AGT Holiday Spectacular

[Drogo]

Discuss the AGT Christmas special here! 

Airing 12/19/16.

[candall]

My comments are all too Grinchy to post, first.  I'd get coal in my stocking.

[Maverick]

 You mean how it was mostly a rehash of contestants from this past season?  Or how we had to listen to the teary-eyed jooges prattle on about how Grace is the second coming of Taylor Swift?  (Dear Jooges...some of us aren't impressed with the first coming of Taylor Swift).   Or how Brian Justin Crum looked like he riffed on Scarlett O'Hara and made his pants out of a holiday table runner?   

Edited December 20, 2016 by Maverick

[happyfeet]

I enjoyed seeing the Olate Dogs and Terry Fator again. Cheesy Sol's duet with Heidi was cute and Grace still seems like a little kid.

[backformore]

I don't want to see that regurgitator act ever again.  I find him a bit creepy, and his act is disgusting.

[Wings]

I  FFwd stopping for Terry Fator, Olate Dogs, and Heidi singing.  I would not have stopped for the guy she was singing with had she not been on stage.  It was a whoa, lemme back up, what the hell, moment. 

Edited December 20, 2016 by wings707

[backformore]

Grace, with her squeaky voice, does not impress me.  I don't get it at all.  She always sounds like she has a cold.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

Worst magic performance I have ever seen from Penn & Teller.  Wow.

Most of the acts were cheap representations of the talent.  It was a revue, not a spectacular.

No Prince?  Bah Humbug!

I did enjoy Howie's Santa bit with the kids.  Mel was a perfect whisperer for this.  

The shape dancers were cool.  Acroarmy was blah.  

Freaking Sal.  Ugh.

I've spent far worse time on many other shows.  It's just unfortunate they did this on the cheap.  Figuratively and literally.

[lambertman]

It's Christmas in August, featuring everybody who's already here anyway! ;)

Was excited about this but got bored about 45 minutes in and started fast-forwarding quite liberally. No big deal.

[candall]

I tuned in just as the last doggie was taking his bow, wow.  So I only saw a man throwing up, a man jumping into eggnog, an acrobatic troupe providing their nervous kid with some exposure to a live audience, an inexplicably second-rate performance by Penn & Teller, Grace VanderWaal confirming that a squeak in your breathy vocals does not mean you're a talented singer, a dull "trick" featuring cartoon snowmen in neckties, and a boatload of filler.

 

Heidi Lou Who fell on her butt and came back like a pro.

But it wasn't enough--my heart didn't grow.

[Ohwell]

I loved the Olate Dogs.  They always make me smile and they look so happy and well cared for, unlike some animal acts where I sometimes wonder if they're being abused to make them perform.  I also liked Terry Fator.

I kind of glossed over the rest, and went to wash dishes when Grace VanderWaal came on.    

I don't know what Prince Poppycock is doing these days but I would've loved to have seen him again.

[helenamonster]

Olate Dogs always make me smile.

I have to close my eyes and cover my ears when the Regurgitator comes on. I don't care if it's just a trick or real, the whole thing makes me gag.

I would have enjoyed Jackie Evancho more if she hadn't agreed to sing the national anthem at the inauguration.

Terry Fator <3

[LoneHaranguer]

If they're going to be pretentious enough to do things like ballet, the judges need to learn that praising a female singer should be "brava", rather than "bravo". The dancers needed more practice.

Terry Fator looked amused at the "how does he do that?" (from Heidi IIRC) while he was having his puppet "lip-sync" to a recording that you hear so much every year that nobody should have thought it was Terry's voice.

There were too many acts reminding viewers of why they didn't win. I probably didn't catch more than half of the show in total. Doesn't sound like I missed much.

[QTBlueMoon]

21 hours ago, LoneHaranguer said:

Terry Fator looked amused at the "how does he do that?" (from Heidi IIRC) while he was having his puppet "lip-sync" to a recording that you hear so much every year that nobody should have thought it was Terry's voice.

 

It was Terry's voice

[LoneHaranguer]

1 hour ago, QTBlueMoon said:

It was Terry's voice

It was at the beginning and end, but the voice was different during the song. It's possible he was getting an assist from the control room.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

AGT is notorious for tracking (playing back) sound.  They did it a bunch this past season, but I did not catch any lip synching from a solo singer.

I noticed a significant change during Fator's "singing," as well.  It could have been just bad tech - another AGT staple.  If I had to bet, though, I would bet shenanigans (tracking).

I was glad they recorded Jon Dorenbos' segment when they did.  He broke his wrist last week and is out for the rest of the football season.  I wonder if he had any public performances scheduled in the next few months and if he will have to cancel.  He signed a new multi-year contract before this past season began, so he should be good to go next year for football.  I thought he did a very good job on the trick.  His patter is always excellent.  Given the reactions from his teammates, I did wonder if perhaps there were some do-overs or retakes, though.

[Commando Cody]

Very first thought: Same old bad direction with reaction shots and comments from the judges when I just want to see the performers.

Grace is probably pretty good for a 12 year old. However, in general, not a very good singer right now. I hope she gets better. All I get from her win is that Simon saw a money making opportunity.  

The Olate Dogs and Terry Fator were fun to see again.

I have never heard Jackie sing before. I was really impressed. The ballet dancers were wasted - mostly because they were in the dark. Probably because they weren't very good. They must have hired these guys on a budget. 

The rest of the show was totally forgettable. I fast forwarded though the one woman who was only there for promotion. I can't stand that style of singing. 

[Lady Iris]

Lots of fast forward fodder. I was hoping to see Viktor Kee but no. He could've juggled ornaments. It would've been great.

Does anybody know how the guy does the trick with the snowman in the gift box?

[marketdoctor]

I liked Terry Fator and the Olate dogs, and I liked Piff's gifts for the judges.  Ending on a dive into eggnog was also fun, in an almost Gong Show sort of way.

I thought they would save Grace for the end, and I was close; I wonder how much was filmed before the finals, if any?  Grace was true to who she was.

Merry Christmas, everyone, and Happy Hanukkah.  When it was good, it was pretty good, and when it was bad...they would just say other people liked it.  

[Lonesome Rhodes]

8 hours ago, Lady Iris said:

Does anybody know how the guy does the trick with the snowman in the gift box?

It's all about manipulating the spiral art pad to make sure his pre-chosen pages are flipped to appear.  Notice we did not get to see the actual picture on whatever page the jidge put their finger on.  He just flipped to that supposed page, but was really flipping to the page he had already designated. 

[marketdoctor]

If you want another pass at this, it's going to be on again Thursday (Dec. 29).  I don't think it would become an every-year classic, but if you do, you can still DVR it.   (Happy New Year, and go away, 2016.)

[Lady Iris]

On ‎12‎/‎23‎/‎2016 at 9:28 PM, Lonesome Rhodes said:

It's all about manipulating the spiral art pad to make sure his pre-chosen pages are flipped to appear.  Notice we did not get to see the actual picture on whatever page the jidge put their finger on.  He just flipped to that supposed page, but was really flipping to the page he had already designated. 

Ahh yes, I see now. Thank you :)