S11.E19: Live Results 4

[Drogo]

Only 5 of the previous night's performers will move on to the Finals. Tonight, viewers will have one last chance to send their favorite act to the Finals by using Google Instant Save. Featuring special guest performances and hosted by Nick Cannon.

[Mr. Sparkle]

Ugh. Sal. 

[giaNtsandYankees]

I'll echo Superclam. Meh.  I am happy to see Tape Face and Jon D. make it through. I was hoping that Malevo would make it over Sal.

It is what it is. On to next week.

[dbklmt]

Nothing to see here.

Edited September 1, 2016 by dbklmt

[ketchuplover]

Early kudos to Bretan for winning GT in two countries.

Edited September 1, 2016 by ketchuplover

[Mr. Sparkle]

8 minutes ago, dbklmt said:

Please post who are the finalists in spoilers for others that don't want to know, but I don't want to watch it.

Results are tabulated here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America's_Got_Talent_(season_11)#Week_1_.28August_30.E2.80.9331.29

[Diana Berry]

I wasn't sure if they would pick Laura just so that Grace would have less competition.

[giaNtsandYankees]

8 minutes ago, Diana Berry said:

I wasn't sure if they would pick Laura just so that Grace would have less competition.

Plenty of hyperbole to go around for those two... but I wonder which one will get the "Pimp Spot!" hehe!

[dbklmt]

Superclam thanks for that link.  Can't believe that the Passing Zone are back in as a wild card in next week's semi finals.  That list of people that have been on the show or in other competitions was disgusting especially Sal Valentinetti who appeared on season 14 of American Idol and was cut during Hollywood Week.  Ugh!

For those that haven't seen the list of competitors who have appeared on other seasons or shows...

The Passing Zone competed in season 1 and finished in the final.

Dan Meyer competed in season 3, but was cut in Vegas.

Russian Bar Trio competed in season 3, but had to withdraw due to injury. Donald Braswell took their place.

Diane Barnard competed in season 9, and was eliminated during auditions in both seasons.

Sal Valentinetti appeared on season 14 of American Idol and was cut during Hollywood Week.

Cory Kahaney competed in season 1 of Last Comic Standing and finished in the final. She also appeared in season 4 of Food Network Star and was eliminated first.

Steven Brundage and Blake Vogt participated on the second season of Penn & Teller: Fool Us, where Brundage successfully fooled Penn & Teller.

Pato & Ginger participated on the first season of México Tiene Talento, where they finished runners-up.

José and Carrie participated on the ninth season of La France a un incroyable talent and finished as a semi finalist

Laura Bretan won the sixth season of Românii au talent

Edited September 1, 2016 by dbklmt

[UsernameGoesHere]

I haven't seen the show, but what? SAL made it through? And not only that, but he was in the top 3? I honestly don't know how this is possible.

[Commando Cody]

I think Lori Mae was pushing Grace around trying to be funny, but it made her look like a little bitch. Lori also looked kind of pissed when she walked off.  Plus she stood way over by the vocal group - as far away from Grace she could get. It made her look like a sore loser. Her joke didn't go over well. Just like her entire act last night. 

I was really surprised Sal was voted in over Malevo. 

I wasn't sure if it was going to be Jon or the danger act. I was pretty sure it wasn't going to be the other magician. I didn't find his act very interesting last night. 

Who was second in audience pick after Tape Face? 

[healthnut]

Sal, Grace, Dorenbos got thru on votes. Tapeface was Dunkin' save and Laura B was judges pick over Edgar. I'm so bummed about Deadly Games, I thought they had the best act last night. So tired of singers...

[Nanu160]

MALEVO? WHAAAT? SHOCKING!

[PhD-Purgatory15]

Pretty sure Tape Face and Laurie were neck and neck for the twitter save. It was 38% to 37% at one point. I think Edgar was screwed regardless....because my guess is the judges would've went for Tape Face because he's so out there and seems to have connected the most out of the non-singing acts.

The fact that Deadly Games finished at best 7th out of 11 acts is pretty shameful. And I think will always be an issue for AGT. It's a brutal uphill climb for non singing, non-magic/illusion acts on this show.

There are either a staggering number of people who are nostalgic for that whole Sopranos shtick.....or I've underestimated how positively people take to the whole crooning, standards thing that Sal does. Because he finished top 3 going first in the order! That's crazy, IMO.

They must already have their favorites picked out for next week, and just need the Passing Zone to torment Simon for laughs. In no way did they deserve the WC.

[Jordan27]

14 hours ago, giaNtsandYankees said:

Plenty of hyperbole to go around for those two... but I wonder which one will get the "Pimp Spot!" hehe!

Laura got it this time and it didn't seem to help all that much.  Maybe it's overrated. 

Edited September 1, 2016 by Drogo
Removed blank quote.

[UncleChuck]

We do not have to feel sorry for Malevo.  I give them about 97% chance of being picked as one of the additional acts for the three date Vegas show in October, and just as Jabberwockeez (sp?) and other acts of past years have done, those guys will be stomping and whipping and drumming somewhere in Vegas very soon.  They will be just fine.

[Jordan27]

What the heck was that?  Shades of a wacky American Idol voting night.  

Sal gets more votes than Laura Bretan?!??!?  Really?!?!?  Reallly?!?!?? 

Grace deserved it and I'm okay with Jon and Malevo making it, but Sal?!??!

He took the place of Edgar who should have been in there.  

And I disagree about the judges pick.  Edgar had to be hoping that she would win the fan vote, because they had a chance to beat Tape Face with the judges, but when he won their fate was sealed.  Simon loves Laura and she is Mel B's golden girl.

I think maybe some of the voting results might be like AI.  Tamyra, Daughtery and Doolittle.  People vote for their favorites and sometimes too many don't vote for the outstanding one because they just assume they will get through.

...or maybe Sal and his family had a little talk with the vote counters.  :)

It would have been great to see the actual vote totals. 

[Zuleikha]

I am so grumpy about Deadly Games. Why does American have no appreciation for circus skills? Did people not see him pop the black balloon so precisely that the red interior balloon was unpopped? Did they not appreciate that his wife is so calm and trusts him so much that she let him throw knives at her while she was behind a sheet of paper? They are amazing!

I do not get the love for singers! The bar for them seems to be so much lower than for everyone else.

At least Tape Face moved on. I don't even like him that much, but he is something different. And he definitely doesn't sing!

[Lonesome Rhodes]

Tough to say that there were any shock boots or saves.  I'd much rather have had Malevo and Deadly Games over Sal, Grace, Laura.  I don't get what I want.  Who do I see about that?  ;)

The Illusionists were fantastic filler tonight.  

Howie took a little extra enjoyment in Lording it over Simon about the WC.  It's more fodder for my theory that there is some genuine antipathy there from Howie.     

C'mon Viktor!!!!!

[marketdoctor]

I think Deadly Games was hoping for a Dunkin' Save--that, or the woman enjoys that costume. 

Quote

The Illusionists were fantastic filler tonight.

Yes!  Usually it's either an act where I want to vote for someone else, and then realize they're not competing on the show, or…it's Penn & Teller, and I want to give them more money.  The Illusionists were in the latter group.

Although I'm glad Passing Zone is getting the Wild Card, most of the Wild Card and Dunkin' Save votes are there to get a little more exposure on their way to Branson, or in the case of Deadly Games, a Vegas act.  

Although Grace isn't my style of music, I'm happy for her and her fans.  

I wonder if Lori Mae and Edgar would end up in the same act somewhere (maybe Branson, as has been suggested.)  

[tominboston]

What's the deal with this show and opera singers? My guess is that no more than 1% of the audience ever listens to opera other than on AGT, and yet the opera wailers always get lots of votes. Would more than a tiny handful of viewers actually pay to see them? Maybe it's the novelty factor, but I would much rather vote for singers who produce music with natural human voices.

[Kimmmmmm]

Sal deserved 10 times the votes for Grace, Laura, and Edgar combined 

[camom]

I was hoping Grace would be gone.  Her singing is like fingernails on a blackboard to me.  I just don't see why everyone thinks she is so special.

[JMarie99]

I agree with you, Camom. I've gone from not finding anything special about Grace, to finding her downright annoying, to finding her practically unlistenable. 

[backformore]

When Grace was first on, Simon compared her to Taylor Swift (I think Simon was fooled by the hairstyle).  Simon wants to be the man who "discovered"  the next Taylor Swift, not the man who let her get away without a recording contract.  He sees a money-making opportunity in her. 

[giaNtsandYankees]

18 minutes ago, backformore said:

When Grace was first on, Simon compared her to Taylor Swift (I think Simon was fooled by the hairstyle).  Simon wants to be the man who "discovered"  the next Taylor Swift, not the man who let her get away without a recording contract.  He sees a money-making opportunity in her. 

I do wonder if that credit would go to Howie since he had given her the Golden Nuzzer. And adds to mention that he does paint her up as the second coming along with Simon.

Although, Simon is the one in the music biz...

Edited September 1, 2016 by giaNtsandYankees

[Babalooie]

I know that Sal has the naysayers, but in reality, he is very good at what he does.  He is a natural with his stage presence and last night's performance was flawless in this musician's opinion.  He would be great in Vegas.  That being said, (TM Simon), he probably would not win because of the genre of music he sings.

[giaNtsandYankees]

15 hours ago, dbklmt said:

Superclam thanks for that link.  Can't believe that the Passing Zone are back in as a wild card

For those that haven't seen the list of competitors who have appeared on other seasons or shows...

The Passing Zone competed in season 1 and finished in the final

Russian Bar Trio competed in season 3, but had to withdraw due to injury. Donald Braswell took their place

Laura Bretan won the sixth season of Românii au talent

Hrm. So Passing Zone makes the top five ten years ago on America's Got Talent and are brought back as a wild card pick for this season? Interesting....

I wonder what Laura's prize was for winning Romania's Got Talent. I know that the prize was money, but was there an opportunity to perform at a well known venue there? I'm just curious to know if she walked away from an opportunity to compete in America's Got Talent?

As far as Russian Bar Trio goes, there was an injury that caused them to forfeit. It's not like they were voted off or won another ...Got Talent show like the former two.

It is wwhat it is I guess. Since the producers allowed it.

Edited September 1, 2016 by giaNtsandYankees

[LoneHaranguer]

3 hours ago, tominboston said:

What's the deal with this show and opera singers? My guess is that no more than 1% of the audience ever listens to opera other than on AGT, and yet the opera wailers always get lots of votes. Would more than a tiny handful of viewers actually pay to see them? Maybe it's the novelty factor, but I would much rather vote for singers who produce music with natural human voices.

I'm not sure what you mean by "natural", but what we've been seeing on AGT are hacks that don't sound like what an opera singer should sound like. Yet, I'm sure it's what most of the other 99% of the audience think they should sound like because they're trusting the judges who are equally clueless but pretend otherwise. The Voice usually has at least one halfway decent opera singer each season, but I wish they'd be more creative in deciding what to sing.

[UncleChuck]

Quote

I wonder what Laura's prize was for winning Romania's Got Talent. I know that the prize was money, but was there an opportunity to perform at a well known venue there? I'm just curious to know if she walked away from an opportunity to compete in America's Got Talent?

I suppose that ALL of the various nations' "...Got Talent" productions are part of the Simon Cowell network, so the prize in Romania is likely just as puny as in America which is only a few hundred thousand or $25,000 for 40 years.  And don't forget, the "Vegas Headliner" prize is just a one-time event lasting three days.  Laura could have already appeared in some "headline" show and now it's over.  If that might be the case, she would not be walking away from any opportunity. 

And as far as previous performers being brought back, we just have to remember that the ONLY reason that TPTB (Simon) produce this show is NOT to award a prize, but to assemble an assortment of variety performances that will attract an audience.  You get an audience, you get advertisers, you get a network time slot--you get a network and advertisers--you get rich!  So Simon doesn't care who wins, he just wants a nice variety of quality performers.  The "prize" is just an afterthought.

Edited September 1, 2016 by UncleChuck

[giaNtsandYankees]

1 hour ago, UncleChuck said:

I suppose that ALL of the various nations' "...Got Talent" productions are part of the Simon Cowell network, so the prize in Romania is likely just as puny as in America which is only a few hundred thousand or $25,000 for 40 years.  And don't forget, the "Vegas Headliner" prize is just a one-time event lasting three days.  Laura could have already appeared in some "headline" show and now it's over.  If that might be the case, she would not be walking away from any opportunity. 

And as far as previous performers being brought back, we just have to remember that the ONLY reason that TPTB (Simon) produce this show is NOT to award a prize, but to assemble an assortment of variety performances that will attract an audience.  You get an audience, you get advertisers, you get a network time slot--you get a network and advertisers--you get rich!  So Simon doesn't care who wins, he just wants a nice variety of quality performers.  The "prize" is just an afterthought.

Thanks for clarifying. I thought that the "Headlining Prize" was to last a year! Maybe I should pay attention more. Ha! ☺

Edited September 1, 2016 by giaNtsandYankees

[backformore]

I guess I have a problem with people from other country's "got talent"  shows being on this one.   Like, instead of calling the show "America's Got Talent", it should be "America Doesn't Got Talent, so We Imported Some Acts From Other Countries."

[iluvobx]

14 hours ago, Jordan27 said:

Laura got it this time and it didn't seem to help all that much.  Maybe it's overrated. 

Still not sure why Laura was not eliminated earlier.  She really butchered The Prayer.  She was flat and everything.  Guess they were impressed with her hitting a high note.  I am not that impressed with her singing, worry that she is doing damage to her vocal cords singing the way she is.

[rr2911]

When a student makes a mistake in class nowadays the teacher is told to tell the student, "oh , you're almost there", or "you're close" or " you almost got it". The teacher never tells a student they got the answer wrong. In my days, the teacher told me straight out I was wrong in my answer. I appreciated that. In fact it made me work harder to come up with the correct answer. I think today it's believed that the kids will have long lasting issues if filled with much negativity. Todays kids can not handle negative critiques. They're too fragile!

I believe that's what's going on with Grace VanderWaal. She won't be able to handle the truth. She's a cute kid so how do you tell this cute kid you don't have a good voice? How do you tell Grace she needs to take vocal lessons. No one can't understand what you're singing about! What other reason could there be for the judges building her up so high?

Grace VanderWaal will win AGT. Mark my word. They've build her up so much there is only one direction to go and that's "down", and the TPTB aren't going to let that happen. Oh probably Brian Crum will come in second. It will be exciting but the winner is already picked.

I was disappointed with Deadly Games and Malevo going home. Sal and Laura Bretans should've been eliminated.

I wish there wasn't a wild card. How many left , ten? Just vote on the top five and move on.

 

Until next time.....

[Apatee]

Not overly upset over the choices. Would've put Deadly Games over Grace or Sal though. Really happy Musicality and Lori were booted. I don't get this boards love for Malevo though. When their tapping and whipping were audible they were alright because they were expected to be in sync. Since then, it's been a bunch of bulky guys flopping around in water to hype music; some of them a second behind or in ahead of the next guy. 

Edited September 1, 2016 by Apatee

[helenamonster]

Who is voting for Sal??? I demand to know! Top three? Are you kidding??? When will this nightmare of a cliche end???

I have never voted in a Dunkin' Save faster in my life. So glad Tape Face got through. Even though I'm particularly enthralled with either of them, I would have preferred Edgar gone through.

Farewell, Deadly Games. Y'all are the real deal and I hope you find success elsewhere. I was hoping the judges might decide to bring them back as a wild card in the next semifinal, but I suppose that's cheating a bit, since they already had a chance at a semifinal. I'm not too upset about them bringing back The Passing Zone. I like them and the risk they took in the quarterfinals didn't pay off, so I don't mind them getting another chance.

Grace's voice sounded even croakier tonight. Girl. Listen to your body. Consider what you're doing to yourself with that style of singing.

[happyfeet]

Quote

Who is voting for Sal??? I demand to know! 

I must confess - I sent 10 votes to cheesy Sal. I love him. He just makes me feel happy. 

[bluepiano]

11 hours ago, backformore said:

I guess I have a problem with people from other country's "got talent"  shows being on this one.   Like, instead of calling the show "America's Got Talent", it should be "America Doesn't Got Talent, so We Imported Some Acts From Other Countries."

If America's Got Talent was limited to Americans, we'd have lost some of the best and most original acts this show has had over the years. Kenichi Ebene, Paul Zerdin, Tape Face, Victor Kee, a high percentage of the circus acts. Which would leave room for more Marty Browns.

10 hours ago, rr2911 said:

I believe that's what's going on with Grace VanderWaal. She won't be able to handle the truth. She's a cute kid so how do you tell this cute kid you don't have a good voice? How do you tell Grace she needs to take vocal lessons. No one can't understand what you're singing about! What other reason could there be for the judges building her up so high?

I really don't believe it's just about being nice to a sweet kid. Because they're not just politely refraining from mentioning her shortcomings. Their over-the-top praise goes way beyond that. I think it has to do with AGT building her up and selling her as a superstar so they can claim they discovered her. Look how much mileage American Idol got out of Kelly Clarkson. Coupled with what backformore identified as the profit motive for Simon if she gets all this hype and then he signs her for a recording contract. (There's a definite conflict of interest in Simon being essentially the lead judge now.)

As for me, I'm completely clueless as to what it is that's supposed to make Grace so special. Cute doesn't do it for me in what's supposed to be a talent contest. Which I take to mean, talent as it exists now, now potential 5 or 10 years down the road.

On a similar note, really hoping that the run of the kid magician and his sister ends next week. If the kid was doing close-up magic at a young age, that would be impressive. But he's just doing stage tricks that his magician father creates for him.

Edited September 2, 2016 by bluepiano

[backformore]

Quote

If America's Got Talent was limited to Americans, we'd have lost some of the best and most original acts this show has had over the years. Kenichi Ebene, Paul Zerdin, Tape Face, Victor Kee, a high percentage of the circus acts. Which would leave room for more Marty Browns.

But I'm not saying it should be LIMITED to Americans.  Just that once someone makes the semi-finals of one country's "Got Talent", they shouldn't be able to participate in another country's.   I guess I compare it to (but it's not exact)  a woman winning the title of "Miss Romania" in a beauty pageant, then going on to also compete in Miss France and Miss USA.  

[WhoVenger221B]

This is the first season of this show that I have watched in a long time. I now remember why I quit it. I am so sick and tired of singers taking up all the spots when there are acts that are way cooler. If I go to Vegas, and I'm going to pay money to see a show, I am not going to pay to watch a singer. 

[bluepiano]

5 hours ago, WhoVenger221B said:

This is the first season of this show that I have watched in a long time. I now remember why I quit it. I am so sick and tired of singers taking up all the spots when there are acts that are way cooler. If I go to Vegas, and I'm going to pay money to see a show, I am not going to pay to watch a singer. 

I would go to see a legend, like Tony Bennett or Tom Jones. But Sal Valentenneti is a long way from being a legend.

And can you imagine a room full of tourists out to party and have a good time sitting in silence and listening to Grace's squeaky little voice? But then, AGT isn't really about finding a Vegas headliner. It's a TV variety show, whose only real aim is ratings. The judges only bring up the Vegas headliner thing when they want to find something negative to say. Notice they have never said that about Grace, who they're pushing to win, despite the fact that I can't imagine any AGT act being less suited to Vegas.

Edited September 2, 2016 by bluepiano

[JMarie99]

Yeah, I voted for cheesy Sal. I felt bad when he got booted off Idol so early. But he was all wrong for that show. I think he deserves a chance on this show. So he's got a cheesy persona instead of a sob story. So what. He makes me smile. He won't win of course but I'm happy for him that he got this far. 

[rr2911]

It's going to be interesting next week if the other Simon girl favorite (the cancer girl with short hair) makes it to the finals. She'll be up against Grace.

[UsernameGoesHere]

I finally watched the results show. Do The Illusionists have some kind of agreement with NBC/AGT that they'll appear once a season or something? Not complaining - they're always fantastic.

The daughter from Edgar looked so sad and nervous the whole show. I felt bad for her. I would've picked them over Laura. Or Sal. Or Grace.

Mel's outfit is terrible.

[marketdoctor]

Quote

...so the prize in Romania is likely just as puny as in America which is only a few hundred thousand or $25,000 for 40 years.

It might be worse than that.  The New Leu is dropping relative to the US Dollar by about 40% in the past year.  I'd still take the money, but she's not set for life.

[bluepiano]

Romania's a poor country. Doubt they're handing over massive amounts of cash. And winning a show in Romania is hardly going to make her the career connections that she can get from AGT. So I don't blame her for coming over here. Last year (or maybe the year before) there was a guy on The Voice who had won the version of the show they have in Hungary. Same thing.

Apparently The Professional Regurgitator (remember him?) went around the world appearing on various "Got Talent" shows. So that's not the case with Laura. (at least not yet).

[saber5055]

Have any Americans gone to other countries to appear on foreign GTs? That seems like a good idea for acts that don't make the final cut here.

[PepperMonkey]

I think I've said before I don't even care who wins because it's going to be whomever Simon can make the most money off of. I'd DIE of happiness if Viktor wins, but that likely won't happen so I'm hoping Viktor and Deadly Games can put together a show I'd pay to see in Vegas.

The biggest problem for me and the reason I'm not sure I'm going to watch after this season is the judges. Mel and Simon act like five year olds. The throwing of the water and the constant hitting and yelling are too much. I used to actually LIKE MelB but I'm over her completely at this point. Heidi has surprised me a bit this year by being more mature EXCEPT when she buys in to Simon and Mel's stupidity. Never a fan of Howie, but I like that he's not afraid to disagree with Simon. The is the most ridiculous panel of judges I've ever seen on any show. They're ruining the whole experience for me.

Edited September 3, 2016 by PepperMonkey

[SnarkyTart]

23 hours ago, rr2911 said:

It's going to be interesting next week if the other Simon girl favorite (the cancer girl with short hair) makes it to the finals. She'll be up against Grace.

Calysta Bevier, the other girl singer who mangles her enunciation so badly that I understand very few of the words she sings.  I was thankful they brought the monitor out on stage with her last time to scroll the lyrics to her song for the audience, otherwise I wouldn't have had a clue.  But I do catch a lyric here and there when Calysta sings, unlike Grace where I don't understand a single one of her words. 

Yikes. I  just looked on NBC's website to get Calysta's name and realized that 7 of the 16 remaining acts are little kids.     There's a reason this is the first of its 13 seasons that I haven't watched "So You Think You Can Dance".  It's because they turned it into a little kid's show.  Their ratings are also tanking even more this season than they had been.  I guess AGT thought that looked like a good business model to follow.  A pox on both their houses!

Edited September 3, 2016 by SnarkyTart

[marketdoctor]

Quote

Yikes. I  just looked on NBC's website to get Calysta's name and realized that 7 of the 16 remaining acts are little kids. 

So they're using Kid Nation as their ethical model?

Seriously, even for the more talented kids, I want them to be in school--their education is more important than trying to entertain us.  Also, the rate at which child stars don't turn out well is higher than the general public.  Maybe we should care enough about kids to keep them off the show.