if he/she did that where I eat.

[Kromm]

I actually thought Vida was incredible. Much more interesting that I'd thought she'd be. I do agree with Commander Cody that the costume/background combo probably faded for the live audience--they were counting on the sequins making it look so spectacular it would overcome that.  On TV it didn't look that bad though. What I really enjoyed was that she had a LOT more moves than I'm used to from contortionists. The speed/dance moves going into and out of the contortions was something I've never seen done quite that way before.  And that's where the sequins DID look good. Although they could have just as easily had a white background behind her, or a white outfit with those sequins against the dark background.

 

She's never going to get to headline a show, but she should be able to get a great supporting role in some Vegas show like Circus Circus (assuming she's not already got some gig like that). 

 

Siro-A was pretty good--the effects were totally next level.  But the show isn't going to reward a multiplied sequel to Kenichi Ebina only 2 years after he won. The judges will downplay it by the finals and/or the audience will have somewhat of a "we've seen this before, even if this is even yet a bit better" (special effects-wise-as dancers they might not be).

 

Triple Threat showed the problem with every singing act that advances.  Come Live Shows they're just boring and lackluster.

 

Alondra in contrast was quite good, but ultimately there's only so much ANY singing act can do.

 

Piff is mainly a comedy act. and this reminded us of that.  As a magician he's only so-so. Remember in his audition he actually BUNGLED the trick and nobody mentioned it (you could actually SEE him manipulate the card in the way that produced the effect we saw--I won't say more so as not to explictly spoil the trick, but just go rewatch his audition and you may spot the screw up).  But he'S FUNNY, so in a way it doesn't matter.

 

The Kiddie "Gentlemen"?  Good lord. Not to be mean, but why were they even there? Passes for "cute kid acts" piss me off. For a talent show ABOUT kids?  Sure. For a nationwide search for a Vegas headliner?  Don't. Insult.  Me.

 

Benton Blount is everything on this show that bugs me about "inspiration" acts, and about singing acts, all in one. Remember Kevin Skinner?  I bet you only do if you are a hardcore long time viewer of this show.  Well he WON the show, and yet you certainly don't "know" Kevin Skinner from outside the show. There's a REASON for that.  And this guy is basically Kevin Skinner 2.0. 5 out of 9 winners of this show have been singers.  NONE of them have gone on to success off the show.  That's a DREADFUL average. It's worth noting the only commercially successful singer from this show, Jackie Evancho, didn't even win it.

 

Craig and Micheline were impressive, but there may be even less to base a full show around than Vida. Even with them mixing "genres" between a strength act and a dance act, I get the sense once you've seen them two or three times, you've seen it all (because traditional dance acts have more moves). I do love Micheline's accent--there's that. 

 

Showproject got out of sync with each other pretty quickly (and it was FAR more than by the "smidge" Heidi claimed). I KNOW that's a bear of a thing to judge when the act is inherently so hard, but we have to judge what we see, even if we can't do it ourselves, right? If you do a synchronized gymnastic acts, it's got to be in sync. End of story. Mel got booed for saying this, but shouldn't have.  The glow in the dark pants looked neat.  But they showed off the out-of-sync-ness even MORE.

 

Drew Lynch?  Yeah, inspirational package, etc. It doesn't bug me as much as with the singer, but it still does somewhat. I mean there's a niche for this kind of act, but someone like Britain's Got Talent's Jack Carroll has a stronger foodhold/act.  Not to compare handicaps--that's TERRIBLE--just the blunt realities of what actually WORKS on stage.

 

I go back and forth on Ventriloquists. In some way there's only so much they can do and it wears on me. But Paul Zerdin has a very good act. If Terry Fator can make a zillion dollars a year now in Vegas, this guy can at least go another round. Maybe. To be honest, I've seen MUCH better lip work on Ventriloquists than with Paul (I had a great uncle who was a Ventriloquist for example, so I saw the craft close up through my entire childhod).You can CLEARLY see Zerdin's lip tension when the puppets voice comes out.  Not actual lip movement, but a specific recognizable set to his mouth you see ONLY when he's doing the puppet.  But Zerdin makes up for that to a big degree with great puppeteering. And good comic timing/delivery. The robotic version of the Puppet was a nice twist though (for those who weren't clear about it, he actually switched the puppet for a robot--which is why he didn't end the act with him putting his hand back in it).

 

Samantha Johnson is a great singer. But she's JUST a singer. Go audition for The Voice, young lady. Assuming you haven't already and just didn't get through.

Edited August 14, 2015 by Kromm

[Indy]

Forget the contestants, the camera men get an A+ for this week's show!  Very few unwanted, completely annoying cuts to the judges/crowd during the performances.  It was so nice to be able to see the entire performance without having to watch the judges!  I hope this continues throughout the rest of the episodes.  

[Zuleikha]

I do agree with Commander Cody that the costume/background combo probably faded for the live audience--they were counting on the sequins making it look so spectacular it would overcome that.

I think it's the reverse. I think the mirrors and the crystals probably looked amazing live, but blended with the stage lights on TV. All of that type of thing has different texture live. The way Vita used the stage is also something that generally reads better live than on TV.

 

But I think her basic problem is the same as all the other contortionists. People think, "would I watch this for 90 minutes?" and of course you wouldn't. No contortionist (or any other kind of circus artist!) would ever do a 90 minute show. But the winner just needs to headline the tour, and Vita can certainly do that. Based on her YouTube videos, she's already a working circus pro (she's been part of Teatro ZinZanni in Seattle among others), so who knows why she even bothered to do this show. I always wonder about that with the circus pros since most of them are already working professionals, and they never do well on the show.

[helenamonster]

Siro-A: Eh, I'll be the lone voice of dissent and say that I thought they were amazing and a great way to open the show. They may not be the best dancers, but I feel like they don't have to be. There's enough skill in syncing up with the background, which I thought they were pretty excellent at for the most part. The stuff with the words at the end was insane.

 

Alondra Santos: Soooooo glad she's back. I think she's awesome.

 

Vita Radionova: I agree with the judges in that while I think she's super talented and fun to watch, she's probably not going to get the votes.

 

Triple Threat: Yikes. My big issue with them is that it sounded like they were using extra backing vocals. The magic of three guys creating music together is totally ruined when extra voices are added.

 

The Gentlemen: Yeah, I'm over them. I liked them the first two times but this was really not their night.

 

Piff The Magic Dragon: Not his best trick but I still think he's hilarious and I'd prefer to keep him around.

 

Benton Blount: I see they doubled up with the sob stories on this one. First, they're a single-income household. Then his dad left him. For the first one...ok, look, I get some parents want to have one of them stay home and raise the kid as opposed to putting them in daycare. But, like...don't do that if you don't have the luxury to do so. Or don't give up an a dependable job to focus on a music career when you've got a wife and kid. Also, I said this in the judge cuts, but their house looks really nice for someone who is apparently having money trouble. As for the dad thing, there are plenty of people who don't have one or both of their parents for a variety of reasons, but they still manage to grow up to be well-adjusted adults. Get the fuck out of here with that bullshit. His performance was boring.

 

Craig And Micheline: Who the fuck are these people? I guess they were good, but I doubt they made it through.

 

Drew Lynch: Aw, I love him. And I don't want to rag on him for the giggling thing because what might just be a nervous tic for others could become exacerbated by his stutter.

 

Showproject: They're fun to watch, whether or not they're in sync. I thought for the most part they kept to the timing of the music, which helped things, even if they weren't necessarily in sync with each other.

 

Paul Zerdin: My man! Leaving the stage was an awesome idea! We know this guy can do ventriloquism, so why not turn the act on its head?

 

Samantha Johnson: Of course she got the pimp spot. Have none of these people heard of The Voice? Oh, and how convenient of her deadbeat mom to not be around during judge cuts, but then she pops back up when she hears her daughter's gonna be on national television.

 

I'm two weeks late on this, but if I wasn't, my picks to go through would be: Siro-A, Alondra Santos, Vita Radionova, Piff The Magic Dragon, Drew Lynch, Showproject, and Paul Zerdin.