America's Got Talent, Season 7

[Kheldarson]

Last Chance episode:

Thea and Smooch Piggy...made me cringe to begin with. And made me cringe to end with. Oh dear. That was...hard.

And like last week, the "No montage" doesn't exist. It can't exist. Make it go away....please?

Lil Starr was adorable and admittedly talented. I'm not sure how to measure her against the older dancers though. I think after a few more years, she'll definitely be a major contender. But right now, her cute will carry her but her talent will be shadowed by the others.

The "Yes montage" was awesome! Why couldn't they have shown us more of those acts than those in "No montage"?

Jacob Williams....jokes were good nerd jokes, but his delivery was kinda off. I'm sure it'll get better with practice though. Had me laughing though. ^^

787 crew looked neat, but I wasn't really getting into their act for some reason. It didn't wow me. I could see it was hard, technical, but it didn't grab me. Ah well, congrats to them!

Trish like Fish....good Lord what an excuse. >.<

And let's not go into Mark. >.<

Mary Joyner...wow. Just wow. Between her family name and talent, if she doesn't have a contract by the end of the season, I will be surprised. I still have goosebumps. Damn.

[Mytical]

Ok I have not been commenting much, because I pretty much have to watch the show right when I am writing my impression. I will cover a couple of things.

787 Crew. They did not do as good as a showing as they can. How do I know this? They were also on Randy Jackson's America's Best Dance Crew. They made the top 10 (think top 5..but my memory is always suspect). They are GOOD, why they didn't show that tonight..I have no clue. Hope they step it up. Now .. where is 8 Flavaz? The crew that SHOULD have won RJABDC this last season? (Instead it was a crew called electrolites or some such)

As for Joyner..she was amazing. I think she will go far.

[Jester]

Sometimes a pig is just a pig. And that pig was definitely a pig. Thank you, have a good night, drive safely.

Nerd comedian? I am going to respectfully disagree with Kheldarson, as I not only found his jokes funny, I thought his delivery and timing were dead on perfect. Only act tonight (and in some time) that I have rewinded to watch again. Freakin' hilarious. Dude is an underdog, but will go far. Hell, all of the lead-up, I was sure he was going to be terrible. But I have always reserved the right to be wrong, and I was dead wrong. Dude was hilarious.

787 Dance Crew: They were good. But I've seen better. The goth dance crew from last season with the really lame name, whatever it was, was simply astounding. The day I see a better dance crew move than that rowing move, THAT is when I have seen a dance crew that can win this thing. Until then, no.

And last, there was Flo Jo's kid. And she was Flo Jo's kid for me for the entire time they showed her....until she started singing. And at that point, and from that point forward, she was Mary freakin' Joyner. I didn't know her name before she started singing, but it was seared into my brain once she did. Her microphone is the equivalent of her mother's running shoes, as both have delivered wondrous performances. Watch this chick...she WILL be on the radio, and she will be on the radio SOON.

[Jetfire]

I found the comedian's timing was off, but that may largely be due to (lack of) experience. Most of his jokes I've heard before in one form or another, but I did chuckle at them. Still, AGT's got some better comediens in the can already, so I suspect he'll either be culled in Vegas, or be a bubble act at best.

787 were decent; but once again we've got some stronger dance crews already in place. The fact that they're from PR, and do have some talent (the move that stands out in my mind was the guy dropping from the middle of the tower, then shooting out while on his side, which I think Howie noticed) should at least keep them on as a bubble act.

The young tapper has potential, but she's just too young and was trying too hard. I found her act too jerky and stampy to be honest; like she was stamping on the stage as much as tapping. She had more than enough cute factor combined with actual talent to get the judges pass, but hopefully she'll be culled in Vegas.

The Granny tappers on the other hand were cute in their own respect. Not quite as much personality as some of the other acts, but up there. I doubt they'll make it past Vegas, but they seem to be the type that would have fun with a free trip to Vegas regardless.

As for the singer at the end, the name didn't do anything for me, I fast forwarded through the background, and in general, singers don't do much for me. Overall I found her act was OK, but I wasn't familiar with the song enough to tell if she did it well or not (beyond the fact that she did it well enough that it wasn't obviously bad). She'll probably get the pass through to New York (since she'll have the Olympics tie-in that NBC will want), but I just feel there are some better acts ahead of her.

Overall, thinking back a bit at the auditions, there aren't many standout acts, but a lot of potentially great acts that just need a bit more polish/practice/training to really pop. It'll be interesting to see who gets the New York card, who gets Cut and who needs to do the private performance in Vegas. (Frankly, I hope the stand up comedians either get the pass or the cut; seeing them do standup to a crowd of 3 is painful)

[Mytical]

Seriously, 787 was not at the top of their game with this audition..but anybody that does not think they are fantastic should watch the most recent season of America's Best Dance Crew. While they were not my favorites (8 flavaz for the win), they were very strong. I hope that they bring what they brought to ABDC..they will go far if so. Doubt they will win, because they didn't with ABDC, but unless the other dance crews show me something different, 787 will probably last the longest. They are battle tested.

[Jetfire]

Ouch, those Vegas acts we saw were rough. None of them looked good enough to go on to be honest. Granted a lot of it was probably a combination of nerves and fatigue. And playing to a stoic audience of 3 has to be even harder. No feedback to tell if you're going well or not.

The only other comment I have is that the Earth Harp guy was cut right off the bat. That was horrible. He should have been an easy pass through to New York; not cut without even a second shot. If they didn't want to set up the harp in Vegas, they could have had him be one of the 3 Auto-pass thrus. There has got to be more to his story than we're seeing.

Speaking of the auto-thrus, what the hell was with the 3 acts that got picked, but booted right away? If you didn't want those acts at all, then leave them on the cut floor with the rest of the cut acts. Don't give them the false hope like that. It must have been edit monkey shenanigans in play I guess; those 6 probably DID perform off camera and got cut or got the pass after that.

*Edit* Just read on TWOP that the Earth Harp guy DID get the pass thru to New York. Happy happy joy joy! I take back what I said above. Guess I wasn't paying close enough attention to what was going on.

[Kheldarson]

They do that shit for suspense. Bring in a group, cut half, then surprise the other half by telling them they're through.

Other than that, last night was fairly horrid. >.< The mistakes were painful, which is awful for those performers. But what surprised me was the number of acts that simply repeated what they did in audition. You're supposed to get better, not worse!

Hope tonight's a better show.

[Mytical]

Time may prove me a sap..but I was pulling for Andrew (the goth). It was kind of painful to see what happened. Started out SOO good too. Still the other two he is right now competing against really didn't wow me either so .. *fingers crossed*.

Ok..Crossbow act has got to go. Yeah they added a trick, but yawn. Wasn't really even close to the female to be the 'wow' factor. Howard is wrong about it, Howie and Sharon are right. Not much worth saving. Then again..all the danger acts were sort of bleh.

787 Crew..ok started out MUCH better, but that flub..that was major. Shows why they only made it to top 10 and not number 1 I guess. Then again the other dance crews .. not so hot.

What the heck happened in Vegas? Somebody spike the water or something? Good thing what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas..cause we really don't need to see that again.

[Kheldarson]

Andrew does have a great voice, but...his nerves. He really had to work on that before going to Vegas. And he obviously didn't. Like Sharon said during the female singers, it didn't look like anybody rehearsed.

The danger acts at least looked like they did, but there were obviously some issues there too. But mistakes in a danger act (like the American Stunt Crew) are more likely to add to the act than detract like with 787.

[Kheldarson]

Vegas Night 2!

This night went better than yesterday for sure.

The magicians' group was amazing. Definitely spot on. I really enjoyed the mentalist again. He just amazes me.

The vocal groups were nice, but I'm upset that the older father/daughter pair had a fumble. The younger father/daughter was cute, but I'm with the judges that it felt like a rehearsal.

The comedians were strong this go around, but it's too bad for the last one on. That was just...ow.

I personally was amazed with the kids' group. It's really strong this year. I still love the Mariachi boy. His voice is just so mature.

The male singers...anybody else surprised that Tim Poe came back? Nevermind, just looked up info, and apparently we get to see him get his. Anyway, I loved both of the piano players in the category. Their voices were very nice.

And the results...I wasn't surprised to see Tim go home. Was surprised to see Andrew, but seriously, if he hones his talent like Howie says, then maybe another show, another year. It would be great to see him again. Didn't quite agree with seeing Ulysses go through, but he's decent enough. Other than that, we've got a good group going through.

[Mytical]

No real surprises on who went home, though some surprise about who stayed. Now I know your thinking.. Wait Mytical that makes no sense...Andrew went home..and you were pulling for him. That is correct, but he messed up..I hope he hones his skills and returns another year, but the fact is .. he deserved to go home. He had a shot, and he messed up.

Ok..Mytical..what surprises about who stayed? (you ask). 787 Crew..they REALLY messed up, and should have been sent packing. Now that leads up to All Beef Patty. Why? Sorry to those who like All Beef Patty, I am not a fan. *shrugs*. Well still a long way to go.

[Kheldarson]

All Beef Patty's one of those novelty acts that inevitably goes through. Decent voice, definite presence, and shock appeal. That's good showmanship.

[Jetfire]

Vegas night 2 was good. Seemed like they saved the acts that DID practice for the second night.

The mentalist was good; and he did a good trick for the audience size. He'll have a hard sell on the big stage with big crowds, but he realized that to impress the judges he had to get personal. It was a nice touch that Sharon mentioned it was a random name she'd thought up; it made the act more real as opposed to 'He knew that from searching online' or something like that.

I admit the escape artist fooled me when he 'lost' his pick at the final stage of his trick. To be able to do all that while underwater with very little air was very impressive.

I'm glad the Light Artists, the Glow Stick Dancers and the Sand Artist all made it through. I hope those 3 ( + Earth Harp) will make it to the final.

The TV Theme show singer, he's got me. Something about him and his act makes me like him a lot. He could probably do well on the lounge circuit later if he wanted to; he has a good voice for it.

I also like All Beef Patty. Not enough to want them to make it to the finals, but s/he seems to have a blast with the act and is entertaining for me.

As for 787, they messed up and messed up badly... but they recovered and finished what little remained of the act it seemed, which probably earned them a lot more credit. A lot of the other acts that messed up lost it and couldn't recover. 787 does need to make sure they keep the act VERY tight going forward from here, but I don't have too much problem with them getthing through. We'll see how next week goes though, but overall a lot of the dance acts have seemed a bit flat to me.

One thing to remember about the people who were cut; we have a Wildcard show coming up. Mostly it'll be made of acts cut at the Voting stage, but I believe the judges are allowed to bring back any act they want. Depending on what the producers want, they may work with the Goth Opera singer to bring him back (or any other act). It's not likely but it is possible.

[Kheldarson]

We also have the YouTube episode as well. So that'll be another category to watch.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Am I the only one who thinks the snake handler guy is just being cruel to the animals? I mean, I know scorpions aren't higher-order animals or anything, but holding it in your mouth? (Aside from that, ew.) And agitating a snake just seems mean. I don't get the appeal.

Lil Babywockee is adorable.