Category: america’s got talent

The first three acts advanced to the finals in America’s Got Talent Season 7 Episode 27, and America didn’t do too bad a job for a change.

Tonight the remaining 12 acts perform: All Wheel Sports, Shanice & Maurice, All That, Sebastien “El Charro de Oro”, The Magic of Puck, Jacob Williams, David Garibaldi & His CMYK’s, The Untouchables, Clint Carvalho, Tim Hockenberry, Olate Dogs, and Lightwire Theater.

I don’t know why All That was saved for the 12th time. Clogging with flaming shoes is a nice twist, though.

Sebastien “El Charro de Oro” forgoes the bad attempt to mix mariachi with Sinatra and instead returns to singing in Spanish. He may not have the best voice, but his stage presence is impressive for a 10 year old.

Puck makes a woman float and disappear. Better but probably not good enough.

Clint Carvalho brings his parrot back to do a bunch of different tricks. I found that a nice contrast with last time, which just annoyed me. Like me, Howard cannot stand when he says “Here, kitty, kitty, kitty” over again, but at least this time it was kept to a minimum. Howie feels like he just watched an amusement park show.

Jacob Williams is the most awkward comedian ever, but that’s part of the reason why he’s funny. Though this was funny, it wasn’t as good as we’ve seen. Howard sensed nervousness and felt the material hurt him.

Shanice & Maurice Hayes sing Anytime You Need a Friend. Nick quite likes the song choice. The judges think they missed the boat because the daughter has the better voice.

All Wheel Sports is a skating, biking, blading, dancing, jumping act. I’m still not sure where I’m supposed to be looking. Howard’s confused, and more importantly, missing an oh wow moment. The guy falling off the bike was the most exciting part.

It’s been a couple months since we last saw Tim Hockenberry, Howard’s favorite singer, who sounds like Joe Cocker. Imagine was not a song I expected him to sing, but it works, despite its subtlety. Howard gives him a standing ovation, but Howie doesn’t think it’s original enough compared to the rest of the talent.

The Untouchables hope to make it further than the Miami All Stars, who were eliminated in the semifinals. I wasn’t expecting the group quick change to go along with their tango. And little kids crying, good luck to the rest of the acts.

Olate Dogs are clearly the more talented of the pet acts, complete with backflips and a scooter. Sharon begs for people to vote. If Simon Cowell were here, they’d be the winners.

Lightwire Theater is similar to the acts that should have won last year but didn’t because they weren’t singers. I haven’t seen dinosaurs with swords before.

David Garibaldi & His CMYK’s is the final act of the night. Like All Wheel Sports, there’s a lot of noise on the stage, but the end result of the art they create is very good. Howard warns David there is a danger in keeping us waiting so long.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of America’s Got Talent Season 7 Episode 29, which airs Thursday at 9/8c on NBC.

The first group of semifinalists performed in America’s Got Talent Season 7 Episode 26. Tonight three acts will advance to the finals.

Turf, Joe Castillo, and the Scott Brothers are up first. All three acts received the accusation from Howard that they were too similar to their previous performances. The clear winner of this lot is Joe Castillo, though, and he is the first of tonight’s top four acts.

Andrew de Leon, William Close, and Academy of Villains is the next trio. The judges may have given William the boost he needed, but Academy of Villains is the most talented dance act of the series. William Close is the next of the top four acts.

Donovan & Rebecca, Todd Oliver, and Edon are the next group. I potentially like Todd Oliver the most, but was not as impressed by him last night as the wild card act. Still, he advances to the top four. Howie’s happy that variety seems to be rising, unlike most seasons when some lame singer wins.

Eric Dittelman, Bria Kelly, and Tom Cotter are the final group. I was expecting both Dittelman and Tom to make the finals, but I suspect America connected more to Tom’s humor than the mysterious mind reading. Tom Cotter is the last of tonight’s top four acts.

William Close is the first act to advance to the finals. Tom Cotter also advances. The judges will now choose between the other two. Howard votes for Todd Oliver. Sharon votes for Joe. Howie breaks the tie by voting for Joe Castillo.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of America’s Got Talent Season 7 Episode 28, which airs Tuesday at 8/7c on NBC.

The quarterfinals concluded in America’s Got Talent Season 7 Episode 25 with a series of bad decisions by America. Tonight the first 12 semifinal acts perform: Turf, The Scott Brothers, Edon, Eric Dittelman, Bria Kelly, Todd Oliver, Tom Cotter, Joe Castillo, Academy of Villains, Andrew de Leon, Donovan & Rebecca, and William Close.

I found Andrew de Leon underwhelming last time, though he initially seemed to be the one to beat. Ave Maria is a much more appropriate song choice than whatever pop song he tried to make opera last time. Howie’s worried about his lack of formal training, and Howard shares that concern. Sharon suggests he change his goth appearance.

Todd Oliver and Irving the talking dog have proven to be hit or miss, though the act was brilliant last time. Their routine for the evening is a talk show. Good. I suspect Tom Cotter will be better.

Donovan & Rebecca are a dancer and singer turned acrobats. As per Howard’s request, they want to showcase her strength and ability to lift her large husband, while at the same time being sexy and graceful and wearing high heels and leather. Howard may be impressed by their live performance, but he thinks they’ll get lost on TV.

Edon sings What Makes You Beautiful by One Direction. I don’t quite get the crowd’s reaction, but Howie calls him the best singer in the competition. Howard, however, was a little bit bored.

I’m not sure how the Scott Brothers got this far, and tonight did not change my opinion. Twist & Pulse they are not. The judges don’t think that was sufficient either.

Eric Dittelman is going to read Howard’s mind as he colors. Impressive and mysterious as always.

Dancer/contortionist Turf talks about how he’s adding more dancing to his act. I’ll take his word for it. Howie really wants him to go all the way, but Howard has seen it all before.

Bria Kelly says she’s a country singer, though I don’t recall her having performed a song from that genre, continuing that with Pink’s Perfect. Sharon didn’t feel the emotion. Howie thinks her luck of being in the very lame Youtube show with no competition has now run out. Howard is a somewhat tepid supporter, but he says she’s the best singer of the night.

Sand taught Joe Castillo to see in a new way. Howard returns to his criticism that he’s seen this all before, but this time I disagree. This art and corresponding stories is original and well worth watching. It’s also a nice change of pace from the typical division that faces the country more now than in a long time.

William Close returns with his new baby, wife, and four new instruments. As awesome as I thought this was at first, I’m not so sure any more, particularly as the stage gets more busy. But the judges watching it live again all give him a standing ovation, calling him their favorite. Howie hopes people can sense what’s going on through the TV, but as great as this probably is in person, that’s ultimately the flaw in a show like this.

Tom Cotter is the second comedian of the night. He asks a judge to pick a random subject from the list he provides. Howie’s not sure he’s serious, but he’d like to hear about college. The impressive part is that he seems to have prepared eight separate bits, each of which I assume is just as funny as this was.

Academy of Villains close out the night. They lost a dancer during rehearsal due to a broken kneecap. Despite being a large group of 30, they have put together perhaps the best choreographed dance crew of this show. Howard, though, finishes by raining on the parade, saying it was too similar to last time.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of America’s Got Talent Season 7 Episode 27, which airs Wednesday at 9/8c on NBC.

The final group of quarterfinal acts performed in America’s Got Talent Season 7 Episode 24. Tonight four more will advance.

The first three acts are Sebastien “El Charro de Oro”, Bandbaz Brothers, and Ben Blaque. For some reason, America has passed on Ben. After last night, really? Sebastien will be advancing instead. Oh here we go again. Let’s watch the variety acts fall while we push the moderately talented singers to the top.

Horse, Jake Wesley Rogers, and Andrew de Leon are the next trio. Left to choose between these three, I assume Andrew is advancing, but then again I assumed that about Ben as well. Since Andrew’s a singer, I’m correct this time.

Howard interjects to say that America has made some mistakes tonight. I noticed.

Todd Oliver, Cristin Sandu, and Spencer Horsman are next. As impressive as Spencer is, Todd and Irving are too funny to pass up.

The final trio of the night is Lindsey Norton, All That, and Jarrett & Raja. Jarrett & Raja have been eliminated. Oh c’mon, America. Howard’s not happy that he’s stuck choosing between these two acts, especially considering some of the acts that have been eliminated so far. All That says they have been here before. Yeah, 6 years ago, since this show is running out of talent apparently. Howard votes for All That. Howie votes for Lindsey. Choosing between her two acts, Sharon breaks the tie by voting for All That.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of America’s Got Talent Season 7 Episode 26, which airs Tuesday at 8/7c on NBC.

Last week sucked, but that didn’t prevent 4 acts from advancing to the next round in America’s Got Talent Season 7 Episode 23 anyway. Tonight’s wild card represents the last chance for acts to move to the semifinals. Hopefully it is more entertaining. Each judge has chosen four acts to return. Sharon’s picks: All That, Jake Wesley Rogers, Bandbaz Brothers, and Lindsey Norton. Howard’s picks: Horse, Ben Blaque, Todd Oliver, and Spencer Horsman. Howie’s picks: Sebastien “El Charro de Oro”, Jarrett & Raja, Cristin Sandu, and Andrew de Leon.

In an effort to catch up to Sharon and Howard, which will never happen, Howie wants everybody to know that he’s on Twitter and surfing the web while he’s supposed to be judging.

Spencer Horsman is the world’s youngest escape artist, a worthy talent who just happened to have a bad night with an overly critical judging panel. He’s padlocked and lowered into a tank that is being filled with wet cement. This time he gets a standing ovation. Howie says this trick worked a lot better for Spencer than it did for Jimmy Hoffa.

All That is a clogging group. My problem with them is simple. They were in the finals of season 1, also as a wild card act. Although there may be three different judges now and a new host, surely somebody on the crew remembers and has the ability to prevent recycling acts that are no better than they were last time. Howie and Howard don’t think the audience is going to respond to that performance anyway.

Jarrett & Raja were booed off the stage last time, so of course Howie wants to see them again. Raja and his piano disappear from a box, only to reappear in the crowd. I still don’t get this weird combination of magic and playing music, but the illusion is good this time.

Jake Wesley Rogers bombed with a really bad Britney Spears song. I guess Edge of Glory by Lady GaGa is an improvement, but it’s still his swan song.

Cristin Sandu has an awesome balance act, but his fall eliminated him from contention. He’s returned with his father, who believes his last performance was too dangerous. He lasts longer this time, but he falls again. The most impressive part of that is again he escapes without a scratch.

Todd Oliver has a potentially funny dog ventriloquist act. Irving is running for president, something very easy to make fun of that everybody can laugh about.

Bandbaz Brothers were cut in Vegas. One of them balances the other on a pipe in his mouth, a trick that their grandfather’s cousin died doing. I’m not sure where you take this from here, but this brief act is still impressive.

Sebastien “El Charro de Oro” mixes mariachi with Frank Sinatra. I don’t get the combination, but this kid’s got potential.

Howard told us his objective for the night was to pick people that viewers won’t fast forward. With Horse, the guy who repeatedly gets hit in the nuts, that mission has failed. Time to pause and get back to The Glass House finale, which was preempted by a preseason football game, a testament to the show’s ratings or lack thereof. I’d even rather watch another of Erica’s humiliating meltdowns.

Lindsey Norton is the perkiest dancer this show’s seen, and she mixes a bit of contortion in for good measure. Good dancer, but it’s not clear whether it will be enough.

Andrew de Leon was the early frontrunner who blew it in Vegas. I remember liking him before, but that performance won’t stick with me.

The final act of the night is Ben Blaque. This time he turns the arrows on himself, shooting an apple off his own head while blindfolded with the sound of bells as his guide. Surely this time that was good enough for you, America.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of America’s Got Talent Season 7 Episode 25, which airs Wednesday at 9/8c on NBC.

A bunch of terrible acts took the stage in America’s Got Talent Season 7 Episode 22. That won’t stop 4 of them from making it to the next round, while much better acts were cut prior to the Olympics.

Cast in Bronze, Reverse Order, and Academy of Villains are first. The dance act is clearly advancing, though I think Reverse Order has the most potential with the right song.

7 in Unison, Bria Kelly, and Rudy Cody are next. It obviously won’t be Rudy, but I’m going to go with Bria between the other two. She is the one to advance.

The Magic of Puck, Eric Buss, and Melinda Hill are the third trio. I get the sense Melinda’s actually funny, but too bad she did not show it last night. Combine that with Eric’s weird act, and you get the result that Puck moves to the next round.

Clint Carvalho, Drew Erwin, and Romeo Dance Cheetah are the last group. No chance of the lame air guitarist advancing. Howard votes for Clint. Sharon does, too. My ears are not looking forward to it.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of America’s Got Talent Season 7 Episode 24, which airs Tuesday at 8/7c on NBC.

The last group of acts advanced prior to the Olympics in America’s Got Talent Season 7 Episode 21. Tonight it’s the Youtube acts that were too cheap to buy a plane ticket to one of the earlier auditions.

Clint Carvalho has brought one his extreme parrots with him. His act is annoying bird calls that make me want to tell him to shut the hell up, but his bird does make its way across the way from another building to him.

Reverse Order is otherwise invisible on Youtube except for the one song they have with about 600,000 views, Sing for Me Baby, which sounds a lot better than this Katy Perry cover. Howard thinks they suffer from not having been together for long enough. Howie thinks they’re young guys acting like a rock band. Sharon’s not sure whether they are rock or pop, but they insist rock. I would have guessed pop.

Ruby Cody is a magician whose goal is not to do magic tricks but rather to bring a nightmare to life. 80s music and puppets. This is just weird. Two of the three judges buzz. Good trick at the end, but it just took too long to get there.

7 in Unison is a group of girl dancers, and their routine for tonight is jazz. Young girls dancing to Fever. This won’t end well. Howie buzzes because he’s bored.

Drew Erwin taught himself how to play guitar by watching videos online. His dad submitted the video without him knowing, and he ended up being America’s pick. His performance of Natalie Imbruglia’s Torn, which I haven’t heard since around the time he was born, gets the judges to tell him nice effort but not quite yet.

Melinda Hill used to be extremely shy but realized through comedy that she could break out of her shell. Starts off funny, but not nearly as good as the two comedians who were in the earlier rounds. Howie tells us to go to Youtube and see that she was funnier in the audition, but I can’t find it. This is pretty pitiful, NBC.

Eric Buss is a goofball who can’t really describe what he does. I don’t get the point of what I just watched or why Howie did not buzz him like the other two did.

Romeo Dance Cheetah is an air guitarist. Oh god. The boys buzz, but Sharon loves barking mad. Howard wants to know why we’re wasting time with a Youtube night.

Puck has been a magician for about 40 years. Which brings us to… a dancing handkerchief. Howard’s seen this before, but he thinks he’s got a chance since none of the acts have been very good tonight.

Bria Kelly has a powerful voice, if sometimes too shouty. The judges all have mostly positive comments, a change of pace.

Cast in Bronze plays a carillon, a 4 ton church bell keyboard, while wearing a stupid mask/costume. This might be something fun to have at Christmas time, but that’s about as far as I’ll go. All three judges buzz.

Maybe the last act of the night will be good. That would be different. Academy of Villains is a theater hip hop dance crew. Anybody who messes up is going to have to do push ups until they vomit, and they had better continue dancing even if they have broken bones. The chick running this thing is a bit scary. But it seems to have produced results. The judges feel as if this act redeems the decision to have a Youtube night. I’m not so sure about that, but they were pretty good.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of America’s Got Talent Season 7 Episode 23, which airs Wednesday at 9/8c on NBC.

When the judges said that there was a lot of talent in store in America’s Got Talent Season 7 Episode 20, the natural response was to mock them, especially after the joke that was last week’s show. However, it turned out to be true, and the result was a bunch of acts that deseve to advance to the next round.

Ulysses, Olate Dogs, and David “The Bullet” Smith are first. It was obvious Ulysses had no chance from the start. Either of the other two could make it, but Olate just has the more viable Vegas show and all the animal lovers supporting them. They are the first act to advance.

William Close, Unity in Motion, and Sebastien “El Charro de Oro” are the second group. I was expecting both of the first two acts to make it, which they probably would have any other week. Instead, only William Close advances.

Joe Castillo, Eric & Olivia, and Horse are the third trio. It’s clear that Joe is the one to advance here.

The final set of acts is Lindsey Norton, Eric Dittelman, and All That!. Less than 1% separates each of these three acts in the voting. Lindsey is out. That leaves Eric as the obvious choice. Howie votes for Dittelman. Sharon votes for All That. Howard breaks the tie with a vote for Dittelman.

We’re not done yet. Sharon picks All That as her wild card act, so they’re coming back anyway.

With the Olympics being on for the next couple of weeks, America’s Got Talent will be on hiatus until August 14, returning with the Youtube show.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of America’s Got Talent Season 7 Episode 22, which airs Tuesday at 8/7c on NBC.