 |
| From left to right: 'America's Got Talent' host Nick Cannon and judges Sharon Osbourne, Howard Stern and Howie Mandel. |
After trips to Los Angeles and St. Louis, things are looking up, as some great acts came roaring out of both cities. Great singers, dancers and the largest harp anyone has ever seen were showcased in Stern’s maiden episode and I must say, Howard is the tall, ugly lightning rod this show needed. He was funny, honest, rude and in several moments, caring and sincere.
"America, are you ready for the revolution?" "America's Got Talent" host Nick Cannon asked, standing on what appeared to be a rocky mountaintop, as the NBC talent show kicked off its seventh season Monday night.
"The show is about to go to a level it has never gone before," Howie Mandel said in the montage that followed, which included a clip of someone taking a hammer to a concrete block on someone else's crotch.
Oh, "America's Got Talent," you wonder of hyperbole and cheese, you master evoker of the cringe, welcome back!
But the show wasn’t all peaches and cream. Oddball stripper magicians, insane scorpion handlers and the scariest stay-at-home dad I’ve ever seen also took the stage.
So it begins …
THE GOOD (Highlights)
William Close, 42, sculptor/musician
William Close has shown me something that I would pay good money to see in person. A musical instrument maker by trade, William turned the theater into a giant musical instrument with his earth harp – essentially a giant harp where the strings begin on stage and end where they are tied to the theater’s balcony dozens of feet away. The music that this enormous string instrument produced was beautiful and I look forward to seeing what else William has up his sleeve. Extremely original.
Elements Dance Cru., 12-18, students
A bunch of teenage girls tap dancing (they call it clogging) like pros to popular music while dressed and acting like puppets? I can dig it. The choreography was spot-on and even with all the dance groups that come through AGT, these girls stood out with their unique style.
Jorge and Alexa Narvaez, 25 and 7, father and daughter
Is it weird that I recognized this duo on YouTube? Apparently not, because the Narvaezs’ videos have millions of hits. Anyway, the two were very good, singing as Jorge played guitar. Alexa is a precocious, funny, adorable little girl and her dad has a great voice. We’ll see how they do in Las Vegas.
Ben Blaque, 33, performer
 |
| Sanjula Vamana, 33, sticks metal spikes through his face on "America's Got Talent." |
Light Wire Theater, 25-43, dance company
Dancing neon-colored dinosaurs and palm trees in pitch darkness. Something tells me the right drugs in Los Angeles could make you see something like this, but for the sober people, this blacked-out dance routine was impressive. The raptor moved fluidly, the whole act worked well with the music and I would have to imagine cool things to come from this interesting dance troupe. Reminds me a little of Team iLuminate, though.
Maurice and Shanice Hayes, 62 and 18, street performers
Sort of an older version of Los Angeles’s Narvaez father-daughter duo, the Hayes pair was fantastic, singing “You Got A Friend.” The parent-child dynamic was sweet, both had great voices and just enough of that relatable, regular people vibe. A great act that could go far in this competition.
THE BAD AND THE UGLY (Everything else)
Aoni Jackson, 34, Magician
It could have gone well. Aoni was charismatic and seemed to know what he was doing on stage. But a strip tease and a soiled ring from Howie Mandel later, the apparent “stripper magician” got his three strikes. “There is a reason people aren’t doing this.” Howard Stern said.
Sanjula Vamana, 35, stay-at-home dad/sideshow performer
Basically, a tattooed circus sideshow performer stuck metal spikes through his cheeks and chin, much to the disgust and horror of the judges. There is definitely a talent to enduring that sort of pain, but it is not worth a million dollars. And this guy is a stay-at-home dad? I wouldn’t want his kid playing with mine at the park.
They sent through the guy that put the giant, poisonous scorpion in his mouth? I guess I like this, only for that fact that something can go shockingly wrong on national TV with this guy.
I was not impressed by the freestyle rapper guy. He rapped about the judges and had some good lines, but I don’t buy the whole “it’s all off the top of my head” thing. How can you possibly prove that? He knew who the judges were going to be. You don’t think he maybe had a few rhymes in his head ready to go? Come on.
America's Got Talent recap Howard Stern makes his debut. But this is just my rambling. Who were your favorites? Comment below..
