dex14

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DWilson

I haven't watched AGT for several years, but I really enjoyed this episode and will keep up with this series. It was nice to see 10 strong acts, and it's kind of a shame only two could go forward.

windom

How did the voting work for this? I know it wasn't live. It seems kind of rigged. I wonder if Susan Boyle only agreed to do it if they guaranteed she made it to the finals. How did that comedian beat any of the other acts?

d2cheer

They don't even have all with previous winners. That makes no sense unless they declined to appear.

whotony

The comedian is really good might be why he went through.

i don’t want to go back and look at the show again but how did the voting work?
If it wasn’t a live show, I don’t remember seeing a phone number or a way to vote anywhere?

Susan Boyle seems like such a cold act.
she doesn’t do anything g and she sings well I guess.

Seems her legend is bigger then what she actually is.

DWilson

They mentioned that not everyone wanted to appear, - and risk losing. If they could have gotten all the winners, they probably would have. I was never clear on how the panel of voters representing all 50 states was assembled and how that worked. Preacher was helped by the fact he had a good set and he went last.

windom

Wasn't the whole thing prerecorded though? Even the vote and vote results?

DWilson

Yes. That's what's a little confusing about the voting method.

Josh-da-man

They have a voting app.

This seems more like an exhibition than an actual competition.

I suspect that some previous contestants like Grace Vanderwaal (who just finished touring with Imagine Dragons) or Lindsey Stirling declined to appear because they have good careers going and were either too busy, didn’t need the exposure, or just couldn’t be bothered.

Brian Gentz

The voting was "a panel of AGT super fans from all 50 states" otherwise known as the producers. I highly doubt they flew in fans from all 50 states or set up a simulcast to these fans.

I went looking for spoilers since it was pre-taped and it appears the finals were voted by the studio audience, so that might be authentic. This all-star cast could have been fun as a real season, as it is they should have just done it as a showcase and no finals or winner.

robin2099

Yeah I don't really understand what the point of it is. I think it works as a showcase of the 50 most memorable acts from all the talent shows(from the US and winners you have not seen before). But by making it a "competition" it doesn't really make any sense. The show being pre recorded and having two acts go through after being voted for by "AGT Superfans" just makes the whole thing seem rigged. Who are these superfans? How did they vote? It just feels like someone came up with an idea for an exhibition of talent and someone said "nah that will not work. We need a hook". The fun part is seeing how good all these acts are, but the "super fans" and competition part makes it feel cheap.

DWilson

It's a competition because that's how you have to frame things these days. Otherwise, it would be a Variety Show, and networks don't have faith in those anymore as a weekly series.

Rob V

How did the mind reading act not move forward?? I have no idea how they could have possibly pulled off that video unless the whole process was edited for TV.

DRG

It's silly because they promote that 2 acts will be voted through, but since every round is going to have a guaranteed Golden Buzzer, they're all really competing for one spot among the voters each round.

whotony

Probably recorded a version for every possibility.

windom

Here's an article about how the voting works: https://www.realityblurred.com/reali...-viewer-votes/

Josh-da-man

TL;DR — it’s probably rigged. Actually, if they’re not giving out a prize, it’s just an exhibition.

By the way, is anyone else really annoyed the editing during the “danger” acts where they keep cutting to the judges with stupid looks on their faces in the middle of the action? I want to see the sword swallower do a backflip, not a slackjawed Howie Mandel.

DWilson

What would be the point of rigging the competition? As for the editing, it's the same complaint I have when watching "So You think You Can Dance", -rather than focus on the dancer(s) for the entirety of the routine, they cut back to judges watching them. I suppose it's just to sell you on the sizzle, and they feel they need to do that. And that's the thing about a lot of things we bitch about here, -it's not done because they're jerks (though they might be) , it's done because they believe it's the most effective way to do something.

Maxflier

Terry Crews is such a bizarre choice for the new host.

Josh-da-man

whotony

Bill Needle

While they have done a nice job at bringing in some interesting returning acts, it is incredible how poorly they have chosen which acts to go to the finals. I would have selected none of those chosen so far. In fact, I would have placed all of them in the bottom half of their episodes. The final will be a joke.

windom

I sure hope that DJ kid was better on the South African version, because he wasn't at all impressive here.

They should have brought back that one male singer from last season that Simon kept saying he wanted to work with but then he got arrested for hitting his wife.

whotony

Dorenbos was great as usual.

Judges shouldn’t use the gold buzzer until the end of the show, after they all performed..

Josh-da-man

I’ve noticed that fully half of the acts going to the finale are ones who have never appeared on AGT (Boyle, Ramos, Opera Man), which seems a little suspect to me. Especially Opera Man; I don’t see him being America’s top pick.

As for the acts...

Kid DJ was meh. I’m not someone who is awed by DJs anyway.

The levitation act was good; presumably done with wires? There were so many cuts and shots rrom a distance I couldn’t really get a feel for how it was done.

Cotter bombed. That was like open mic nite at a comedy club in Nebraska.

Poppycock was fun, but sort of a novelty act.

Ryan and Amber were good. I generally like danger acts. Ditto the brother and sister on skates.

Tourettes does have a weird accent. Might be a speech impediment related to his condition?

Dorenbos wasn’t bad. Guessing that was either a forced pick, or the the XO tiles were iPad-like screens.