I will be live-blogging the first night of “Judgement Week” on America’s Got Talent. This is a new round this year, so I don’t really know what is going to happen beyond the obvious “more cuts.” The show starts at 9 EST, please join me in the comments!
Here we go! The acts are all coming to NYC to perform for a spot in the live shows. We see some of them packing up and leaving their hometowns.
But hold on-some acts made it straight through! Blue Journey, David and Leeman, Hart Dance Team, Dom The Bom’s Triple Threat, Jonatan Riquelme, Dan Naturman, Acte II, and Emil and Dariel.
Everyone who wasn’t shown has to fight for their place in categories. First category is Magic.
Mike Super is the first act featured, he was the person who talked to Desmond (his spirit energy/imaginary friend). Howie is brought on stage. The trick involves a zodiac calendar revolving around 23 (the number Nick Cannon thought of) as well as a name Howie thought of (Steve). These things both appear on two chalkboards after Howie rolls chalk between them. The illusion is certainly cool, but a little weird, being framed the way it was framed. I don’t get why the imaginary friend is a necessary part of the trick.
Psycho Jack is doing a trick which involves slicing someone, but he screws up the trick, and he’s probably a goner. But the judges call him back to talk to him. After the commercial break, we will see what happens to him. And as expected, he’s gone.
Franklin Saint does tricks with a water bottle and a soda can. It was cool but as my dad put it, “boring.”
Mat Franco is next. He’s the one who told a story with his cards. He makes a picture out of other cards which shows Howie holding a card that Mel B chose. The judges wonder if his tricks could work at Radio City with a huge audience. That is the one question, but I’d give him a shot.
Next category is dance. Sean and Luke, the two tap dancing kids, are up first. They are good but nothing special. Heidi and Mel B liked them. Howard agreed with me.
Solto Esengulov is a dancer who does weird things with his body, and it’s really creepy.
Dragon House “The Agents” are next, they remind me of Diversity from BGT but there are only three of them. And they are pretty great.
John and Andrew are the two male salsa dancers. They are just as great as first time. The judges call them back after their performance to put them through immediately.
Next category is kid singers. I could go on and on about my hatred for this category in general and how kids this young shouldn’t be competing but you all already know what I think.
Quintavious Johnson is first, and he is the only boy in his category. He wants to win to help his mom out. He is singing Who’s Loving You and he is damn impressive. And I like him as a person too.
Grace Ann Gregorio is a 11 year old opera singer. Her mom makes her do two hours of vocal warm ups, and that is the problem with this category. I mean, she’s great. But I liked Quintavious better, as did Mel B.
Mara Justine is singing I Have Nothing. And something is a little off. I like her personality but she isn’t as good a singer as the others. Song choice didn’t help. But the judges put her through anyway. I can’t be mad because I do like her.
Julia Goodwin is a 15 year old singer. She loves her dad, thanks him for jamming with her. She sings Feeling Good and is frankly quite underwhelming. Again, might be song choice but that just wasn’t good enough. Falsetto at the end was super weak.
Next category is comedians.
Darik Santos is first. He was the awkward comedian. He wasn’t as good as last time in my opinion and my dad was utterly confused.
Wendy Liebman tells jokes about her husband, not knowing what to wear, etc. I liked her a lot.
Joe Matarese has been a comedian for 25 years, feels like a stay at home dad. He was not very good. I’m disappointed, he was better last time. Granted, it is obviously really hard to tell jokes to just four people, but the problem was, as Howie said, that there weren’t any jokes. We go to commercial on a cliffhanger about Joe’s fate.
Solo variety acts are next.
Juan Carlos is next, he was the flamboyant dancer on rollerskates. He shaved his moustache. He made his entire outfit. Howard hates it. I don’t know why he made it so far other than to annoy Howard.
John Narum is a yo yo-er. He is great. But I don’t see what else he could do to make the act better.
Loop Rowlins is the rope slinger/cowboy. He was very impressive but it wasn’t much different from last time.
Strongmen JD Anderson and Mighty Atom Jr. are pitted against each other in the montage. Mighty Atom Jr pulled a car with his teeth last time. He did the same thing this time but with a bigger car. JD Anderson runs into blocks of ice and smashes them with his head. He started bleeding a little bit afterward. Howie commented “I don’t let my kids ride a bike without a helmet!” which sums it up. Both acts were rather pointless in my opinion, but JD Anderson at least put on a better show.
Next category is female singers.
Emily West is first up. She is a country singer who was previously signed to a label then dropped. She is singing “You Got It”. She’s good. Her tone is a little annoying to me, but I’m not a country fan, so I’m not a good judge.
Carly Jo Jackson plays for zero-15 people in coffee shops. How did she make it so far? She’s not very good. Very pitchy her intonation was off.
Anna Clendening is the singer who suffers from severe anxiety. We go to commercial as she is in the middle of an anxiety attack. I’m not a fan of them milking her personal life for ratings. But let’s see her after the break. She is singing Radioactive, and she’s better than last time. She changes it up, I liked her a lot.
Kelli Glover is next. She was a finalist on season 1 of Idol, and also on AGT in 2009. She sings Warrior by Demi Lovato. And she is just as great as last time. I love her. She’s officially my favorite singer this season.
And we don’t know anyone else’s fate for now. See you all tomorrow at 8 PM EST!
