Category: america’s got talent

Snowy Minneapolis didn’t have much to offer in the first 50 minutes of America’s Got Talent Season 6 Episode 4 before concluding with The Silhouettes and The Kinect King. Now we head back to Seattle.

On a side note, I figured out what happened to David Hasselhoff. After leaving this show for his own reality show, which got cancelled after two episodes, he got kicked out of the country but was lucky that Britain’s Got Talent was in search of new judges (what with Simon Cowell spending his spring in America and Piers on CNBC).

Brian Jackson wants to break a world record (his own), blowing up hot water bottles. Piers buzzes. In a minute and a half, he blows up 0, just 3 shy of the record. The issue: he’s never tried this brand of hot water bottle.

Alaska thinks he can dance. His state would not be proud. Nonetheless, only Piers buzzes. At least the other two tell him no. That’s not enough to prevent Nick Cannon from acting like an idiot and insisting that the particularly stupid acts get more minutes of fame than they should have had in the first place.

Geechy Guy told over 676 jokes in an hour once. He’s sweating through his sweater and his jacket, but that doesn’t stop his speed joking. He talks about his modelling career, how he’s the third one over on the evolution chart. Piers doesn’t find him funny, but the audience disagrees.

Illumni Men’s Chorale is what it sounds like, except they sing Britney Spears. Soleil Rousseau works at a fire station, so naturally she’s a pole dancer. Seth Grabel is an acrobatic magician.

Amadeus is a dog that knocks pool balls into the pockets. Cute, but I’d be impressed if they went in the right order. Piers likes an act for a change, but he is outvoted.

Brandon, Dustin, and Josh are The BGP, a band that’s been together for 15 years. Sharon wants less Elton, more them, but regardless the performance works out quite well.

The Art of Teknique are hip hop dancers age 8-10. No real need for the formality of letting them perform. We already know they’re getting through because they’re cute young kids.

Marylee writes music and lyrics for dead people, which she normally sings in her head. Like Candle in the Wind? Although Piers is not dead yet, singing a song about him is a surefire way to get at least one vote, if not two.

Next we get to listen to more of Christina Aguilera’s not at all funny inappropriate and rude comments.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of America’s Got Talent Season 6 Episode 6, which airs Wednesday at 8/7 on NBC.

We saw the gun toting Rhinestone Ropers, Russian bar group Sandou Trio, and shallow water diver Darren Taylor in America’s Got Talent Season 6 Episode 3. Next we go to Minneapolis, MN. In the middle of winter. Yeah, great planning. Unlike today’s ridiculous 100 degree temperatures (I feel your pain), they were engulfed in a blizzard at that time, I assume the blizzard that shut down the whole damn country. Like a foot or two of snow is going to stop people from Minnesota. It will, however, stop people from Ireland, so no Piers. That’s an automatic no, which Piers would have given anyway, so both Sharon and Howie will both have to say yes for the acts to advance.

Sarah Hoeft has a parrot (Echo of Animal Gardens) with her, one she hopes may perform. Echo sings and does animal impressions.

The St. Luke’s Bottle Band is what it sounds like. No, really.

Lys Agnes has decided to start singing again 2 years after her fiance died in a car crash. She just quit her job to pursue this as a career. Ave Maria is a song people aren’t going to tackle unless they have skill, so either this will be very good or a big joke. In her case, it turns out to be good.

It took Piers 18 hours to get to Minneapolis from New York. He plans to take it out on Howie, who’s enjoying watching a half clothed little person perform.

Those Funny Little People are, uh, dancers dressed up as dwarves, I think. Now that Piers is back, somebody’s getting buzzed. Keeping in line with the rest of the day, they will be going to Vegas. Piers shoves them out of his way, which leads Howie to let them into his dressing room.

Miss Cherries Jubalie likes to pierce every part of her body for fun.

Walt Winston is a folk musician who has 70 hit singles that have been #1 on a small unknown website. Tonight he performs Truck Drivers Aren’t Supposed to Cry. The audience was getting into it, but eventually they come to their senses and start booing.

The Silhouettes is a group of 38 kid dancers ages 9-18. When the lights go down, the reason for their name becomes clear, as they tell a story by creating shapes with shadows. Very cool concept.

The Kinetic King is the best at what he does in the 17 known universes. His exploding stick contraption that he spent 8 hours building is surprisingly entertaining.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of America’s Got Talent Season 6 Episode 5, which airs Tuesday at 8/7 on NBC.

Seattle brought us impressionist Melissa Villasenor and acrobat troupe Zuma Zuma in America’s Got Talent Season 6 Episode 2, along with many bad acts that Howie insisted on letting through to the next round. Houston is the next stop.

The first act of the day is ready to start the auditions with a bang and a really bad pun. Like half the audience, they have brought guns and knives with them. Dan and Melody make up The Rhinestone Ropers. For starters, he throws some knives at her. He insists they’re friends. Then he shoots the balloons she’s holding. After that, it’s time to throw knives at her while she’s spinning. Still spinning, she grabs a gun and shoots some balloons.

Charles Peachock does a lighted juggling act. People like these light acts, so good call. The Purrfect Angelz is a dance group that gets through before dancing a single move.

Ignoring the fact that his gender disqualifies him, Daniel Joseph Baker wants to be a Pussycat Doll. I’m not sure how comfortable America will be with his femininity, but he’s a strong performer.

Jay Maynard is dressed in a Tron costume and believes he’s an Internet superstar. A fat guy in spandex. He was a computer geek long before computer geek was cool. It’s still not cool apparently. Sharon buzzes immediately. Howie makes him start over. Piers buzzes. Howie makes him start over again. Then Howie puts him out of his misery.

Cassie, her husband Constantine, and her brother-in-law Sergei form the group Sandou Trio Russian Bar. I take it she’s the English speaker and/or translator of the group. They grab a bar, and she does acrobatic stunts on it. That nets her a standing ovation from the judges.

Status B.L.A.K. is a really bad singing group that can’t even sing a bad Usher song well. Johnny Di Domenico may look like Howie, but he doesn’t sound like him. Asian James Brown will be wasting our time next.

Dani Shay is a 22 year old girl who has Justin Bieber’s old haircut. She turns out to be a good singer.

Tanner “Lil’ T” Edwards is a 6 year old dancer. So after Howie makes him tell his girlfriend he loves her, which she probably doesn’t hear because it’s past her bed time, he does his thing. How he dances is quite irrelevant because it’s not like the judges are going to tell him no.

Darren Taylor (Professor Splash) will be jumping 26 feet into a children’s pool with 12 inches of water in it. He’s broken his neck twice, but he hasn’t died yet. For some reason, he’s brought some girls in bikinis with him. Not sure what purpose they serve, but it doesn’t hurt. Nick asks for complete silence, so don’t buzz him like Hasselhoff did the time the guy was shoving swords down his throat. His plan is to break the world record on this show if given the opportunity.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of America’s Got Talent Season 6 Episode 4, which airs next on NBC.

America’s Got Talent Season 6 Episode 1 kicked things off in Los Angeles and Atlanta with Landon Swank, Vegas Birds, Miami All Stars, and Team iLuminate. Tonight we head to Seattle, the rainy city.

Melissa Villasenor does celebrity/singing impressions, including Miley Cyrus and/or Hannah Montana and d-lister Kathy Griffin. Sharon doesn’t think she’ll be working in retail much longer, and she’s impressed that somebody made Piers laugh.

A+C Twins are under the impression they’re local stars. They are not. Piers makes fun of their singing and weird dancing. Howie bets he’s a better singer than they are. He is.

Anita McCoy shows up on stage with a hula hoop and some batons. This 69 year old forgot to get fully clothed before coming to the show. Howie says yes, but that’s the only vote she’s going to get.

Not getting caught up on technicalities such as the show’s name, Zuma Zuma is a Kenyan acrobatic troupe. They don’t need no stinking mats.

Poplyfe is a music group aged 12-16. They perform what I assume is an original song about being a billionaire. (Sadly, having watched the first episode of this season’s Britain’s Got Talent, it seems to me that this is a real and apparently popular song.) Piers tells the frontgirl to dump the group backing her up, but she’s not willing to go without them.

Sadie is an 8 year old singer without a last name, who Piers asks whether she’s 55. The Elektrolytes are a hip hop dance group that impress the judges with their energy.

Mauricio Herrera claims to be an international superstar. In Costa Rica. Feel free to head back there, dude. He performs Livin La Vida Loca, a song you may recall being popular last century. Because Piers hates his guts, Sharon and Howie invite him to Vegas.

Carlton Baltimore has been a paper horn player for 50 years. The fact that this is a complete waste of time is lost on everybody other than Piers. In Piers’ absence (after he walks off stage), Sharon comes to her senses and votes no.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of America’s Got Talent Season 6 Episode 3, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on NBC.

It’s time for another dose of the summer’s singing contest. With a couple of variety acts mixed in for good measure. We start off the season in LA.

Frank Olivier comes on stage with a unicycle, some torches, and a need to switch to decaf. Either he’s incompetent, trying to scare Howie, or really good. Fearing for his life after fleeing from the stage, Howie buzzes. Piers and Sharon quite enjoyed seeing Howie get tortured.

Ryan Andreas sings Angel by Sarah McLachlan and plays piano. Piers is very impressed. Even more impressive is that he’s never performed for an audience before.

Music teacher John Jacobson plans to… teach music. He teaches the double dream hands dance, which somehow has 3.5 million views on Youtube. At least Nick and Howie are making the most of it, while the audience boos and Sharon and Piers buzz.

Brian Bausch falls on his horse. Stephanie Sanson is in need of an exorcist. Louie is a fart impersonator. Wow.

Since seeing his first magic show at age 7, Landon Swank has been a starving magician. Whatever happens, he’s got the women in the audience on his side. He makes a vase appear, then makes a girl disappear. He’s going to Vegas, where he lives.

The Body Poets impress with their dance routine. Brennan Figari takes his shirt off, then peforms an aerial routine. Olivia Bellafontaine is a burlesque rock dancer, if there is such a thing, who comes out with a whip.

Debbie has a parrot (Danny), which she has raised for 21 years since he hatched. He’s part of her act, Vegas Birds. Piers says that’s the most intelligent animal he’s ever seen, even smarter than Howie. She promises to come back with more parrots that do even more, like painting and reading minds.

Frank Miles will juggle 500,000 volt stun guns. Don’t try this at home. Oh, and then he steps in a container filled with water.

Udi Abagnale sings all around Los Angeles. Not well. The dancing’s so bad that he can’t even sing before the judges axe him. Nick insists that they allow him to make a fool out of himself. The judges agree. Then buzz him again.

Next we head to the south (apparently California is not in the south), Atlanta.

Miami All Stars is a group of 24 dancers. Way too many people. Howie calls that phenomenal, sexy, amazing. Sharon’s happy to see men dance like men. Piers is happy to see women dancing like women.

Scott Alexander is a magician, who makes a woman levitate on water. Preston Weber, 12, is a Samoan fire dancer. The Yellow Designs Stunt Team do some bicycle tricks when their bikes aren’t breaking.

5-7 year old rappers Young Jay, Tobias, and Little Josh (SH’Boss Boys) are guaranteed to get through on cuteness no matter what. Good thing they have the cute factor down.

Primitivo Montoya says he’s singing and dancing. Then he falls off the stage. After buzzing him, Howie would like credit for saving his life.

Forever Young Dancers, age 50-75, are wearing diapers for some unexplained reason. Metatron is, uh, rapping, I think. He falls off the stage, too, except he’s a lawyer.

Nicole & Mike (The Crossed Swords) are a swordfighting couple. After much booing, Piers still refuses to X them. Suddenly, Piers, Howie, and Nick are on stage getting into their own duel.

Team iLuminate combines a dance group with a computer programmer. Piers says that is the single most exciting audition ever.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of America’s Got Talent Season 6 Episode 2, which airs Tuesday at 8/7c on NBC.

The final four performed in America’s Got Talent Season 5 Episode 31 but didn’t appear to do much to change the frontrunner. At the end of tonight, either Prince Poppycock, Michael Grimm, Jackie Evancho, or Fighting Gravity will be crowned the winner and be rewarded with a $1 million prize and a show in Vegas.

The other performances of the night may have left something to be desired (Prince Poppycock and Donna Summer? Lionel Richie taking center stage with Fighting Gravity in the background somewhere?), but Jackie Evancho singing alongside Sarah Brightman was amazing.

Nick tells us that every one of the finalists has come in first at least once in the audience votes.

Now that an hour and a half has passed, it’s time to announce the first result. The act finishing in fourth place is Prince Poppycock.

Next, the act finishing in third place is Fighting Gravity. Not what I expected, but Michael Grimm certainly brought his A game last night. Sharon expects front row seats to their act in Vegas.

And then there were two. Based on America’s vote, the America’s Got Talent season 5 winner is Michael Grimm. What? Who? How? I certainly give him credit for his excellent performance last night, but I can’t imagine how Jackie lost.

America’s Got Talent will be back again next year for season 6.

The four finalists were revealed on America’s Got Talent Season 5 Episode 30: Michael Grimm, Prince Poppycock, Jackie Evancho, and somehow one non-singing act slipped through in Fighting Gravity. Tonight these acts will perform one last time for America’s votes. As underwhelmed as I am by a couple of these picks and just the general fact that this is not American Idol and more diversity would be nice in the finale, there’s no doubt that at least a couple of these acts belong here and will deliver showstopping performances yet again.

Prince Poppycock has a great voice underneath the theatrics. I think. Piers buzzes. Interesting to see that during the finals. He thinks he’s blown it. Lost its fun, and won’t stand out against the talented opera singing of Jackie Evancho. Howie questions whether America will still embrace his more serious performance than the fun one.

As hesitant as I was about Michael Grimm, his singing of When a Man Loves a Woman demonstrates why he’s here. Ozzy Osbourne has bet $100 that he’s going to win. That’s what Piers came to see, and unlike the previous contestant who blew it, he demonstrated he could represent America’s talent.

Jackie Evancho has been the person to beat ever since she first stepped on stage at the Youtube auditions, coming out of nowhere to turn the competition upside down. I prefer David Archuleta’s poppier version of Ave Maria to this, but Jackie delivers what we have come to expect from her, continuing to be the most mature singer in the competition, in spite of still having baby teeth. Howie imagines that’s what you’d hear right before death. Piers has never seen an act on this show or any of the others in the world with more potential.

Any other year I’d be calling this competition for Fighting Gravity, the act that screams Vegas. Jackie’s placed a tall order in front of them, though. Piers calls them brilliantly clever, and whatever happens, this will be in Vegas. However, they made one bad mistake toward the end, which puts them short of the perfection that Jackie showed. Howie says this is what makes this show so special, the variety, and it’s not just your typical singing competition.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of America’s Got Talent Season 5 Episode 32, where we will find out who the America’s Got Talent Season 5 winner is, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on NBC.

The top 10 performed in America’s Got Talent Season 5 Episode 29. Tonight four will advance to the final round, where one will be crowned the winner. There will be no judges’ choice, so fifth place isn’t going to cut it.

Michael Grasso and Prince Poppycock are up first. As talented as Poppycock is or may potentially be, I still don’t get the act. Michael Grasso, however, has come back strong and proved to be a great magician. That said, the first act going forward is Prince Poppycock.

Michael Grimm and Taylor Mathews are the next duo. I don’t have a preference between the two. Michael Grimm is advancing. So basically we’re going to have three singers (since we know Jackie Evancho will get the votes) in the finale. Lame. I’d rather see some of the non-singing acts.

Jeremy VanSchoonhoven and Christina & Ali are up next. I suspect this is the first pair of acts that’s going home. Even though Nick tries to lead us to believe otherwise, that is the case.

Jackie Evancho and Anna & Patryk are next. We already know Jackie will be in the finals. As expected, that makes three singers. Luckily, we have run out of singers, so at least it’s not a clean sweep. I assume that the final spot will go to Fighting Gravity.

The last pair to step forward is Fighting Gravity and Studio One Young Beast Society. The last act to make it into next week’s finale is Fighting Gravity.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of America’s Got Talent Season 5 Episode 31, which airs Tuesday at 9/8c on NBC.