It's Chris in KS back again to recap the next 12 contestants in our journey to find America's most talented act of this season. Piers tells us before the acts start that this is every acts last chance, perform or go home.
Tonight's first act is Cheer SF. They tell us in their introduction that they are a group of ordinary people who range in age from 18 to 52. They start off with a group of synchronized lifts, followed up with some more synchronized lifts -- and promptly get an X from Piers, followed up with one from Sharon. Frankly I'm not very impressed, and not really sure how a group like this got a free ride from their audition to this point. They finished off with a few fireworks and some streamers popping out, and as Piers said, it was about the most exciting part of their performance. I truly don't understand what prompted the judges to put them through to this round without having to fight for a spot in the Las Vegas portion of this show?
The second act of the evening is Alice Tan Ridley. As you all should know by now, she is Gabourey Sidibe's mom. She is singing "Midnight Train to Georgia." She sounds very good as she has in the previous rounds, and receives a standing ovation from the audience and the judges. Sharon sings her praises and says she is so good for this competition. Howie says that she definitely deserves to be on this stage and is glad she is here. Piers was also impressed by her and said that she has everything that they're looking for.
Mona Sampath Dance Company is our third act this evening. They tell us that they are inspired by more than just Bollywood, and infuse a lot of western styles of dance into their act. This is another act that was moved directly on to this round of the competition. The wife and I are very impressed by their synchronization and the way that they incorporated some newer music into their performance. When their performance ended, the wife said "two thumbs up!" Howie didn't seem to think there was a "wow" moment like there was in their audition. Piers said that this performance was miles better than their audition, and thought that Howie is way off in his assessment. Sharon was also thoroughly impressed, and is convinced they will be back.
The next act is Ironhorse (and the wife and I are wracking our brain trying to remember who they are, and then remember that they are the band that has a cello player for a bass). They are yet another group that made it directly through. They start singing "Another American Saturday Night" and it seems pretty boring to start off with, so much so that Piers X's them. Midway through their performance the bass player comes to center stage while the drum player comes up and plays the drums on the front of the cello, and the guitar player balances himself on the bass and the drum players back. It was a very complicated maneuver that should have been left to Cheer SF. The judges all were in agreement that it was a performance that is fitting for a "bar band" but didn't really work in a 90-second segment.
Next up is The Strong Man, the registered nurse named John Beatty. The Strong Man comes out on stage and tells us he is here to fix LA's Parking Problems. First he starts off by picking up a full-sized dirt bike and sets it on a table. Piers isn't very impressed and X's him. He then proceeds to show how he can move a car into a parallel parking position by lifting the car and moving it into place, and then in an emergency situation he can lift the car up and flip it over. Frankly I agree with Piers that this performance wasn't all that exciting. His performance in the Vegas round was way more entertaining.
I don't know that I remember ever seeing so many X's this quickly in a show this late in the season.
Ronith is our next act. If you'll remember, Ronith is the really bad Indian impressionist/comic/actor. He starts off by doing comic impressions. He does impressions of John Wayne (which gets an X from Piers); Jim Carrey doing the Cable Guy; Arnold Schwarzenegger (which gets an X from Sharon); Charlton Heston doing Ben Hur (which gets a standing ovation from Howie); and Sylvester Stallone doing Rambo. Howie thinks his act is great as a good comedian doing really bad impressions, however myself, the wife, and the other two judges sorely disagree with Howie.
Next up on stage is Hannibal Means. During the introduction we see all of the animal hats that he has hand crocheted himself (no, I'm not making that up.) Hannibal comes out on stage singing "The Circle of Life" from The Lion King. He has numerous dancers on stage that are all wearing his hand crocheted animal hats. When the performance is complete, Nick Cannon comes out on stage wearing an original Hannibal Sea Horse hat on his head. Piers says that Hannibal is a "brilliant singer," Sharon says that he has a very rich voice, and Howie says to all the kids out there, "don't take drugs, just watch AGT."
Our eighth act of the evening is Wreckless. Their introduction reminds us how far they have come from the streets of Ft. Lauderdale. They come out on stage all dressed like they are all in a funky looking circus. It was somewhat entertaining, but I don't think they were as good as Mona Sampath Dance Company. Sharon liked their performance, however Howie wasn't as impressed, but Piers agreed with Sharon that he thought they put on a good show.
Up next is Lil' Chris. Chris tells us in his intro that this will be the first time he has sung and danced at the same time on stage. He comes out singing "Closer" by Ne-Yo (and yes I had to Google the lyrics to find out the song). I honestly didn't see a lot of dancing from Chris, and I personally felt that the two teen girls he had out on stage with him were a little unnecessary. Howie said he could tell that it was difficult for Chris to sing and dance at the same time, Piers and Sharon agreed with Howie and wonder if he might be too young for this competition.
Ascendance is next up on stage. During the intro we find out that they have added two new performers to their act. The wall they are using now is at least twice as big as the ones they have previously used. They perform to "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol (however we're not totally convinced it was the Snow Patrol version of the song). I thought their act was really neat before, and I can tell the wife likes them as she is mesmerized and can't stop staring at the screen while they perform. Piers is convinced that this is a viable act that could very easily work in Vegas, Sharon says it's very moving to watch, and Howie says that we are all grateful to witness such a great act. I think this act could go very far ...
Next up is the fire-loving Antonio Restivo. We start off with a throne that is empty with three women standing around it. They take about 30 seconds to turn the throne around, and then turn it around again and have Antonio sitting on the throne (insert bad joke here). The rest of the act is filled with different girls and Antonio appearing/disappearing from a box and a fog-filled booth, and the obligatory flame-throwing torch that Antonio carries around. Sharon was impressed with how the act kept moving and there was no down time (seriously, that's all you could say that was good or bad with it??). Howie said that the act is geared towards a Vegas show. And Piers says that this is Antonio's best performance to date. Maybe there's something wrong with me, but I just don't see the appeal of this act ...
Tonight's last act is Michael Grimm. The intro focuses a lot on his "downtrodden" background. He comes on stage singing Al Green's "So Tired of Being Lonely". He has a background band and singers that I felt were a little too much. Howie tells Michael that in this competition he is his favorite singer. Piers says he is a very good singer, but he needs to interact more with the audience. Sharon says that she can hear his painful life experiences coming out, and that his soulful voice is genuine.
Tonight was a very diverse episode with some definite contenders for this season's eventual winner. It was marred by a lot of X's from the judges, but I felt most of them were deserved. The wife and I both feel that this week's episode was way better than last week's. What did you think? See you tomorrow for the selection show!