S11.E08: AGT Judge Cuts 1

[PhD-Purgatory15]

20 Acts are cut down to 7. With Ne-Yo as a guest judge.

Edited July 13, 2016 by PhD-Purgatory15

[PhD-Purgatory15]

I pretty much could've picked the 7 just off the list, without really seeing any of the performances.

I would've eliminated the young girl comedian and one of the singing acts (probably Ronni....seeing how all five golden buzzer acts into the live shows are solo singers) to make room for the ex-couple of dance aerialists, and the kid who did the balancing. They were really the only two that I felt had pretty strong arguments to move on. Maybe the Americana/Rockabilly music group and the martial artist dancer guy who we'd never seen before......but that fact alone meant they were always fodder acts from the jump.

Don't really get the shtick of the juggling duo, their humor isn't connecting IMO, ymmv of course.

For Reference those who moved on tonight were:

Jon Dorenbos (magician who got NeYo's golden buzzer)

Hara (magician and escape artist)

Linkin Bridge (African American Quartet/Acapella R&B/Motown)

Edgar (Family Folk Rock Trio)

Ronni (Older female R&B singer)

Laurie something rather (pointless teen standup comedian)

The Passing Lane (Juggling Comedy duo)

[candall]

Well, I'm probably just feeling pissy because I thought it was sort of humiliating for the YMCA guy.  With just the two of them standing there, it came across like he "lost to" the kid comedian.  It would have been kinder to toss in someone from the six-pack of losers to create a trio with a winner and two losers.  (I assumed they'd both be cut, but if not, I thought the synchronized Village People act was more creative and more entertaining.)

 

But anyway, Simon!  You have to knock that shit off with all the "I didn't like you. . .I LOVED you" and "It's not good news . . .it's GREAT news."  It's old, it's stupid, it's beneath you.

 

Did not particularly enjoy my first Judges' Cut show.

[Darknight]

Can anyone explain to me what talent do these judges  have? Besides Mel B and maybe Simon. The rest don't gave talent. Heidi models. Howie hosted tv shows. What talent is that?

[Juneau Gal]

All in all I think the show has really screwed itself with the five Golden Buzzer "winners". Throughout the show tonight all I kept thinking was, "Some of these acts are much better than the Golden Buzzers and they will be shut out from moving on."

Edited July 13, 2016 by Juneau Gal

[Lonesome Rhodes]

Laurie making it through at the expense of others is a bad joke.  

I loved what I saw of Tarzan guy.  I would have loved to have seen his audition.  

The passing Lane was all in the apparatus.  The stunt itself was a big nothing.  Howie was not playing.  He was mightily pissed.  I don't blame him a bit.  One can see how Simon bullies the other jidges.  To his credit, he does appreciate when a Mel B gets her dander up as she did.  

I would have sent through the folk band and the tightrope couple over Laurie and Ronni.  Then again, I am certain I would have grouped the 60 overall in an anti-singing act manner.  I didn't understand why the older comedienne was not grouped against Laurie, either.

[Mr. Sparkle]

6 hours ago, Darknight said:

Howie hosted tv shows. What talent is that?

To be fair, he was on a hit show in the 80s. I also remember watching one of his stand-up specials a long time ago, and he was very funny and spontaneous. He's completely the (cl)ass clown on this show, and he's rarely even slightly funny. 

I always hated that rubber glove gag he used to do. 

[Babalooie]

Not sure what talent Simon has, other than business skills.  Linkin Bridge's second performance was better than the first, in my opinion.  The first audition started out a little pitchy, Dawg.  Oops, wrong show.  ;)

[Mr. Sparkle]

I know I'm a sucker, but every time those four tough guys in Linkin' Bridge start blubbering, someone sneaks into my living room and starts chopping onions. 

Edited July 13, 2016 by Superclam

[needschocolate]

10 hours ago, Darknight said:

Can anyone explain to me what talent do these judges  have? Besides Mel B and maybe Simon. The rest don't gave talent. Heidi models. Howie hosted tv shows. What talent is that?

 

3 hours ago, Superclam said:

To be fair, he was on a hit show in the 80s. I also remember watching one of his stand-up specials a long time ago, and he was very funny and spontaneous. He's completely the (cl)ass clown on this show, and he's rarely even slightly funny. 

I always hated that rubber glove gag he used to do. 

He actually got an Emmy nomination for his role on St. Elsewhere.  And he got a few more (daytime) Emmy nominations for Bobby's World, a long running children's show he wrote, produced, and did voices for.  

I understand having a successful singer (Mel B) as a judge, since there are so many musical acts that try out - probably pertinent to the dancing acts too.  I can see the purpose of having a judge (Howie) who is involved in other forms of entertainment, because he may have a better understanding of the difficulties of keeping an audience entertained with something other than song and dance.  Simon is useful because of his years of experience judging various shows.  (Side note: I am not saying that I think these three are terrific judges - or terrible ones either - just that I understand wanting to have judges with these backgrounds).  

I don't understand why a fashion model (Heidi) would be desirable as a judge, except, perhaps for the quick change acts.  

[JMarie99]

I loved Howie on St. Elsewhere, one of my favorite TV shows ever. I forgot about Bobby's World - that was good too. Howie was a talented guy. But once he became Game Show Howie he  lost me. I don't find him the least bit funny anymore. My kids grew up with the Spice Girls so I definitely have a soft spot for Mel B, and as stated, being in that group gave her experience in both singing and dancing. Simon is an obvious choice. As for Heidi, she's not just a model but a long time judge on Project Runway. Maybe the producers thought her experience as a judge on that show made her a good choice for this show. But of course on Runway she was judging fashion which is an entirely different thing! Who knows. She doesn't really annoy me though. 

Village People guy definitely deserved to be put through over that 13 year old comedienne! WTH were they thinking??!  The ex-couple aerialists and the balancing kid should have been put through over her too. As well as the other female comedienne. I can't help but think that the 13 year old was put through mainly because of her age. 

[BlueJayFan]

5 hours ago, Superclam said:

I know I'm a sucker, but every time those four tough guys in Linkin' Bridge start blubbering, someone sneaks into my living room and starts chopping onions. 

Not me, no way. Mind you, it got very hot in here and my eyes were sweating......

[rr2911]

The best of the night was Hara. I love magic and illusions. I pick Hara over Jon Dorenbos because I saw Jon flip the page that had the card drawing with the card coming out of it. He had two pages with the card drawings. You can tell because the drawings are different.

Laurie is the only act that should not have gone through IMO. She went through because of her age. Joking about her age is going get old real fast.

What did I tell you guys, singers, singing groups, magicians, and comedians will always have the upper hand  in AGT. No matter how hard the dance groups try to make their routine different than others, it always ends up being the same.

Another act I really enjoyed was The Passing Lane. They're funny and entertaining!

The problem I have with these judges are is when they're not looking at the act and the they say they didn't like it.

The only problem I have with a particular judge is MelB. Again, her voice just doesn't translate well on t.v. Her British accent is different than Simons. Hers is so thick that I have to rewind just to understand what she said.

Looking forward to tonight's cuts.

Until manana....

[JMarie99]

I'm sure that there are different types of British accents just as there are in the U.S.  Perhaps Mel B comes from a different part of Great Britain than Simon. Plus I believe her father comes from the Carribean. I personally find her accent kind of charming, although I agree she can sometimes be hard to understand. 

[Ohwell]

I hated Mel B's voice in the beginning, but I got used to it and started to find it kind of charming.  However, I do think that she could do a better job of enunciating since she knows she's speaking to a primarily American audience.  Sometimes she sounds like she's choked up or something.  I also like it better when the boobs are covered up.

Edited July 13, 2016 by Ohwell
Spelling

[needschocolate]

That blond girl singer had more airtime than Nick Cannon - seemed like 80% of the footage of people talking backstage was of her talking to someone else.  

[Commando Cody]

That little girl comic should not have gone through. 

[Sapphire]

This is my first time watching this show, and I love it! Even the "filler" acts are entertaining, at least for a first-timer like me. 

The topic isn't up for tonight's acts...I loved Katie (?), the adopted girl with the stoic father. I also liked Deadly Games -- that is one good-looking and brave couple. I'm kind of sad the Rubics cube guy didn't get through, as I enjoyed his charming demeanor, but he's so talented he'll be better off somewhere else.

[backformore]

22 hours ago, Juneau Gal said:

All in all I think the show has really screwed itself with the five Golden Buzzer "winners". Throughout the show tonight all I kept thinking was, "Some of these acts are much better than the Golden Buzzers and they will be shut out from moving on."

Yes, and I don't understand the rationale for having the golden buzzer before all the acts have performed.  How do you know that once you use the buzzer, the next act won't be even better?

[bluepiano]

10 hours ago, JMarie99 said:

Village People guy definitely deserved to be put through over that 13 year old comedienne! WTH were they thinking??!  The ex-couple aerialists and the balancing kid should have been put through over her too. As well as the other female comedienne. I can't help but think that the 13 year old was put through mainly because of her age. 

This is the thing I like least about this show. It seems every year there's some kid who gets pimped and goes much further than he/she should have. I guess because the producers think it's "cute" and draws in viewers to have someone so young competing. Last year it was this really horrible 12 or 13 year old girl singer who just screamed all the time. It really undermines the premise of the show and keeps you from taking it seriously.

 I can only imagine what that older aerialist couple, who have spent years practicing and perfecting their act, must think about losing out to a little girl who told some corny jokes. Even that 14 year old boy who did the balancing act would've been a better choice.

Mel B. is from the north of England, which has a very different accent than other parts of the country.The closer to the Scottish border you get, the thicker the accent. I travelled in that area years ago, and had difficulty understanding people. Even people in other parts of England have trouble understanding a thick northern accent. It's interesting how even though England isn't a huge country geographically, regional accents can still vary a lot. Like if you went from Maine to Texas.

Edited July 14, 2016 by bluepiano

[LoneHaranguer]

19 hours ago, rr2911 said:

Laurie is the only act that should not have gone through IMO. She went through because of her age. Joking about her age is going get old real fast.

So would the Village People act, but I would have tuned in for him a couple of more times. With Laurie, the first time was enough. They ought to create a "cute kid" category if there's really an audience for that. BTW, anybody know who's style of delivery she's trying to copy? It seems familiar, but it's not spot-on enough for a name to come to mind.

[Frankenstein123]

Oh boy, the time has come to face the judges cuts *big gulp*

The Judge Cuts/Vegas Week/The Callbacks/Judgment Week/Sob Story Exhibition Hour portion of this show has always been the most frustrating for me. It's the one part the show has never managed to completely nail. You can forgive just about anything in the audition rounds as it's meant to be lighthearted and it's hard to argue with the results once the public gets to vote, but seemingly countless man hours have been spent in boardrooms trying to figure out how to make this stage of the show NOT end up being a complete and utter clusterfuck, which has happened far too many times. 

All that being said, I was happy to hear they were sticking with the format from last year as it's ones that has actually worked and provided at least SOME clarity, with 20 acts each episode you get to know exactly who got cut and who got through. But even this isn't perfect, 4 episodes of 20 acts gives us 80, but a quick memory check will tell you there were a LOT more than 80 acts that got 3 YES's in the audition rounds, so where are all these people? Did they miss the bus? Are they held up in purgatory? Is it a case of "first 20 through get a chance" while the rest get hosed away by a team of security guards? 

Clearly theres a stage between the audition rounds and the judges cuts where either the producers or the judges PICK 80 acts they want to see again, but we are never told this as they hope we have all collectively developed amnesia. Things get even more confusing when acts appear in the live shows without ever taking part of the judges cut or getting a golden buzzer like last year. I'll end my tiny rant here by just saying that theres room for improvement when it comes to this stage...

I'll just move on and try ranking the 7 acts that went through and mention some that didn't at the very end. 

7: Edgar - We already had a stronger singing group in the same episode get through, so while I have nothing against Brady Bunch over here I just don't see them as anything special or memorable either. But I guess SOMEONE has to be filler/cannon fodder. 

6. Linkin' Bridge - They are growing on me and I have a feeling they might make it VERY far, but they need to show a LITTLE bit more personality and less sob story for me to truly get behind them. It could also not be any more obvious who Simon is trying to push as the winner this year...

5: Ronee Martin - She's an absolutely POWERHOUSE and one of the more deserving singers currently through. I find it hard to really get excited about her with so many good variety acts around, but she's definitely a pro. 

4: Hara - I have a small secret I'd like to share with you all and it's the fact I'm not the biggests fan of box magicians. Maybe it comes from being a fan of magic and seeing so much of it that these tricks have become very standard and bare bones or a past childhood trauma where I got stuck inside of a cardboad box without my knowledge, but I've always preferred the close-up comedic magicians and card tricks. That being said, Hara is just such a showman it's hard NOT to be entertained and impressed even if you know exactly how the trick is done. And he's shown versatility by doing away with the effects and can hopefully continue to combine the two in the future and scare the crap out of Mel B again. 

3: Lori Mae Hernandez - Personality. That's the key word here. I can't help but smile every time I see her and I think Howie's analogy of what a comedian vs a comic was pretty spot on as her quirkiness saves her even when the material isn't the spot on. I wouldn't mind it at all if it all came down to her and another comedian I will be talking about in the next episode. 

2: The Passing Zone - YES!!!! Very very happy these guys made it through, as they are one of my very favourites. This ranking is based more on what I know they CAN do rather than the act they actually did in the judges cut, which was amusing and funny, but only the tip of the iceberg. I'm a TINY bit worried that the whole "deal" they have going on with Simon is pushing them down a very narrow path that might end in their doom, but I have enough faith in them to hopefully make it work and not blow their load too early.

1: Jon Dorenbos - WELL THIS TOOK A DARK TURN. I was thinking we could get through an act without a big story to go along, BUT NOPE. MURDER. That aside, this was an excellent trick performed to pretty much perfection. Now I HAVE seen this done before, but what sets Jon apart is his great delivery and the absolute ease with which he performs these tricks. While I doubt we'll be seeing another magic act win so soon, it's another strong year for them. 

Overall a very strong episode where just about anyone could have made it through (don't get your hopes up gorilla man, I said JUST ABOUT everyone). In a perfect world I would have sent Duo Guerrero through instead of Edgar as what they do is just SO impressive and we don't have too many danger acts left, but I can live with these decisions. The episode left me in such a good mood I decided to watch both the judges cut episodes back to back, which maybe wasn't the greatest idea....

[UsernameGoesHere]

The male acrobat (the one who performs with his ex) is really hot. Not to mention they were excellent. A shame they didn't make it.

Christopher and his puppets are so much fun. Sad to see him go. And I couldn't help but laugh when Heidi said it was the most in sync dance group all day, and they cut to that one dance group looking sad. LMAO!

Brennley and her mom look exactly alike. What a sweet girl. I don't care that she got cut, but it was hard watching her cry at the end.

The teen comic got maybe a smirk or two out of me. I don't think she's that funny. Clever for her age? Sure. Hilarious comedian? Nope.

Human hammerhead - tha frack?! Look how bruised and nasty his face was afterwards! Ne-Yo's reactions were funny.

Jon Call jujimufu whatever his name is - again, the frack?! And who is this woman who was willing to be thrown off the stage like that?

The high wire act is amazing. It's one of those things I could never watch in real life, but on TV it's fine because I know they won't show anything if someone gets seriously hurt. I really don't know how they do it. How did they not make it through?

Football Jon - now that's a back story. And that trick was awesome! I don't know or care how he did it. Fantastic. He's also funny and has great stage presence. Finally, a golden buzzer used well.

Rolla bolla kid was good. It sucks to see such good acts get cut.

I liked Mel's outfit.

[Jordan27]

I thought the judges did a good job.  I think the Passing Zone was my least favorite, but not a big quibble.  I like the kid comedian.  She has a lot of stage presence for a kid that young. 

Hara and Linkin Bridge are my two favorites. 

[helenamonster]

Ugh at the kid comedian getting through. I know comedy is subjective but I didn't laugh once, and I feel pretty confident that if she was 10-15 years older she would have been sent packing at auditions. Also, I hate to say this about a kid, but her voice is irritating as fuck. I mean, so was mine when I was 13, but I wasn't on national TV.

I really love Jon Derenbos and The Passing Zone. I was happy to see Hara make it through as well. I would have preferred Christopher and the acrobatic duo made it through over a couple of the singers and/or the kid comedian but it is what it is.

There's no complaint about singers I can make that I haven't already typed here a million times before. I get why the show pushes them: they're the easiest kind of act to market once the season is over. That being said, that 13-year-old blonde singer seemed like such a sweetheart with such a positive attitude and I felt bad that she didn't make it through.

On 7/13/2016 at 5:09 PM, JMarie99 said:

I'm sure that there are different types of British accents just as there are in the U.S.  Perhaps Mel B comes from a different part of Great Britain than Simon. Plus I believe her father comes from the Carribean. I personally find her accent kind of charming, although I agree she can sometimes be hard to understand. 

Yep, Mel B is from Leeds, which is in the north of England and home of a very thick accent. I actually find her easier to understand now than in her Spice Girls days...she was quite excitable when she was younger and talked really fast (well, they all did except Victoria), so when people complain about how slow she talks, I can't imagine what the complaints would be like if she talked as fast as she did back then. I've always found her accent really charming as well. She was sort of my first introduction to the fact that not every British person spoke like the anchors on the BBC News.

[healthnut]

I agreed with all seven acts going thru. I wouldn't have given the golden buzzer to John but I was glad it didn't go to a singer. Lori was my favorite, I think she's so good at that age, I've only liked the transgender comic better. Passing Zone, while their tricks are a bit secondary, they really know how to create build up in a short amount of time and they put on a good show.