The sideline focus on America’s Got Talent is, besides Nick Cannon’s suits of course, the relationship between the judges. This season everyone buys it a whole lot more though. Howard Stern, Heidi Klum, Mel B., and Howie Mandel’s seemingly natural camaraderie lent itself to their forced carpool to one location or another. The real laugh was in Howie Mandel arbitrarily picking a day to declare Mel B.’s birthday. Tweeting to the world and throwing a surprise party for the crew and judges, for once Howie’s humor struck a chord.
After testing his staple guns Rogue used his assistant Mel B., to shake up a bag of staplers. Relying on Mel’s women’s intuition, Rogue allowed her to select staplers at random, put them to his head and fire. After three, Rogue used one to staple a picture to a board, proving the guns actually worked. Wondering how he eluded taking a staple to the brain pushed him into the Vegas round. A young man named Quintavious sang “Listen” to great success. After balancing a couch on his bottom lip and biting apples mas he juggled them, Brian made it through. Unfortunately Maxamilliana, the bearded lady, wasn’t able to distract the judges with his/her ball gown and beard. Nothing could have made that voice sound better.
Claiming to be a comedy rap duo, seeing Emmanuel & Phillip Hudson come out in bad drag was a little startling. Still, their rapport with the judges was enough to entice before singing about Ratchet females. It had the air of Martin’s Shanaynay. Though Howard and Heidi didn’t see the appeal, Howie’s use of the Golden button ensures their existence in the competition for just a bit longer.
A young teen eating rattlesnakes and scorpions was a warm up for trick roper Loop Rawlins. Spinning his loop rope around his body, he used himself as an instrument, jumping, flipping, and turning before swapping his rope for a flaming one. The originality of his performance and the thought of what he might do with that flaming rope next time catapulted him into the next round.
Original music has always been a contentious topic on AGT. At times good singers and bands fall through the cracks when voters can’t recognize their lyrics. Beach Avenue came prepared, bolstering support by getting the audience involved in “Coming Your Way.” The band’s folksy air and fervent performance lent itself to the act, pushing the original artists to Vegas.
A nameless group wowed with their encapsulating acoustic rendition of “Pompeii” before this week’s stand-up comedian threw his hat into the ring. Joe Matarese got a standing ovation for needling old age and pointing out the pretending fathers do to make it through the day. After ending by celebrating the freedom parents feel away from their kids, it was easy to believe he could make these remarks with his two young children and wife nearby. He’s already one of my favorites so get on board people.
Sal Gonzalez lost a leg in Iraq while a member of the Marine Core but found faith in his talent during his recovery. Singing “Ain’t No Sunshine” Sal won the crowd with the first few soulful bars, and continued to grab their hearts as he accompanied himself on the acoustic guitar. The standing ovation he got before the performance was equal to the one he received after his last breathless line. Howard touched on the moral quandary created anytime someone with a powerful backstory graces the stage: hoping they’ll be good enough to excuse the fact that the heart wants them to succeed no matter what. Luckily Sal’s talent and story are neck and neck; hopefully his singing will eclipse his struggle next time.
Talking birds are animals that rarely come across the AGT stage. The Birdman introduced Tika to the crowed, who played peekaboo and sang for the audience. Weirdly enough, Tika’s laugh was a creepy as it was adorable and ushered in a host of other hopefuls. Josh Wright furiously played the piano as his fingers painted on the keys and fireworks shot out of the back. Kaska spun in a racier, a body sized hula hoop that made her float across the stage.
Dancing on stage in black suits and sunglasses, three young men moved in slow motion, coordinating an impressive body contorting routine for guys outfitted as they were. Following quickly after Kelly Glover returned after being cut off during the Vegas round of 2009’s AGT. Her performance of Whitney Houston’s “I Have Nothing” was 90 seconds of a stunning powerhouse so perfect it’s impossible to believe she was ever dropped. Hopefully she makes a better impression in the big city.
Awkward comedians really thrive on AGT and Darik Santos was no different. His interview felt like a cheat because every answer was a comedy routine. His remarks were punctuated by his exaggerated stage persona. When he left on a high note, he sang an off-key piercing note. Always hard on comedians, Heidi found it humorous but wasn’t wowed by the personality. Luckily the rest of the judges knew better.
K. Lyn Baker jumped the karaoke circuit to prance around the stage and mumble through “Bad Romance,” butchering every note in the process. So began the parade of awesome failures: the weirdly costumed, the strangely confident, and the ridiculously bad. Thank goodness their spotlight burned out quick; after a few chuckles it’s just a waste of time.
<Closing the show, 84 year old Ray Jessel performed a killer comedy song about the perfect girl with a penis. Irreverent comedy is always more appealing from the elderly and original music is always better received in limerick form. Hearing Ray rhyme about a beautiful girl with a penis bigger than his won my heart forever. Give him the whole competition now folks, because if he can sing and make you laugh, well he’s better than the best.
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