S09.E06: Auditions Week 6

[maraleia]

The 6th group of potential contestants performs for the judges tonight hoping to be selected to move on in the competition.

[kechara]

I don't see the point of Heidi most of the time.

[peggy06]

I'm kind of sad the auditions are over, because now we've seen every act we're going to see. I can't say I have a clear favorite.

 

Tonight's show was blah for me, though. Too many jokey train-wreck acts. Too much judgery nonsense. Too many singers.

 

That 46-year-old comic turned me off completely, dissing his kids and fatherhood with the kids there to watch him. I mean I'm not humorless. But he made a point that he'd never performed in front of them before, and then he goes into a bit about having to pretend it's fun to be a dad. Just yuck. The rest of his material wasn't much, either. I didn't get the way they were all over him - other comics on the show have been much sharper. I preferred the Andy Kaufmanesque character from later in the show (Darik). His jokes were a mix of traditional gags and absurdist humor. Not sure how much of him I could stand to watch, but he was funny.

 

I'm really having a hard time remembering the acts. The one who spun around inside the big hoop was kind of cool. The 84-year-old was surprisingly funny (and had the demeanor of a comedian from the get-go, so I should have seen that coming). I must have missed something in the setup of the magic trick with Mel, but that was the most uncomfortable I've been watching a magic trick on this show. I guess it was a good trick? Mel seemed so stressed out that I had a hard time watching it, and the pacing was weird.

 

I'm tired of having my heartstrings tugged on week in week out, but the Marine who lost a leg did get to me. Loved his cheerful attitude even more than his singing, which was pretty good. I general I don't like anyone to advance based on their personal story, but what a great story and nice guy. I salute him.

Edited July 2, 2014 by peggy06

[xls]

 

That 46-year-old comic turned me off completely, dissing his kids and fatherhood with the kids there to watch him. I mean I'm not humorless. But he made a point that he'd never performed in front of them before, and then he goes into a bit about having to pretend it's fun to be a dad. Just yuck. The rest of his material wasn't much, either. I didn't get the way they were all over him - other comics on the show have been much sharper. I preferred the Andy Kaufmanesque character from later in the show (Darik). His jokes were a mix of traditional gags and absurdist humor. Not sure how much of him I could stand to watch, but he was funny.

 

 

 

I don't get their fawning over him ether, he was not funny at all. They didn't want to be mean to him in front of his very young kids is the only reason I could figure. 

The cowboy with the lasso tricks was super

[karenc3]

Kelli Glover wasn't only on AGT before, she was on Season 1 of American Idol.  She made it through the group rounds they had that year to the wildcard rounds, so was close to making it to top 10. I found some video:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpLBU6de6rA&list=PL8E70BFB02CAD51A8&index=7

 

I thought she was pretty good. I kind of liked Beach Avenue, too.  I thought most were good tonight. I thought the comedian that had the joke about transparents was pretty good, and the girl with the p- song.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

I've watched every season faithfully.  I've never seen such a jam down from the producers as with Sam the comedian.  Just what we need - more sarcasm from a failed comic.  Oops, my bad, we need failed singer Kelli Glover with run of the mill professional voice and the saddest of sad journeys in need of redemption!  Retch.

 

I get why Howie used the save as he did, but those guys were not my cup o' tea.  Not.  At.  All.  Howard's save was used for a remarkably similar act, as well.  Fine by me if those guys reeeeeeally got it and loved them.  But. neither are gonna survive any Ameriker's vote ever.

 

I loved Tika the bird.  The human needs to work on the material, though.  

 

Howard was such a PRO with Darik the emo comedian.  He has never been better on this show.  Darik showed genuine talent in rolling with it extemporaneously.  Of COURSE Heidi didn't get it.  Top two act for me tonight.

 

I didn't get Pyro-Liberace's deal.  I do trust that he was awesome from what I did see.  Poor edit choice to devote so little time to him.

 

The staple gun magician's act was so ridiculously obvious that the bit/routine did not work at all for me.  He best bring something far more wondrous to go forward.

 

Old man Ray's whole package was actually cute.  Great old school Catskills song!  Who cares that he can't sing well.  Only AGT can bring us stuff like this.  LOVE.  Really smart choice to end the audition rounds.  I also loved that they brought him off with Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue.  Man, when this show gets it right, it is a gift.    

[A Boston Gal]

Can't help but grin a bit with the musical cue fake-out of "I Dreamed a Dream" for the kareoke secretary. Ooooh...is another Susan Boyle about to be introduced to the world?  Answer: no.  Heh.

Edited July 2, 2014 by A Boston Gal

[Taeolas]

Relatively few standouts last night; all in all an average episode. The stapler gun magician was fairly obvious, and a fairly basic trick; but we seem a bit short on those types of acts (danger acts, not magicians) so he might get forward in that category.

 

Comedians were a bit basic for the most part; we've had better earlier on. 

 

As usual I skipped past the singers, though I did pause for the Unique singers. Both of them were decent enough to make me listen, and I hope we see more acts like that. The second group reminded me a bit of Great Big Sea, though not quite as folksy. 

 

The closer with the comedic singer was good, with a funny comedic song that came out of nowhere like songs like that often seem to do. I'm thinking they should just push all of the senior acts through to the New York rounds, because half of them will die of old age by then anyway. :) 

 

The ring dancer? was decent, and I could watch her more. There's something about spinning rings that tends to be fascinating in general. Which brings us to the Rope artist. I'm not sure he should have jumped right to Fire right away, but I hope he does well going forward. He's got the skills, look and the unique act to go further, though repetition might dull him in the live rounds. 

 

So 2 gold stars have been used. I wonder if Heidi's and Mel's Gold Stars will be available for later rounds, and how far they might be available to. Maybe in some of the earlier voting rounds I wouldn't mind them being used; but once we get into the last few eps, too bad. 

[DrLar]

At least this war veteran had a real wound from real war and could sing, I'm still mad at the fake one that was 2 seasons ago deceiving us...

 

The other acts. meh, maybe the ring girl who was gorgeous and talented... the American Idol girl sounded like a watered down Whitney Houston.. that's it.

[bluepiano]

I think that the main reason Howie used his Gold Star was because Howard didn't like the act, and Howard had used his Gold Star on Dustin's Dojo, the fake martial arts demo that Howie didn't "get." So it was kind of payback, and part of their ongoing rivalry over who's the real authority on comedy on this show. For me, both acts were blah, although of the two, I think there's a better chance that the rappers could come up with something different and funny in the next round.

 

I was with Howie on Dustin's Dojo. I got that it was a put-on. It still wasn't funny. It was high school stoner humor. Well, Howard's credentials as being a comedy expert were shot for me when he loved the 12 year old making jokes about his testicles. Did he really think that "a million dollar act," as he's always saying?

 

Kelli Glover is the kind of contestant that made me stop watching American Idol. An okay voice, but completely derivative of so many other singers. And while the judges talked about her connection to the audience, I feel that they kind of singer never really connects, because the emotion is more packaged than genuine.

 

The only thing less genuine would be an 11 year old singing "And I am Telling You I'm Not Going." To me an 11 year old doing an adult diva song is all kinds of horrifying. And she was just screaming right out of the box. Besides doing something appropriate to your age and life experience, how about learning how to sing a melody? It creeped me out. As did the stage mom and all the brothers and sisters. I got the idea that they're all counting on little sis to make it and provide financially for the whole family.

Edited July 2, 2014 by bluepiano

[EVS]

The old guy at the end had me cracking up. The song wasn't even that funny. It wouldn't have worked if the dad comic had done it for example, but the old guy's whole look, persona and delivery combined made it hysterical to me.

What drives me crazy is that the judges appear to put through a bunch of acts ranging from awful to mediocre. Then they suddenly seem to remember that they are supposed to be looking for a million dollar act, so the next few bad-average acts don't make it through, then they forget and start putting the bad-average acts through again. I know they show the acts out of order, but the selection process seems so arbitrary. I think the end result is that way too many acts go through.

I'm glad the auditions are over. I enjoyed the first few, but the last few have only had my partial attention.

[ratgirlagogo]

This whole episode was kind of meh.  I liked the staple-gun magician but agree that it was not that special - we shall see with his next trick.  Liked the trick rope guy but I have seen trick rope folks just as good before since I watch rodeo.  Liked Tinka the bird.  Agree that the dad comic's jokes about what a drag it was to be a dad got more and more uncomfortable - but his initial joke about how you knew you were getting old when you walked into a completely deserted bar and your first reaction was to think "Yeah!  I LOVE this place! This is going to be MY new hangout!"  did make me laugh, since it's exactly how I feel and I know that it IS because I'm older.

 

It just seems like this season has WAY more singers than the last couple of years. Not a good thing.

Edited July 3, 2014 by ratgirlagogo

[Indy]

Which brings us to the Rope artist. I'm not sure he should have jumped right to Fire right away, but I hope he does well going forward. He's got the skills, look and the unique act to go further, though repetition might dull him in the live rounds. 

 

I agree.  I thought he was really cool but I'm afraid he's going to fall victim to the "it needs to be bigger/more dangerous" trap so many of the variety acts get into by the judges.  He could have added the fire in the next round for more ooohs and aaaahs from the judges.  Though on the flip side, if he just used the plain non-firey rope, would that have been enough to get him to Vegas?  It's hard to say.  I think he said in his talking head package that he does gun tricks too so maybe he has more Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show-type acts up his sleeves.  

[Shermie]

It just seems like this season has WAY more singers than the last couple of years. Not a good thing.

 

Although, in the past few seasons it seemed like they were pushing the novelty acts hard, and tried to have as few singers in the finals as possible, and singers STILL won (or almost won). Maybe if there are a lot of them, they will cancel each other, vote-wise. 

 

Kelli Glover, sorry, you had your chance - twice - and it didn't work. I'm sure she could have a solid career in musical theatre; there are several good ones within an hour's drive of my house, where actors and musicians can make a living, so I'm sure they are everywhere. But I get the feeling she thinks she deserves to be a star and nothing less. 

 

I think solo singers and solo dancers should just be told they can't audition; it's not that kind of show. They can go on half a dozen other shows; AGT is for novelty acts, group singing and dancing, magicians, fear acts, etc.

[DrLar]

I wonder if most of the singers tried out in American Idol/X-Factor/Etc and dancers on SYTYCD and after failing they decided to try out AGT

Edited July 3, 2014 by DrLar

[Lava VaVoom]

 

I get the feeling she thinks she deserves to be a star and nothing less.

They ALL think they deserve to be a star and nothing less.  And the idiot screaming audience agrees with them.

[A Boston Gal]

As far as the audience screaming goes, I think we've seen enough seasons to know the editors have a lot to do with how the reaction to a certain act is depicted. If we see close ups of audience members smiling or "ooooh"-ing, we really have no guarentee that it was in reaction to the act currently being shown.

 

As much as I'm addicted to this show, I have almost zero-faith in the editors and producers to give us anything very close to unscripted.  While I don't believe TPTB have already chosen their "winner", I think it's pretty safe to say they already have their top 20 in mind, and will manipulate everything from the judges' remarks to the audience reactions to guarentee it.

 

And, yes, there are too many cookie-cutter singers, and I have no clue why. As Shermie said, in the past, they've made a real effort to avoid it; I guess they're just giving in to what they think the viewing public wants. There seems to be no end to America's appetite for TV singing competitions.

Edited July 7, 2014 by A Boston Gal

[Kromm]

I don't see the point of Heidi most of the time.

I'm sure she cost a bit too.  Save your money next season, Syco and go with a 3 judge panel.  Simon needs to buy toddler clothes. 

[peggy06]

I wonder if most of the singers tried out in American Idol/X-Factor/Etc and dancers on SYTYCD and after failing they decided to try out AGT

 

I wouldn't be surprised. The judging for singers is much, much more generous than on any of the singing competitions. The audience seems much less demanding, as well.

[helenamonster]

I figured the staple-gun magician's trick was a simple switch (that bag looked like it had a hidden compartment), so we'll see what he can do in the next round without Mel having a meltdown to cover up what would normally be a basic act.

 

I really liked the lasso guy. I think it was Heidi who made a point about the music and he really did choreograph his act to match the song choice, which I think takes an extra layer of talent. He mentioned a few other things he could do in his intro package so maybe we'll see him mix it up instead of doing the lasso every week, which would definitely get boring.

 

The only two things going through my mind during Kelli Glover's segment were, "She looks like a cross between Jordin Sparks and Amy Winehouse" and "Lord, get over yourself." So she's been on this show before and AI? Girl, the universe is trying to tell you something.

 

That 46-year-old comedian was so bland. I didn't even crack a smile. And I didn't so much have a problem with the jokes he told about his kids as I did with the audience's reaction to them. It just reminded me that there are so many people on this planet who procreate without understanding that child rearing is not all fun and games, and that sometimes it can be mundane as hell. I've seen way too many people in my life who look like they wanted nothing more than to go back in time and not have their kids to enjoy any of what he was saying.

 

I did, to my surprise, enjoy the Taylor Williamson-esque comedian. I was totally expecting to hate him but he won me over. (I liked Taylor Williamson and wanted him to win, and at first this guy looked like a cheap rip-off of that persona.)

 

The ratchet rappers were funnier in their exchanges with the judges than they were in their actual act. They kind of reminded me of a couple Todrick Hall videos on Youtube that parody the same type of behavior/culture, but Todrick Hall is much funnier and original, imo.

 

The old guy at the end was a hoot. I knew it was going somewhere weird and I was not disappointed.

 

I didn't get the whole thing about Mel's birthday. Was it or not? Are they just running out of Snapple Lounge antics?

 

Why does Howard always hate on Posh? Victoria Beckham needs to slip on her nicest pair of Louboutins and come across the pond to curb stomp his ass.

 

Can't help but grin a bit with the musical cue fake-out of "I Dreamed a Dream" for the kareoke secretary. Ooooh...is another Susan Boyle about to be introduced to the world?  Answer: no.  Heh.

 

Hee, I thought the exact same thing. Very nice fakeout.

[Lava VaVoom]

Bloody sick and tired of reruns.

[DrLar]

Anything else special on TV last night to skip a week? I hate these breaks..

[helenamonster]

Same. And next week's episode isn't even the Vegas rounds yet. It's technically new, but according to the description on NBC's website:

 

 

A best-of look at the auditions is featured. Included: previously unseen interviews and behind-the-scenes footage.

 

What is the hold up?

[DrLar]

That sounds like a not-new episode, just a highlights one with some perks.. ewww

[Taeolas]

MORE Behind the Scenes footage? Haven't we seen enough sobstories and backstage antics already? Sheesh! Who is asking for this? It sure as hell isn't anyone on these boards.

[Ohwell]

I'm sick of the behind the scenes and repeat crap.  NBC did the same thing with Last Comic Standing.

[Babalooie]

This was not Ray Jessell's first rodeo.  He's been on Broadway, as well as Funny or Die.  Anything goes.

[Indy]

I wonder if they're dragging things out to have the final episode be on a big sweeps week.  If they wanted to start and end it on particular weeks for ratings but didn't have enough episodes to do a new one each week, filler crap is how they would have to do it.  

[Taeolas]

It's bad planning though. With the number of acts they audition, instead of a filler episode they could easily have had an extra audition round, and filled out all the audition eps with more acts. 

 

Though maybe by Hollywood math, maybe clip shows/filler shows don't count as much for ratings, so by doing one they can dodge a potentially low rated week? 

 

That still doesn't make much sense for this week though; the US holiday was last week, so by now, it's knock on effects should be mostly over. Then again they did have a new ep last week IIRC, and the holiday was on a friday.

 

ARGH! Hollywood is so confusing!

[helenamonster]

I hadn't thought about the sweeps possibility. My spec was either that NBC was having trouble filling up its fall lineup and wanted to give itself more time by pushing a summer show--that conveniently takes up two nights a week--farther into the fall...or that, seeing as how they've already picked the finalists, they wanted to give the acts more time to prepare.

 

Whatever the reason, it's mildly off-putting for a competitive reality show, especially one that airs in the summer, to play reruns.

[Indy]

I would rather they either drag out the audition rounds another week than do reruns. I feel like we got so many chopped up and montaged auditions that they could have shown us longer clips of more acts and gotten at least another week of auditions. They could have done some sort of "best of the worst" bloopers type hour to pad things.  Or hell, a "where are they now" special about past favorite acts.  Competitive reality TV shouldn't air in reruns.  It's just weird/boring

[DrLar]

Or they wanted Heidi not to miss the World Cup Match between Brazil and Germany... or she was too drunk celebrating.. (wait, is not live yet!)

[LoneHaranguer]

 

I would rather they either drag out the audition rounds another week than do reruns. I feel like we got so many chopped up and montaged auditions that they could have shown us longer clips of more acts and gotten at least another week of auditions.

Every extra episode is more money to Nick and the judges, and Howard Stern is one of the highest-paid people on TV right now. If the advertisers will let the producers get away with substituting reruns for fresh episodes, they're going to do it. I don't mind the reruns because I don't always catch all of the initial showings.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

SYCO gets full payment for these re-purposed eps.  It is that simple.  SYCO can charge less/each episode, which Comcast likes.  

 

Across reality TV this is trending.  DWTS is an exception as Disney insists on a super low overall cost and eliminated the filler of a results show.