I have decided to start blogging about the newest reality show I am hooked to - America's Got Talent. It's not quite as good of a show as American Idol, but it's still highly entertaining. Yes, there are some singing acts in this thing - but you add more variety acts and it throws everything wide open. As we saw last year, it's not always a singer that wins. So I have decided to start doing recaps of the live shows - which began last night. We saw the first ten acts perform out of a total of 40 acts. We will get through another ten tonight and we will see the remaining 20 next week (don't quote me on that, though). I promise that these recaps will be much shorter than the ones I do for American Idol. I just don't feel like going full-bore with the recaps of this show - at least not at this point. That may change as we move closer towards the finale. So here is what happened last night during America's Got Talent:
Extreme Dance FX (dancers) - They were the first group to perform live and they are made up of about nine people, ages 14 to 26 (in that range, anyways). I must say, I was very impressed with their dancing. They were basically on clogs and were dancing to the music very fast. Their choreography was spot on and they proved to be very entertaining to watch. They were very cool, edgy, and danced with some pretty hip moves. It's pretty clear they put a lot of time and effort into this routine and it paid off. I don't see them being kicked off anytime soon.
The James Gang (music group) - This is kind of a difficult group to describe because they are so unique and different. The James Gang is comprised of four African American males singing songs from the 1930's and '40's and making it look cool and hip doing so by incorporating fun skits and dance moves into the routine. They really help to showcase these sorts of songs to a new generation of people - which makes this group so endearing. I have to agree with the judges on their assessment of the group. They started out great but maybe added too many things into their routine and it made it look like they were trying too hard. They started doing a few magic tricks that went awry and it didn't make them look very good. Still, they were very good and should stick around for awhile.
Derrick Berry (as Britney Spears) - So here we have a Britney Spears impersonator and at first glance, you'd probably think this individual was a woman. Well, think again! Oh yes, a trans sexual trying to act like Britney Spears. The first time I saw him do his act I was very impressed. The second time I thought it was just ok. And now it's just getting plain old for me. I mean, pretty soon the guy is going to run out of popular Britney songs to sing. I just don't think he'll end up winning the whole thing based on his talents performed during the show. He's probably received enough exposure now to vault his popularity enough to start showing up at parties and events. But to perform a one-man (woman) show in Las Vegas? I just don't see it happening.
Elite (under 18) - This is one of the acts that bored me so far except for last night. The act is basically comprised of a 10-year old girl doing martial arts moves against her dad. I mean sure, it's probably a novelty to see someone of her young age performing martial arts but I never considered it to be winning-show material. That was until I saw the live performance last night. The entire scene was one depicted from a classic pirate ship story. The girl, along with her dad and a few others were dressed as if ready to appear in a Pirates of the Caribbean movie. And it was basically one against the rest as the young ten-year old girl kicked major butt. Do I think she has a chance to win the top prize? Maybe only slightly. But she definitely proved she deserved to be in this competition as long as she keeps it up.
Ronny B (novelty) - This is one act in which I can't comprehend why he's even in the top 40. He's probably slightly better than William Hung from American Idol, but only slightly. Yes, I agree with the judges in that he's kind of endearing and entertaining to watch. He really made a masterful effort in singing Ricky Martin's "She Bangs." But as I said, it was only slightly better than William Hung's version. Obviously he gets a lot of credit for doing this performance and being in the competition for as long as he has - but it was only with the judge's help. I just don't see him going very far and maybe, just maybe, the voters will agree and send him packing tonight. I could see him being this show's version of Sanjaya, however.
The Cadence (variety) - This is a very interesting act involving about five or six young guys playing an assortment of drums. They even pour water on the drums which causes water to shoot up and create lots of splashes. Last night they set their act to music with advice from Sharon Osbourne and it seemed to help make their act more interesting. I agree that they needed to tighten their act up a bit more that it was last night and they need to be more aggressive while performing. Still, I thought it was highly entertaining and I can see them sticking around for awhile.
Jessica Price (singer) - So we have our very first singer of the top 40 showcased and it's not really any surprise that she is one of the front-runners to win the entire show. During her first audition and Las Vegas auditions, she came off as being rather shy and subdued. She lacked self-confidence and it appears to be something she'll need to continue to keep working on. But she did a masterful job singing Cindy Lauper's "Time After Time," even though I could hear a bit of nervousness in her voice in the first half of the song. But the latter half was spot on. As long as she continues to choose the right songs to highlight her vocal abilities and continue to believe herself, she has the chance to go very far into this thing.
Shimshi (variety) - Here is our first magician of the top 40 and he seemed to wow the judges during the previous rounds, but during last night's live show, he clearly failed to impress. He did a pretty basic card trick (although it probably took a lot of practice) involving an individual from the audience picking a card, tearing a corner off the card, putting it back into the deck, shuffling the deck of cards, Shimshi putting duct tape on his shoe, and kicking into the air as the volunteer throws the deck of cards into the air and the magician picking the card the volunteer initially picked with the torn corner. I think the thing that made this the most interesting for me was whether or not he was going to be able to pull it off in front of live TV - which to his credit, he did. But upon further review, it wasn't that spectacular of a magic trick. He may be in trouble if he doesn't pick his game up even more.
DC Cowboys (dancers) - Look what we have here, a group of gay men dressing up as cowboys and doing a hoedown (well, not exactly). They are a dance group based out of Washington DC and they do regular shows. This is a group that just has not been able to impress me all that much since their initial auditions. I think they really laid an egg last night as their coreography seemed to be off and they didn't perform very well as a group. I think the novelty of their act has faded much like some of the other performers in this competition. They will really have to step up their game next week and maybe do a little more practicing if they hope to have a chance at the top prize in this competition.
Neil E. Boyd (singer) - And last but not least of the night, it's the operatic singer with amazing vocal skills. It really blows my mind that he has not been discovered yet - unless his weight has something to do with the lack of offers for him, which would truly be a shame if true. He's very emotional and it's pretty unusual not to see him cry while getting his critiques from the judges. But what can you possibly say negative about his singing abilities? He blew everyone away with his rendition of "Somewhere" from West Side Story. I guess the only thing I'd like to see him improve upon is his stage composure. He needs to try and keep it together better once his performance is over. And I realize he's had a tough road getting to this particular point in the competition - but his emotions could end up being a real turn-off for viewers after awhile. But I honestly don't think he has anything to worry about and he'll be around for a long time to come.
And here is how I rank the performers from last night:
1.) Neil E. Boyd
2.) Jessica Price
3.) Elite
4.) Extreme Dance FX
5.) The James Gang
6.) The Cadence
7.) Shimshi
The bottom of the pile - Derrick Berry, Ronny B, and DC Cowboys.
And we get to do it all over again tonight as another round of competitors take the stage for their first live performances from L.A. Please check back here tomorrow for that review blog.
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