To my family’s dismay, I’ve become an America’s Got Talent junkie.
Last nite was the second of 2 semi-final shows. Five of the 12 acts move on to the finals.
Here’s my call:
- Anna Graceman …. an 11 year old Alaskan singer who knocked a Motley Crue song out of the park … disclaimer: students know that I’m biased towards girls named Anna View video of Anna performing
- Landon Swank … best illusionist since David Copperfield … I thought he was going to blow himself up tonite … ok, he fooled me and survived … hmmm View Landon’s bang-bang
- Smage Bros. … two brothers who do amazing (and dangerous) stuff on motor bikes … finale was a jump over their grandmother – really ! — followed by a high aerial 360 … wow ! Watch ’em jump over Grandma
- Eugene Landau Murphy … a guy from West Virginia who sings Frank Sinatra … not one of my favorites but audience and judges seemed to like him … note: yes: the “E” in KEH is for Eugene
- Professor Splash … again, I plead guilty to collegial bias … this overweight dude jumped off a 70 foot platform, through fire, to land in a shallow swimming pool … insane View Prof Splash’s splash
Biggest disappointments:
- Gymkana … a gymnastics troop from Univ. of Maryland … great act … they took some risk, jumping through fire … one dude crashed the fire ring and almost literally burned … that wasn’t part of the act, so they won’t be back
- Silhouettes … a unique dance troop that forms shapes to tell a story behind a screen … very artsy … likable kids – youngest is only 4 years old … lacked wow tonite … too bad
Possible upset:
- Kinetic King … a goofy guy who sets up elaborate Rube Goldberg falling dominoes sets … admire the design of the skits and the judges love him … but, I wouldn’t pay to see him … he’ll get the geek vote
Results show is tonite …
The Homa Files 
August 31, 2011 at 11:59 am |
The Silhouettes act was not as moving as their last which was the real problem (they needed a better theme), but I actually preferred the opening effects and I think that if they had put those opening effects at the end, that might have improved things.
I also think Snap Boogie got an overly tough review from the judges – his performance was incredible. Those are preternatural athletic gifts on display.
Anna Graceman is the only overtly obvious person who will get through. Everyone else needs their key demographic to vote. The main reason I think Eugene is also likely a lock is that 1) he is a singer, and the competition unfortunately overrates singers and 2) he is performing something that appeals to a swath of Americans who might not find much else to vote for.
I didn’t find Landon’s act compelling – too many ways to engineer it.
September 3, 2011 at 9:14 pm |
[…] I went on the limb and predicted the 5 AGT finalists […]