Wednesday, July 25, 2012

AGT: 7/24 Quarterfinal #4


And so we have reached our final quarterfinal of the initial 48.  We still have the youtube show and judges choice, but these represent the last of the first cut.  Based on the previews from last week, I knew we would be in for a tough night, and a majority of the acts didn’t disappoint.  I really have no idea how it’s all going to shake out come tomorrow.

There were a few clunkers, and some absolutely amazing acts.  We’ll go through a rundown of the acts, then hit up the should and will go throughs.

First up: David “The Bullet” Smith.  This act was BS from the beginning, and had no right being put through without a second look.  Oh, woo-hoo, he can shot himself out of a cannon with air, color me not impressed.  He tried to liven it up with a bit of a gimmick, he held a football through some uprights, but that didn’t add to the fact that this is a one-note, rather boring act.  And talk about a BS statistic: 85% of the human cannonball performers are dead, but how many of old age?  Do you suppose it could be because no one wants to see this lame act anymore?

All That came next, and this is another group I really shouldn’t get started on…but I will anyway.  They were in season one!  They got to the TOP THREE in season one!  They should NOT be eligible, and I think it is ridiculous they were even allowed to audition, let alone move on.  Their actual act was fine, very in-sync, but a bit boring compared to all the other fantastic dance crews we have seen so far.

Ulysses was terrible, as expected.  He was almost, but not quite, as bad as Big Barry.  This was just another slot withheld from a deserving act, and it’s really not good for the show, I don’t think, when it is so blatantly obvious the producers are sending out fodder for the acts they do want to get through.  Lazy lazy lazy.

And then, Joe Castillo, sand artist.  I love these so much, so I’m biased toward them, and it comes as no surprised that I enjoyed this act.  I wasn’t quite as impressed with the preachy-ness, I much prefer just a good story, but it was cool nonetheless.  I really enjoyed his transition into the elephant, it looked so neat.  The lack of clear story may be a bit of a detriment in this strong pack, but we’ll have to see how America votes.

Sebastian “El Charro de Oro” came next, he is the ten year old child mariachi.  He’s super cute, but the act was way to static, you would think a mariachi would utilize the stage a bit more, or maybe have some sort of tables set up for him to sing to or something.  Instead, he had his band arc around him, and he sang his little love song.  I do think he sang rather poorly, though I’m not sure if it was because of nerves, or if that just how he is supposed to sound.

Eric Dittelman, mind reader came next, and holy cow.  His act was great.  He had a Deal or No Deal set up, and had Howie pick a case, after Dittelman had set down an envelope.  The other two judges got rid of two rows, and then Howie has the opportunity to chose a different case, which he did.  Dittelman then opened the newly chosen case, which said ‘this is your case,’ or something to that effect.  All the other cases said ‘no deal,’ and the envelope said case 4 as well!  I have no idea how he did it, his timing was impeccable, and the illusion was great.  It’s really too bad the competition is so strong tonight.

Speaking of strong competition, William Close and the Earth Harp Collective may have just won the whole thing.  I completely agree with the judges that this act is a step above even the guest performers on Wednesday nights.  This was ethereal, moving, amazing.  There are so many adjectives I could use to describe this act, but none really do it justice.  They truly are in a class of their own, and if they don’t get through, it’s only because people used the faulty ‘they’ll be safe’ assumption.  This was incredible, and blew all (high) expectations out of the water.

Unity in Motion had the unfortunate slot following the Earth Harp, and they gave ti their all.  There were amazing contortions, and their stack was freaking incredible.  These young girls danced for their life, and if this quarterfinal wasn’t so fully stacked, they would get through easily, but as it stands, I don’t know how it will all end up, especially with another dance act in the voting.

Eric and Olivia are adorable.  Their music act is another that would have sailed through last week, but this week, I just don’t think it was strong enough.  They did a cool arrangement of Taio Cruz’s Dynamite, and the sound mixers didn’t even bork it up this time.  But with all the competition tonight, I don’t think they wanted it enough.

Lindsey Norton came next, she is the hyperactive solo dancer.  She is also freaking adorable, with the added bonus of insane flexibility.  The biggest issue I had with her was she was a bit too much gymnastics instead of dance, lots of ta-da! poses, not enough actual dancing.  The moves she had are incredibly strong, and again, in another night…  Tonight though, she is in real trouble.

Horse…  Yeah.  He was a thing.  Ball-busters are not my cup ‘o tea, though I did actually laugh at his performance tonight, which I think was a first.  But there is no way he is going through, so thank goodness.

Finally, we had Olate Dogs.  This was another amazing act in a night filled with amazing acts.  I can’t believe the tricks the dogs could do.  And the one dog, the one that I’m sure everyone though messed up at first, but instead made for a comedic moment in the act instead, was fantastic.  I really hope they get through, this was so good.

And that was the evening!  There are so many good acts, I really don’t know how I am going to choose.  I have six acts in my should list, and five in my will…how to narrow it down…

Should go through                                           Will go through
William Close                                                     William Close
Joe Castillo                                                          Sebastian
Olate Dogs                                                          Olate Dogs
Eric Dittelman                                                    Eric Dittelman

Tune in tomorrow to see if my predictions are correct!

And for reference, also on my should is Unity in Motion and Eric and Olivia, and on my will is Joe Castillo  

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