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Piers, Sharon, and the Hoff are back criss-crossing the
country in search of million-dollar talent. Recaps by
Chico Alexander, Jason Block, Don Harpwood & Gordon Pepper, GSNN
Host |
Nick Cannon |
Judges |
David Hasselhoff
Piers Morgan
Sharon Osbourne |
Announcer |
Joe Capitano |
Creator |
Simon Cowell |
EP |
Simon Cowell
Cecile Frot-Coutaz
Scott St. John
Jason Raff
Georgie Hurford-Jones |
Packager |
SYCOtv
FremantleMedia North America |
Origins |
CBS Television City, Los
Angeles |
Web |
www.nbc.com/gottalent |
Airs |
9p Tues & Wed, NBC |
Available |
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Quarterfinals Round 4
August 25
Welcome to the final week of first round AGT action.
Haterade's here to let you know who he think should see the semis -
and who should take a semi and go home.
Nick Cannon? Check. Judges? Check. 12 Acts? Check. Let's go!
Ishaara is a
Bollywood Dance group comprised of kids from Berkeley, CA. They want
to be the first Bollywooders to headline in Vegas. Can they get there?
The Good: I liked
the storyline that was built. Their act tonight - the search for love
- boy meets girl, boy loses girl, everyone comes back for a duo
embrace. It wasn't dark and brooding - it was fun to watch and the
outfits were colorful. The fact that there was minimal clothing
featured during the act also didn't hurt.
The Bad: The
lip-synching on the backing track, though very Bollywood, was cheesier
than a triple layer quesadilla.
The Verdict: Until
last week, dance groups did not have a good record getting to the next
round. Based on dancers previously performing in that similar genre of
Bollywood (Kashif, etc.) and based on their competition this evening,
they could have problems making the Top 4. If they place in 5th or 6th
though, I can easily see the judges pushing them through.
Barbara Padilla is a
cancer survivor who is trying to show her adopted daughter that you
need to try as hard as possible, and you can succeed. Can she succeed
just as well on the stage this evening?
The Good: She's
definitely got pipes. That was an amazing performance that got a
triple standing ovation from the judges. She's also one of the rare
performers who's blue dress matches the mood of what she sang.
Brilliant.
The Bad: I don't
know the song that she sung (which is 'Time to Say Goodbye', by Andrea
Bocelli). Now why is that bad? Because in any sort of singing
competition, you should sing something that the audience can connect
to. There's enough famous operatic pieces not sung to death that she
could have used and would have made a better connect point.
The Verdict: Neal E.
Boyd showed us that opera singers can win this competition. Now we
have someone who I think technically blows him away. Based on
America's voting history, I think she easily makes it to the next
round, but will America want two opera singers winners in a row?
The good news for Pam
Martin is that one dog
act has gotten into the semi-finals. The bad news is that America
didn't vote the dog in - 2 loony judges who must have been borrowing
Paula Abdul's cup put them in. They won't put in a second dog act and
Pam must deliver. Will she?
The Good: From a
technical standpoint, the dog was flawless. It's very impressive to
see those sorts of acts performed live on stage - and based on the
miscues in another act that happened 2 weeks ago, we can see how
impressive a clean performance is. The 'adopted' sign at the end was a
nice touch and a cute PSA.
The Bad: From an
entertainment standpoint, I was bored. It was only one dog who had a
lot of slow pause time between each act. And I'm not sure if the dogs
legs in the air were because he wanted to please or because he wanted
to go to the bathroom, which I wanted to do because it felt it was
breaktime.
The Verdict: Two
weeks ago, we had a lousy dog act filled with techincal erros that got
in. As good as Pam Martin and Spy the dog was, I have a feeling that
based on the talent level I've seen so far, America is not going to
give the judges the opportunity to put in a second dog act.
The African High Flyers come
to us from the beaches of Kenya. Can they cause a splash in the
competition?
The Good: They can
jump. They can build pyramids. They can jump over and do limbos under
fire. They can do some nice contortions.
The Bad: They can't
build a cohesive storyline. They also can't improve their game,
because I saw this already in their auditions. If Spy, the dog from
Pam Martin's act, came over to the pyramid, jumped to the top and
decided to release on the top pyramidder's head, at least that would
have been more creative than what we got.
The Verdict: When
you get to this level, you must raise that bar of not only difficulty,
but uniqueness, and the flyers failed at both. The Beale Street
Flippers did an act close to what we got and was sent off, stage
right, the next evening. I think the Flyers need to learn how to build
a pyramid and walk off the stage while in that position, because I
think that's what's going to happen - and that would also be more
uniquie than what we saw tonight.
Mia Boostrom tried
out last year and didn't get past Las Vegas. This year, she gets in at
the expense of Kelli Glover, who should have been in the Top 40. Can
Mia justify the judges' pick in her?
The Good: Her
rendition of 'Hallelujah' (sung by Leonard Cohen and a lot of others)
was pretty. She has a very nice voice and her dress complimented the
style of song she sang.
The Bad: However,
Piers was correct when he said that she missed a number of notes,
because despite the booing, he's right. She did miss a lot of notes,
and the level of 'Wow' difficulty was not there that was with Barbara
Padilla. And the beauty of her dress was marred by the scary dancers
who threatened once again to take out the wire connected to her piano.
What's up with the dark scary dancers?
The Verdict: Mia had
the better story. But Kelli Glover would have been the better choice
to advance in the competition due to her vocal range and the fact that
she could vocally rock out any song. But Kelli is not the reason why I
think Mia has trouble brewing. Barbara is. The fact is that Barbara
Padilla raised the bar and Mia, as sweet as she is, did not meet that
level. If the vocalists continue to impress, I think Mia's story ends
here in round 1.
The African High Flyers come
to us from the beaches of Kenya. Can they cause a splash in the
competition?
The Good: They can
jump. They can build pyramids. They can jump over and do limbos under
fire. They can do some nice contortions.
The Bad: They can't
build a cohesive storyline. They also can't improve their game,
because I saw this already in their auditions. If Spy, the dog from
Pam Martin's act, came over to the pyramid, jumped to the top and
decided to release on the top pyramid's head, at least that would have
been more creative than what we got.
The Verdict: When
you get to this level, you must raise that bar of not only difficulty,
but uniqueness, and the flyers fail at both. The Beale Street Flippers
did an act close to what we got and was sent off, stage right, the
next evening. I think the Flyers need to learn how to build a pyramid
and walk off the stage, because I think that's what's going to happen
- and that would also be more unique than what we saw tonight.
If Rickie wins the money, she wants to take her family out on
vacation. If Erik wins, he wants a Ferrari. Nice. Pretty strong
thoughts from 8 and 9 year olds. Can Erik
and Rickie's ballroom
dance of passion do the one thing that kids 10 and under haven't done
yet - make it to the next round?
The Good: For 8 and
9 year olds to be doing the moves that they accomplished is
impressive. What I also liked about the act is their attitude and
passion that they poured into the performance.
The Bad: They did
blow a noticeable spot in the dance, leaving a hole big enough to
drive a bull (or bulldozer) through. But they are 8 and 9 year olds,
so I'll give them a break here.
The Verdict: When
you're in the kid set, you have to do something that compels people to
vote for you. I don't think what they did is going to be good enough,
but they could surprise. They must land in the Top 4 though, because
based on what we've seen with the judges, they are not going to put
the kids through if they finish in 5th or 6th.
When we last saw Coney
Island Chris, he was
eating a light bulb. Piers wants him to raise his game by shocking and
horrifying. Can Chris do both by playing with fire and not getting
burnt?
The Good: He
breathed fire and put some on his fanny. He also transferred fire from
his mouth to a baton. That has to count for something, right? Ok,
maybe not, but the two babes holding the fire extinguishers were hot.
The Bad: I was
trying to focus on the babes, who were much more entertaining than
something we've seen on every Boardwalk or circus side show. And a
special boo for Sharon for asking how he got that far. He got that far
because you three put him in, you morons.
The Verdict: The
only thing horrifying was how the judges put him in and kept Kelli
Glover out. His chances of getting into the next round hath been
extinguished.
Matt and Anthony. Guitar
playing and tap dancing. Chocolate and peanut butter. Can they show
that 2 great things belong together?
The Good: It's a
nice silvery set. They did create a higher level and lower level
version, which made it fancier. It's much more pleasing to the eyes.
The Bad: All of the
nice fancy set work doesn't matter if the singing doesn't work. The
song was not challenging or creative enough to do anything with. I
agree with Piers that the singer is not strong enough vocally, but the
problem more lies in the song. Not only was it not challenging, but
there's no synergy or connection between that and the dancing. The
choreography must justify the reason why you chose that song instead
of any other song, and the dancing didn't do that.
The Verdict: Here's
the problem. The combination, which previously worked, didn't this
week due to the wrong choice of song and the excessiveness of the set.
You had way too much style over substance. If your singer just sat
there with a high power song that he could play with his guitar and
let the dancer do the work, it would be a much better act. They will
probably learn that the hard way tomorrow.
We get to our first 'Second Chance' act of the evening. They are they
burlesque act The
Lollipop Girls. They strip tease to the dulcet tones of 'Hey Big
Spender'. Can they get America to spend their votes?
The Good: From a
technical standpoint, they were surprisingly good and clean. The
variety of what they did worked. And who doesn't like to see 10 women
parading around in their negligees?
The Bad: It was
clean, but not sexy enough. Michelle L'Amour set the bar of what you
needed to do to make it 'sexy' and 'excessive', and I don't think the
ladies hit that excessiveness for their act. One of the problems could
be that the camera's angles was mostly stage shots and almost no
close-ups of the ladies or their assets. Boooo, camera people.
The Verdict: It's a
fun kitschy act but I don't think they get the votes to make it to the
Top 4. However, this is one of those silly 'Made for Vegas' acts that
the judges will push through should they be fortunate enough to make
the top half of the standings. Should America put them there, they
could be a dark horse to surprise.
The other 'Second Chance' act this evening is Drew Stevyns. He's
singing about 'How to Save a Life', but from a competition standpoint,
can he save his own?
The Good: This is
the first 'Contemporary' performance that we have gotten today. A
stripped down guitar-style song was the right way to go for this
performance. Substance clearly triumphed over style.
The Bad: VERY shaky
at the beginning of the song. And the weak vocals of the background
Karaoke singers tempted me to get the rubber plugs to save the life of
my eardrums.
The Verdict: This is
the first 'Contemporary' act that we've seen this evening. The
audience, although skewing old, likes to vote for contemporary. Hence,
I think Simon Cowell finally gets one of his wild card acts into the
next round.
Now I'm a drummer (I won a bunch of regional and state awards in high
school), so I'm already a fan of Recycled
Percussion, who could
be the next Stomp or Blue Man Group. However, they absolutely must
take their act to the nth level. Can they?
The Good: They
definitely ramped the level upwards. Performing to 'Ballroom Blitz',
we had 2 levels of percussion, power sanders on oil drums, drills on
electric guitars, and an electronic backbeat to it. Complete with the
fire, a 45 degree tilting stage, and the nice new duds, it was very
impressive, and rightfully earned a standing ovation from the judges.
The Bad: David
Hasselhoff wants to break things. In that case, can I suggest the
Karaoke equipment that contained the backup tape of the lead vocalist,
who was weak? That power sander in the corner should do the trick
nicely.
The Verdict: What I
liked about this act was that it went from just people banging on
things to an actual rock band-style song. Like Stevyns, that sort of
act will get the people that like that genre to call in, and I think
there's more than enough of those to advance the act to the next
round. Very high energy. Very nicely done.
We end the 2 hour performance show with The
EriAm Sisters. They are looking to go all out with dancers and
bikes, but the most important thing is the singing that they are
bringing with Beyonce's 'Crazy in Love'. Can they sing their way to
the next round?
The Good: I was
wondering how they would pull it off, but they do. This is the first
time that the background dancing actually ADDS to the act, as they use
the guys to aid their choreography.
The Bad: That was
the last 70% of the performance. The first 30% was incredibly pitchy,
though I attribute it to nerves. Piers is right though - less dancing,
more singing.
The Verdict: I liked
this act, but I want them to bring something different to the party
next week so they can display their true vocal ability. If the
explosion of the audience after the act is any show of agreement, then
they make the next round easily.
Overall: This was a pretty good week. You had a lot of very
good acts. However, there is a clear line between Good and Great, and
the 5 that get in will be 5 of the 6 'Great' acts.
Haterade's Picks:
Barbara Padilla
Drew Stevyns
Recycled Percussion
EriAm Sisters
Wild Card: Lollipop Girls Vs. Ishaara: Ishaara get in.
We'll see what happens tonight when our semi-finalist card is filled.
CLICK
HERE
TO CONTINUE
To see tonight's episode in its entirety,
or to apply to be a contestant on the next season, go to
www.nbc.com/gottalent.
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