S11.E12: Live Performances 1

[Drogo]

The first 12 of the top 36 acts take the stage of Radio City Music Hall to perform for America's votes.

[Commando Cody]

I was bored with everything.

I realized that I had zoned out for the entire high school choir performance. I rewound. Zoned out again. Apparently, whatever they were singing did not hold my interest.

The little girl comedian is not funny. However, I think she has potential. With some mentoring from some more successful people, she might have a shot at it ten years down the road. Most comedians spend years paying their dues. You should not expect overnight fame on a talent show.

I don't understand why Nick wasted his golden buzzer on the 90 year old dancer. I think I missed that episode when the power went out that night and I couldn't watch AGT.

The girl opera singer was out of tune a lot. I think she had a few good parts, but she needs professional help.

I kept waiting for a bigger payoff from the guy with the dragon. All we got was a dove.

I didn't like the last couple dancing at all.  It was dark. They wore dark clothing. It was difficult to see what they were doing.

The dance troop could do a lot of tricks but the dancing was pretty mediocre.

[healthnut]

Missed half the acts but I'll comment on what I did see. Really liked Deadly Games and Dorenbos and the opera girl did a really great job with The Prayer. I was disappointed by Tapeface, I agree with Heidi and Mel B, he peaked at his first audition. The dance duo in the box was underwhelming and the guy singer bored me. I don't know what to think about the 90 year old lady. Part of me wished she had more dance steps, part of me wishes someone else had that spot, I suppose it was nice to let her have her moment, perhaps she will inspire others to pursue their dreams, but I didn't get warm fuzzies, I just found it really weird. Love Nick but hated his outfit and hairdo tonight. 

28 from judges cuts + 5 golden buzzers = 33 acts or 28 from judges cuts + 9 golden buzzers = 37, can someone explain how they have 36...

Edited July 27, 2016 by healthnut

[PhD-Purgatory15]

Well, the shock factor is gone a little bit from Tape Face. Minus the few people who had seen him before he came to AGT, when he walked out on stage during his initial audition he could have done just about anything. Now that we've seen him do two bits.....it's easier to anticipate what his act is going to look like stylistically. That said, I still thought it was pretty funny.

Musicality was pretty terrible. I ff'ed through almost all the judges commentary tonight, but if Simon didn't give them some tough love about how weak their two lead off soloists were, I'd be surprised. The harmonies were still decent.....but in no way did that performance deserve them to move on.

Skipped the first girl singer (don't care), the classical girl at the end (just not my thing), the 90 year old stripper (Really Nick? Was it worth it?), the teen comedian (she's already been objectively terrible), and just barely paid attention to the other young guy singer (only because I enjoy the big band sound and that particular song. He fought a valiant fight but still was drowned out by the band more often than not).

Deadly Games was pretty nice. They are an example of a variety act that was the ability to ramp up the difficulty and showmanship with each additional performance. I hope they stick around. The WC group....there are at least a half dozen other more deserving acts they could've brought back. Were they dancing inside a computer program? Was that the story?

Dorenbos.....mildly surprised that he was given the okay to keep going with this show. Must be the perks of being the long snapper. He's gotta get through, right? I have no idea how he did that other than the brown paper bag played a role.....still not sure when he was able to draw the pictures inside the envelope though...

Basically Hara's talent tonight was walking along to a computer generated program operating in the background. If anyone really likes magic with doves, Darcy Oake's initial audition for Britain's Got Talent last year or the year before has to be the standard that all future reality show magic dove acts must be measured against...

And the Outlawz were there and got buzzed by Simon.

My guess is Dorenbos, the last classical singer girl are for sure moving on, I think Deadly Games gets through...although they might need the judges vote to push them over the edge. After that I'm not really sure....

Edited July 27, 2016 by PhD-Purgatory15

[UsernameGoesHere]

3 hours ago, healthnut said:

28 from judges cuts + 5 golden buzzers = 33 acts or 28 from judges cuts + 9 golden buzzers = 37, can someone explain how they have 36...

 

28 judges cut acts plus

5 golden buzzers from first round plus

3 wildcards ... gives us 36

 

I just watched the performances on youtube, so I missed all of the video packages and comments from the judges, but I'm sure I didn't really miss much with that. Nick's hair looks absolutely horrendous.

I've never cared about Jayna, but I thought she did a really nice job tonight. I actually went back and watched it a few more times. Of course it doesn't hurt that I love that song. Looks like she got the death spot though, so she's probably a goner right as I'm starting to like her, lol. But this was one of my favorites of the night.

Not sure why the Outlawz are still here, but I don't think Simon needed to buzz them.

Lori Mae Hernandez - I liked the joke about the first lady writing for Trump's third lady, but that was it. The tween jokes are not funny. And I get that she's 13, but I don't like her awkward delivery.

The Deadly Games girl is insanely gorgeous. Absolutely stunning. And the act is good too.

Tape Face just cracks me up. What a great character.

Jon Dorenbos is fantastic. His tricks and presentation are both great.

The choir, Daniel Joyner, and the multimedia crew - all boring and completely forgettable.

Oh wow, an opera singer doing The Prayer. So fresh, so new. We've never seen anything like it before.

My personal top 3 for the night... Tape Face, Jon Dorenbos, and Jayna.

So 7 are making it through? The Outlawz, Musicality, Dorothy the stripper, and Daniel Joyner seem like pretty easy cuts. So who else will be out... Sila Sveta maybe? But with over half the acts going through, I don't see any huge surprises coming with the results tomorrow.

Edited July 27, 2016 by UsernameGoesHere

[PhD-Purgatory15]

I wonder if it'll be 6 out of 12 advance. That would give you a Top 18 (add 2 WC's from this round and you'd end up with two semifinals of ten each). 4 would advance purely on the votes, 1 from a twitter save, and 1 from the judge's panel.

It could be 7.....but then you'd end up with 21 and have to add either 1 WC act to make semifinals of 11 each or 3 WC's to get semifinals of 12 each.

Twitter can get weird. They saved Ira the puppet last year....

[JMarie99]

I am new to this show and I'm starting to see the problem with it from my perspective.  There were some really good acts, but how do you rate a good singer vs. an impressive danger act vs. a computer-assisted magician vs. a traditional magician etc. etc. 

I thought Jayna Brown was outstanding tonight and she had the death spot at the beginning of the show and I am one of the apparently few who feel that singers belong on this show, so I voted for her.  I was disappointed in Musicality this time around but threw a few votes their way, I guess because I like their spirit. 

I absolutely do not see the appeal of young comedian Lori Mae. I don't mean to be cruel regarding a child, but while MelB may have found her adorable, I find her anything but. I'm sure she will grow into her looks, but she is going through that awkward stage that many go through, and "adorable" is certainly not a word I would use to describe her. And again I feel bad because this is not her fault, but she seems to have a chronic sinus condition that I find difficult to listen to. When she referred to "tween voters," at first I thought she was saying "tweet voters." More importantly, I just don't find her funny. In fact, her humor today was so predictable I practically could have written her act for her. And I don't like her delivery at all. My son and his friends at her age were very much into political humor, and they had a sarcastic delivery that would have put her to shame. 

I have to admit I'm not a big fan of magic, whether it's traditional magic or that computer stuff that Hara was doing. Others have said that you can google how the former is done, and as to the latter, well, it's not really magic if it's computer-generated, is it?

I thought Deadly Games was good and that couple is very appealing. I don't think the young opera singer is good at all. The 90-year-old dancer hardly even danced but somehow she is "inspirational" because she's 90?

And I realize that this is an unpopular opinion, but I am SO tired of Tape Face. I found him somewhat amusing in his first audition and have been bored to death ever since. 

[dbklmt]

Still not happy that Laura Bretan who won Romania's Got Talent is still on AGT.  Here's her winning performance. 

Wanna bet it will be used again in this competition.  Hoping she gets the boot, but probably won't.  Her performance had some really sour notes especially at the beginning and as UsernameGoesHere said,

Quote

Oh wow, an opera singer doing The Prayer. So fresh, so new. We've never seen anything like it before.

 Jackie Evancho blew her rendition out of the water.

Overall, I was disappointed with most of the acts except for two, Jayna who I wasn't fond of the first time but loved this time and Jon Dorenbos whose magic was so much better than Hara.

I cast votes for Jayna, Jon Dorenbos, Tape Face who although he was disappointing I just want to go forward and Deadly Games. 

[Lonesome Rhodes]

Mel ripping the porky dancer was an all-time AGT moment!  Piers-level!  If only she meant to do that.  Oh well.

Tapeface gets to do two performances each week, with the taped bits leading into his actual performance.  The problem he has, I believe, is that he is basically a silent humorist.  A clown, if you will.  The perception from that first performance was that he was some kind of new hybrid entertainer.  Nope.  The bit with Nick was funny.  The issue is it was so easy and obvious.  We laugh as we cringe.  I'd still put him through.

Dorenbos easily won the night for me.   He'll be in training camp later today in Philadelphia.  Word is he is totally expected to make the team again.  As a veteran, I'm pretty sure he'll be given dispensation to travel on a Monday for a Tuesday show, with a Wednesday return in the future.

Jayna was aight.  Opera girl, too.  ZZZZZ

I want to see knife act again.  There really was one tonight which she did not expect to be so close (her right shoulder).  Leave it to Mel to miss the point of her intentional bow for that last knife.  That really was an excellent add-on to the danger.

Big band singer was the best he has been.  As Simon alluded, he clearly gave the best performance.  It's a freaking shame that big band is not appreciated.  Maybe he'll get super lucky and the CGI acts will cancel each other out with Ameriker.

[bluepiano]

It's the third time for some of these acts, and I feel like they're already hitting the wall in terms of not doing anything we haven't seen before. Deadly Games just varies their act slightly. And I know the judges say it's the most dangerous act ever, but I feel like a skilled knife thrower should be able to easily hit a mark blindfolded. (But yes, the woman is gorgeous. Maybe that will get them through).

Lori Mae reminds me of the nerdy teen girl character that Gilda Radner played in a skit on the original SNL, "Emily Litella." That character was hilarious. Lori Mae is not. Because the awkwardness is real. Maybe people are laughing to make her feel good about herself. It's certainly not because her jokes are funny. And her timing is terrible. At 13 she should be inflicting her "comedy" on her friends and family. Not on millions of TV viewers.

Jayna was better than in her Golden Buzzer audition, but I'm still not a fan. The 17 year old boy singer was really shaky. That was not even good high school talent show level. If that was on American Idol with Simon as a judge, he would've ripped him. The new happy Simon is starting to be a drag. I think he was going to bring a dose of honesty to the judging. Guess not.

Hara didn't really do much magic. Those mystical fantasy acts with dragons and rainbows are all running together in my mind now. For some reason the judges always seem to love them. Tonight I was bored.

Outlawz has outlived their appeal. If they get through it will be a sympathy vote after the judges' comments.

Is Tapeface running out of material already? His act initially seemed genuinely weird. Now it's more cute. Not a good trend. Having the tape over his mouth really limits what he can do in terms of facial expressions. Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean) had a very elastic face and did lots of stuff with his mouth. Same with most other nonverbal comedians. So Tapeface has created a limiting concept for himself.

The only act I really liked tonight was Jon Dorenbos. But what a genuinely terrible story he told. When he started saying that magic got him through a dark time, I thought he was going to talk about an injury keeping him from playing sports. I wonder why they waited until the lives to reveal that. Usually they gave us the sad story first time out.

Edited July 27, 2016 by bluepiano

[Vermicious Knid]

As sob stories go, it's hard to beat "My father killed my mother." But I totally zoned out on the performance.

I'm always amused when the proclaimed CHRISTIAN!s choose to perform Freddie Mercury. A bisexual Zoroastrian. He also had a near 4 octave range, and buddy, you weren't even close.

There are actually 9 golden buzzers aren't there; 4 judges, Nick, 4 guest judges.

[Frankenstein123]

Manbuns, ill people and naked grandmothers, YES it's finally time to begin with the live shows and while this wasn't exactly the best QF we've ever seen (although I'm sure Howie would think so) it still provided us with PLENTY of good so lets get started on ranking them based on how much I liked/enjoyed the act:

12: Dorothy Williams - I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall when dozens of professional stage designers and coreographers were trying to figure out how to make a 90 year old woman spinning her boobs around work as 3 minute stage act. At least she didn't take off more clothes this time, so y..yay? Cute enough considering her history, but nothing more

11. Outlawz - WHO YA GONNA CALL? Certainly not their number by the looks of things. This wasn't a total disaster and really didn't deserve to be buzzed, if not for Simon being contractually obligated to buzz at least 1 act each week, but it was still disappointing and stale. At least they kept it consistently ghostbusters themed with..J..Justin...Bieber?...riiiiiiight, time to pack up, boys. 

10. Musicality - I'm fairly certain no Ariana Grande song has been designed to work as a choir piece and they proved it. They are much stronger together than as indiviual singers and they needed something big and impressive to be memorable, but failed to do so.

9. Sila Sveta - This would have made for a pretty good Black Eyed Peas music video about 10 years ago, but as of now it felt like a lot of special effects trying to mask above average dancing. Okay so the effects are still impressive and cool to look at, but we've seen this so many times now even the judges are getting bored and they failed to add anything meaningful to stand out and beat another act who did this a bit better...

8. Jayna Brown - I really really hate having her this low, but I have to be honest with myself and say that SUBJECTIVELY I was struggling to remember her by the end of the night, despite OBJECTIVELY thinking she was wonderful when she sang. This was definitely her best vocal performance yet and she's an absolute natural on stage that knows how to control her voice much better than half the adult singers...and yet I just haven't found myself connecting with her song choices and while I was compelled to watch the following 7 acts again later on youtube, I...I wasn't with Jayna...Blame it on personal taste.

7. Daniel Joyner - I...I...I liked...it?..I....I'm really throwing all credibility out the window by placing him above Jayna aren't I? This whole ranking business has been a mistake...Look, this was cheesy as hell and his vocals were really struggling at times, but I can't look past the fact I enjoy this type of music and found it fun and energetic...and if he fails to make it through he could have one hell of a career as a Michael Buble tribute act.

6. Laura Bretan - Hey there Laura, enjoying your relative obscurity and being surprised at how popular you are despite WINNING Romania's Got Talent this June? Oh what's that? Oh we are not supposed to mention that are we, oh well...at least it means the stage directors don't have to come up with anything new for you. Recycling is caring! I have issued with her shrill voice, but I found it much better this time around so I have to give her some credit. And the sheer intensity and power she was displaying on stage made it look as if she was trying to summon an ancient rain god down from the sky, frankly it made me afraid she would hurt me if I placed her any lower. 

5. Lori Mae Hernandez - I can absolutely see people hating her (even non Trump supporters) and finding her annoying, but I still think she's charming enough to make even the cringiest of jokes work thanks to her personality. There's only so much material you can mine from current politics until it becomes stale, but she's doing a nice job right now of keeping things balanced. 

4. Jon Dorenbos - Knowing how long magic acts can take, the producers must have told him to haul ass as he was absolutely speeding through this with a lot of energy from the very beginning. I wasn't quite as impressed with him this time though and managed to figure the trick out mid-way through. The whole thing felt a tiny bit under-rehearsed and nervous, but he managed to recover nicely from a slight mistake made with Howie and ended on a high note. 

3. Hara - Going into tonights QF I was sure his main competition was going to be Jon only to be surprised he went back to his audition and it was actually Sila Sveta he was competing against. When comparing the 2, I think Hara was much more effective by telling a simple story and not just throwing random effects on the screen. That being said, he still hasn't quite managed to figure out the right balance between magic/effects and is at risk of overshadowing his actual magic with all the lasers. I fear this decision will ultimately lead people to get bored with him, just like every other multimedia act, but for now it worked. 

2. Deadly Games - This could easily work as the new intro to Game of thrones. I wasn't expecting to enjoy this as much as I did, but for some reason it just...worked. The show has a history of throwing production in our face and overshadowing the act with it, but here it all just came together perfectly and I think they nailed it. While I still can't see this actually getting better in the following rounds, I did really really enjoy it.

1. Tape Face - I think I'm fairly biased for placing him this high, but I just can't look past how much I enjoy seeing him every time he comes on stage even if this was his weakest performance. I'm a bit worried by the judges comments that his initial novelty is wearing off and the element of surprise is gone so he is going to be struggling to make it to the finals, but for now he seems like a safe bet to get to the semis. 

If I had to predict the qualifier, I think Jayna, Laura, Tape Face and Jon are all pretty safe picks. Lori will divide people, but manage to sneak in to the dunkin save and get through. I also have a feeling Deadly Games will make it through as the second save. That just leaves 1 more spot to fill and I'm going to give it to Hara with Daniel Joyner barely missing out. 

So in order of most to least likely to qualify:

1. Tape Face
2. Jon Dorenbos
3. Laura Bretan
4. Jayne Brown
5. Hara
6. Deadly Games
7. Lori Mae
8. Daniel Joyner
9. Sila Sveta
10. Musicality
11. Dorothy Williams
12. Outlawz

[Mama No Life]

First singing girl was great.  Hope she makes it.  Magic guy was awesome, and I actually like Knife throwing couple even though that's not usually my cup of tea.  Opera girl....I dunno. I don't know enough about opera to know if she's good but I know she bores me.  Singing guy was not good, dancing group boring, etc.   And I hope this is it for dancing grandma. It's sweet that you've indulged her but we have a contest to decide now.  Even Tape Face was dull.

If comedy girls parents really care about her, they need to get her some headgear and orthodontist appts stat.  You can barely understand her and that look will not be adorable in two more years.  She had some funny jokes and probably a good future, but she doesn't need to advance.

[Babalooie]

Regarding Nick, scuttlebutt is that he is in trouble with the NBC execs because he was out protesting with BLM after being advised not to do so.  Maybe his hair is saying, "I don't care".    As for Tape Face, here he is.  We would have never known he's English, since he doesn't speak.  Reviews I've read say that after a while, the act isn't so exciting, just as we've seen.

http://www.theboywithtapeonhisface.com/

[LadyMustang65]

I loved Jayna, Musicality, Tape Face and Jon Berenbo (don't think I got that right--the football player/magician).  I thought they were all terrific.  TapeFace is still my absolute favorite.  I just adore his weirdness.  < lol >  It's not surprising to me that many seem to feel his first performance was his best, and I kind of agree because it was completely new, and I had no idea what to expect.  But I still find him extremely enjoyable. I look forward to seeing what he's going to do next, and I have never not been left smiling.  I would pay money to watch him perform.  Laura was really good as well, but the song was a bit uneven.  That's also one song that I think an American singer should sing in English.  I don't know quite was it was, but it felt a bit uneven.  Still voted for her though.  Lori Mae was decent.  I voted for her, but I think her material is starting to fade a bit. 

The rest were meh.  It was a terrible song choice for Daniel - he doesn't have the voice for it.  I think he's trying to be the next Michael Buble, and he may get there, but it wasn't good.  Hara was off - I found this one to be a bit boring.  Deadly Games is the same stuff over and over again.  I didn't get the point of having her direct him to throw the last axe straight at her so she had to duck - I was expecting it to go over her head maybe.  They're a good-looking couple with great showmanship, but it's just feels repetitive.  Outlawz were off.  I understood what Mel was getting at- their energy level seemed low last night, and the whole thing was a bit 'careful' for me.  Don't know why they kept ragging her about it.  The 90-year-old is sweet, but she's had her bit of fame.  I thought the dancers in the box were a bit boring as well.  It looks like I've mentioned 11 out of the 12 acts, but I cannot for the life of me think of who the 12th act was, so that's clearly not a good thing for them.  ;0

Really hoping that Jayna, Musicality, TapeFace and Jon B go through tonight.  They are the ones I'm most invested in right now.  Laura as well - I'd like to see her get another chance.  I'm not sure Mel did her any favors by putting her straight through - she seemed kind of nervous and might have been better served by getting another chance to perform before the live rounds?

Still, for me, TapeFace for the win!! 

[DrLar]

Well, weast coast and mountain viewers only got an hour, pre-empted by the DNC... so only saw half the acts, then later on youtube (we never get anything live anyway)..

I think nobody on this batch is gonna win AGT this year, looking forward for next week.

[funandfitpt]

Can someone tell me how long it is between Auditions, Judge Cuts & Live Rounds? I was always curious about it. Thanks.

[rr2911]

Like several posters wrote, this night was kind of boring. Here is my take on last night from worst to best.

12. Dorothy Williams - She never should've gone through in the first place. Terrible!

11. Sila Sveta - The whole performance was subpar. Things looked cluttered and the effects weren't that good. Dancing was boring also.

10. Outlawz - I noticed something the group did that they didn't do in the other performances. They spread out their dancing. In the earlier routines the group danced more in a tight formation thus hiding the fat dude inability to move. This time with the Ghostbusters theme, their dance formation was wider. The fat dude's dancing was exposed. No MelB, he wasn't injured!

09. Lori Mae - She's not funny. She has a stuffy nose and is not cute. That's about it.

08. Laura Bretan - She started shaky but then came though in the middle only to lose it at the end.  Jackie Evancho she is not!

07. Musicality - This is a choir people! Choirs will never win AGT! They were good but not a million dollar act.

06. Daniel Joyner - His performance was good but was the band really playing? Everything seemed weird too me.

05. Hara - He's been good in the past but tonight he was off in my opinion. Even though I liked the performance, it was kind of boring with little magic if any.

04. Tape Face - He had me laughing like he's done before but he is better off as a compliment act to a bigger main act.

03. Jayne Brown - She sounded great. The best singer "of the night", this night, yesterday...that's it! She better watch it though, her bubbly personality might get old after a while and America will forget her.

02. Deadly Games - I enjoyed their performance and YES, the girl is gorgeous and sexy! However, what else can they do next?

01. Jon Dorenbus - I love magic and he was great yesterday! Someone wrote that they figured out how it was done. Really? Great trick! Made up for it for his sloppy performance in the last round. Best act of the night.

Seven acts are going through, sooooo here is who I think America will put through;

Jon Dorenbus, Deadly Games, Jayne Brown, Tape Face, Hara, Daniel Joyner,and Laura Bretan

 

Until next time....

[dbklmt]

Thanks Babalooie for the link to the documentary on The Boy with Tape on his Face now known as Tape Face.  Now I know his real name unlike Simon--I believe that!  I find it hard to believe that if he's English he never auditioned or performed on Britain's Got Talent.  Wouldn't surprise me to find out that EP Simon Cowell didn't suggest having him on AGT.  Hopefully watching that video didn't spoil me for some of his acts if he moves forward tonight to the semi finals which I'm sure he will.

 

ETA this video which I like better from 2016!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUwL3cTLoPiEZOvZ0-Zcd1A

Edited July 27, 2016 by dbklmt

[saber5055]

Once again I surprised myself by bursting into laughter, and staying laughing. when TapeFace reinacted the "Ghost" scene with Heidi. It was totally unexpected and hilarious. I spent a lot of time looking at Nick's hair and wondering how he (or someone) did that and how long it took. I'm thinking hours. I didn't know he had that much hair to cornrow and bun, so some American Gots Talent to do that 'do for him. I'm positive we heard the magician's "Dad killed Mom" story when he was first on. Then he got the GB so wasn't seen again until last night. Simon saying he's never seen a little-girl opera singer before ... really? Since Jackie Evancho was discovered on AGT and has been on every tv show ever invented after that. She's still on shows, just older so not such a big deal any more. Kids do grow up! The 90-year-old Dorothy ... Nice of Nick to fulfill her dream, even if viewers wish he hadn't.

Edited July 27, 2016 by saber5055

[bluepiano]

I read that Tape Face is originally from New Zealand, and was well-known there. He probably relocated to England to pursue his career. New Zealand is a small country, and not exactly full of show biz opportunity.

It seems to me that his act would work better in an intimate club, rather than in a huge theater. There are some smaller venues within Vegas hotels, but in the main theaters it seems to be all about spectacle, like the Cirque de Soleil type acts or the highly theatrical magic and illusion shows. If voters are thinking in terms of those kinds of acts, then I don't think he has a chance of winning this.

Not that any of the kid singers or comics is anywhere near being able to command an audience in a Vegas showroom.

As Simon said, Hara does have a Vegas-type act, but magic is already a crowded field there, and I haven't seen him doing anything that would stand out.

Maybe it's because he's Japanese and of some similar size, but I can't help comparing him to Kenichi Ebena. And in that regard he's pretty mediocre. But then, for me, Kenichi set the all-time high bar for originality and inventiveness on this show. Still easily my favorite AGT act of all time. (In truth, there aren't too many others I can even remember. They all run together in my mind. Except for the KriStef Brothers. I will always have a soft spot in my heart for them, and it still bugs me that they got eliminated when they did.)

Edited July 27, 2016 by bluepiano

[dbklmt]

Interesting that they made no announcement about the 3 wild cards of which Silo Siveta was one of them.  Guess that means they'll have one each week for the live shows.  When Daniel Brundage shows up with the rubik cube magic there will be lots of questions as it was obvious that he cried a lot when he wasn't selected for the semi-finals.

[saber5055]

"When Daniel Brundage shows up with the rubik cube magic there will be lots of questions as it was obvious that he cried a lot when he wasn't selected for the semi-finals." Why? Almost everyone cried when they got tossed out. What makes Rubik guy different? Just curious ...

[ketchuplover]

If TapeFace has family he should put them in his act (mouths taped obviously)

[Ohwell]

18 hours ago, Commando Cody said:

I was bored with everything.

That about sums up my reaction.

[EVS]

I think Tape Face would be good as an act between acts. By that I mean have him come out each time the AGT Vegas show is setting up for the next act. He could do one or two of his bits at a time. For me, I think that would be better than watching him for one long set. 

I thought he was hilarious the first two times we saw him on the show, but then I made the mistake of watching a few of his YouTube videos. I saw the same exact acts as the first two shows, plus the "Ghost" bit, so I knew what was coming when he pulled the play-dough out.  I didn't see the sunglasses bit, but I didn't think it was his best. Hopefully, he has something funny and surprising for the next show.  

[EVS]

I actually like Lori Mae and think she has a lot of potential. I think her awkwardness is part of her charm. The Trump jokes weren't super original, but they made me laugh.  The braces jokes fell flat for me though. I also don't understand why she refers to herself as a tween when, at 13, she is a teen. Having said that, if she keeps working at it, I could see her having a stand-up career in 10 years. Right now though, I don't think she is quite ready for prime-time. 

Eta: I just realized that Commando Cody said basically the same thing. Sorry about that Cody!

Edited July 27, 2016 by EVS

[Ohwell]

I think opera singer girl sounds hideous and LOUD and she almost split my eardrums.  I know she's going through to the next round, so I'll just mute her when she comes on.

[Sapphire]

I think bringing Steven Brundage (Rubik's cube guy) back was a good call -- he's got a large fan base, it seems, based on Twitter.

So someone upthread mentioned they knew how Jon did that magic trick--do tell! Or point me to a link where I can find out myself. I'm so out of the loop when it comes to magic, so any little bit is fascinating to me.

It was kind of a boring night...

[candall]

I was involved with a dancer for awhile, so I've seen more "modern dance" performances than would have been my choice.  But still, they're all amazingly strong and flexible and they work incredibly hard for their art--it's going to be a real shame if all of that dedication starts being completely overshadowed by computer generated images zinging around.  Like Simon, the image that sticks in my mind from their first performance was the woman floating up in the air; this one left me with the impression of quadrangles.

 

So, is this 17-year old the one who came out for his first performance and stood there singing, stiff as a board, in his suit and tie?  If so, I'd pass him on just for the exponential increase in pizzazz.  He was drowned out by the band sometimes, but, again as Simon Sez, the performance was slick.

I'm new to this show so I'm wondering:  there must be some rule about recruiting "backup talent" for the later rounds?  Senior stripper twirling her nipple poms would have been utterly HORRIFYING without all the glitzy chorus line action.

[Jordan27]

The bad...

Nick's Hair....he looked like a dishwasher. 

12.  Dorothy Williams....What the heck was that?  And people complain about putting cute kids through.  That was embarrassing and the spot could have been given to someone else.  And the judges gave her a big tongue bath.  To me, the worst moment for the judges, well tied with putting her through the first time.

11.  Lori Mae...I actually like her look and her delivery.  She's a comedian, looking a little awkward is okay.  But, the anti-Trump jokes and slobbering over Hillary were too much and weren't that funny.  Should have been at the Democratic Convention.

The Okay...

10.  The Outlawz...Never really liked them all that much before and tonight was their undoing. 

9. Daniel Joyner...From American Idol till now, why do so many people have such a hard time picking out a good song?  You have two good girl singers on here and you know they are going to pick out something moving and you do a show tune.   He should be eliminated for being a dope.  It was okay, but a little boring.

8.  Musicality....usually like the sob story, but there's seemed a little over the top.  The music was good, but also not very interesting.

7. Sila Sveta ...Too much on the special effects, sometimes obliterated the performers, plus the geometric wasn't as attractive as others we have seen.

The Good

6.  Jon Dorenbos....Good magic trick, yes I know how it's done and no, I won't tell you.  His manic act is wearing on me.  Slow down a little more.

5.  Deadly Games...Good act, but the presentation, outfits and music were the best of the night. 

4.  Tape Face....Still funny, but not as good as he has been.  Has he reached the wall?  We'll see next time.

3.  Hara...Great visuals, good tricks, Hara looks good and is a very good showman. 

The Best

1.  Jayne Brown  and Laura Bretan...too hard to pick between them...both moving and outstanding vocals.  I don't know what some of you are listening to.   One thing we know for sure...if you are a teenager, a girl and sing, there will plenty of detractors here.  I don't get it. 

I'm assuming my top six will get through.  Whoever is the seventh doesn't matter.  They won't be winning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Whimsy]

On ‎7‎/‎27‎/‎2016 at 3:17 AM, bluepiano said:

I wonder why they waited until the lives to reveal that. Usually they gave us the sad story first time

They definitely said his story during his first audition.  I feel so terrible for him- but he's really made a good life for himself.

On ‎7‎/‎27‎/‎2016 at 5:44 AM, Frankenstein123 said:

managed to figure the trick out mid-way through

Do tell!!!  Spoiler it if you don't want to ruin it for everyone but I'm not so good at picking up the illusion/slight of hand tricks, even though they fascinate me.

8 hours ago, Jordan27 said:

The Outlawz...Never really liked them all that much before and tonight was their undoing.

I've seen about 100 better crews on America's Best Dance Crew.  They are just.... not good. 

 

I agree with others- this episode just bored me.  My daughter watched the last "judges cut" episode with me, so she decided to watch this live show as her second only episode of this season and during almost all of the acts I was like "they were better last time".  Then she made me pull up their auditions on You Tube. 

I am annoyed that Laura won RGT and no one's even mentioning it.  I gave her a pass originally for her "aw shucks" act, but now that is so disingenuous that it makes me angry.  I don't think acts that won other "... Got Talent" shows should be allowed to compete on any other "...Got Talent" shows. 

[UsernameGoesHere]

12 hours ago, Jordan27 said:

12.  Dorothy Williams....What the heck was that?  And people complain about putting cute kids through.

I'm yet to see anyone not complain that Dorothy Williams is taking up a spot in the lives.

[Drogo]

Something very offputting about a thirteen year-old talking about boob jobs and politics.  I don't think she writes her material, delivery is sloppy, and timing?  You don't interrupt the audience's applause to make another "America's in trouble" joke, then motion to the audience to applaud you again.  When your act is over, it's over, then graciously accept applause. 

Lori Mae can go anytime, as far as I'm concerned.

[SnarkyTart]

This was the most lackluster episdode yet.  I didnt even bother watching the results show, because I flat out didn't care who got voted out. Tapeface was an early favorite of mine based on his audition, but I haven't cared for his routines since then.  Tonight was the worst of his three appearances.  Dorenbos, while I don't mind him (unlike most all the other acts tonight that I fast forwarded through) is also fraying around the edges compared to his audition.  I'm rapidly losing interest in this show, but will stick around for a bit only to see what Viktor and Brian Crum do next.

[Frankenstein123]

8 hours ago, GenL said:

 

Do tell!!!  Spoiler it if you don't want to ruin it for everyone but I'm not so good at picking up the illusion/slight of hand tricks, even though they fascinate me.

I'll add a small spoiler box below for those who are interested, but this is in no way official, just what I noticed/think

Spoiler

Well, first things first, for him to know who drew what, either the pens or the papers had to be marked somehow, obviously in a way he could easily figure out, but nobody else would notice in the heat of the moment.

As for the predictions, it's best to start working backwards when trying to guess a trick. It ended with him taking out his versions of what the judges had drawn. Now, he's a magician so obviously he didn't guess them BEFORE the judges drew them and we can assume the judges were not in on it. That means the pictures in the envelope were drawn AFTER the judges had shown theirs. But the camera is on him at all times and he couldnt possibly have drawn those unnoticed? That means someone else had to draw them and then sneak them to him. This means we have to figure out how that envelope was snuck in so nobody noticed. The bottle was on the table all the time so how could he get anything inside unnoticed? Well, this is where the paper bag comes in, he grabs it seemingly a bit away from the stage and puts the bottle inside. All someone had to do was sneak an envelope with drawn pictures (that they had just seen the judges reveal and recreated) into that bag. Jon grabs the bag, puts the bottle inside, smashed it and then grabs NOT the envelope that was inside the bottle the entire time, but the one that was snuck into the paper bag earlier and the trick is done.

Again, not something I know, just managed to work it out as it's the logical solution.

[backformore]

17 hours ago, GenL said:

I am annoyed that Laura won RGT and no one's even mentioning it.  I gave her a pass originally for her "aw shucks" act, but now that is so disingenuous that it makes me angry.  I don't think acts that won other "... Got Talent" shows should be allowed to compete on any other "...Got Talent" shows. 

I agree.   The show is "America's Got Talent", but maybe it should be "America hasn't got talent so we imported it from all over the world." 

I actually think that acts should be able to compete in ONE country's "...Got Talent"  show, and whether they win or lose, that's it. 

[backformore]

The old lady stripper -  is it supposed to be funny to have an elderly woman take off her clothes?  She doesn't really DANCE, she shakes around, removes her clothes, and twirls tassels that are attached to her shirt.  Her act made me uncomfortable, and I can't articulate why.  

BUT - I recently saw a movie trailer that this act reminded me of.    Florence Foster Jenkins, played by Meryl Streep, is an elderly woman who has always wanted to be a singer, but has no talent.  People around her humor her and help her achieve her dream of performing at Carnegie Hall, and they lie to her and tell her she's great. 

Yeah, that's what the old lady stripper reminds me of.  Humoring someone, telling them they're talented, letting them perform in front of others, in a way that would be humiliating if only she knew. 

[Commando Cody]

One of the episodes I missed repeated. Quite a few of the performers from that show were in this episode. 

The Outlawz were much better in their first audition. They weren't trying to hide anyone in the back and nobody danced like they were injured.  Watching this performance made me wonder how they got this far.

I didn't think Daniel Joyner was that great in his first audition. I hated the arrangement of the Queen song he performed in this episode.

Sila Sveta was better the first time, however I didn't understand the story they were trying to tell.  Both times. Whatever they were dancing about was disjointed and didn't make any sense.