dex14

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Michael Corvin

Watched the first hour. Union and Hough are pretty reserved compared to Mel and Heidi. Hopefully they open up up some more as the season gets rolling. #BuzzerBadass was pretty funny. Terry Crews had more enthusiasm, charisma and charm in the first 10 minutes than Tyra did in an entire season. She won't be missed.

As for the acts... First hour was decent. I wasn't too hip on Shin Lim 2.0. Something about that act was very hokey. Seemed like a lot of store bought trickery in the table and cards and less traditional slight of hand trickery. I hate dance acts, but the Mumbai group was pretty good. The different culture, music and style helped them stand out. The other memorable one was Sophie? Sophia? The girl who sang about being bullied. Powerful song from someone so young. Not the strongest musically or vocally, but the content carried her through.

fiver

I assume this will be up on Hulu tomorrow. I know I won't miss Mel B or Heidi, but I don't know the background of these two new judges. Are they likely to be good additions?

DWilson

Julianne Hough is a terrific dancer, -she joined "Dancing With The Stars" in it's fourth season, and won (with her celeb partner) her first two seasons. She eventually returned to the show as a judge for several seasons. She's also a singer and actress, appearing in the "Footloose" remake and "Rock of Ages" and some Nicholas Sparks adaptation.

Bill Needle

The guy in the animal outfits was probably the funniest thing on the show in years. Of course Howie was the only one who saw it for what it was, though Simon was finally won over. I told the wife that I guess they needed to save room for another 13 year old singer, and guess who is up next? A 13 year old singer. If we weren't watching it live she wouldn't have believed I hadn't seen it already.

I used to set the show above other similar shows because it wasn't just another parade of singers and they gave some credit for originality and outside the box thinking. I also was glad they dumped the two middle judges, but the new ones are honestly no better. The show has fully devolved into being just another trite and predictable piece of over-produced garbage where having a story (no matter how flimsy and embellished) counts more than actual talent. What a shame.

JeffTheAlpaca

Terry Crews should host the Oscars

I wonder how long these guys will last?

whotony

Michael Corvin

Man, the fourth episode was pretty strong. Sos Petrosyan, thecard magician who had the Linkin Park backing track was pretty entertaining. Adem Show (the Mortal Kombat dance contortionists) were also very cool. The poodle act was entertaining enough for one round at least. Then there were a few terrible joke acts but where the episode really shone was musicians:

Ansley Burns - the young girl Simon cut off doing Aretha and had to go acapella
Marcin - Amazing guitarist in the vein of Rodrigo y Gabriela
Voices of Service - came on strong but were followed by two even stronger acts later in the episode
Beryam - the beatboxing quartet from France were gold buzzer worthy. That was entertaining as hell.
Detroit Youth Choir - choirs are typically one dimensional (we've had a few decent ones but none unique enough to win) these kids were fun and added something unique to what can typically be pretty by-the-numbers. Totally worthy of the buzzer.

Josh-da-man

Did they actually give that goofball dancer Julianne's golden buzzer? I was kind of unclear on that; it seemed sort of scripted.

And I'm so bored with those shadow dancers who do stories about soldiers leaving their family to go off to war or show a lifetime in two minutes (shadow is a kid, meets girl, marries her, has kid, that kid grows up, get married, parents are old now). And they found one that managed to combine both of those mawkish plots.

whotony

windom

I think I hate most of the acts at this point.
1. Shadow performers
2. Kid dancers
3. Choirs
4. Card trick magicians
5. Animal acts
6. "Slowed down" singers
7. Overweight dancers
8. Comedians with some quirk

DWilson

They said a couple of times that the buzzer wasn't official, and maybe they'll stick to that.

Rob V

Was the virtual reality act a thing worthy of $1M? It certainly didn't translate to anything cool on TV.

Brian Gentz

I'm waiting for it to come out that Simon or some other producer is an investor in their company.

Josh-da-man

Now that I've seen the whole thing instead of the last half hour or so...

Yeah, the VR thing seemed more like something off of Shark Tank than an actual talent. They were basically selling a product. Kind of baffling to have on a "talent" show. I was also thinking someone has a stake in it.

I thought the singer with the guitar was awful. Just completely boring, like the kind of shit you can hear at any open mic at donut shops and coffee shops all of the country. Getting tired of Simon telling singers to stop singing and pick a different song. Comes off as pre-planned, and makes it seem like they're trying to turn it into American Idol. Especially when they're using to push some doughy, flacid WGWG.

Overall, this has to be the lamest bunch of "talent" they're amassed. Shin Lim 2.0. Bunch of boring singers. Some not ready for primetime comics. More dancing dogs.

Sethward was the most memorable act they've had, and they didn't let him through.

Michael Corvin

After a decent showing last week, this week was a total dud. I just finished watching and the only two acts I remember are the 10 year old opera girl and the South African choir.

whotony

Yeah that was a bad ep

whotony

Bill Needle

The bigger an act is the more it returns to the mean. The larger the choir, the more it sounds exactly like every other large choir.

Michael Corvin

Started episode 7. I enjoyed the Swedish guitarist that sang Imagine. The husband/wife "strength" act was good.

The only other one that seemed interesting so far was:

You're referring to the Argentinian group, right? Their performance was fantastic, however their outfits and ridiculous makeup clashed with what we were watching. It looked like a typical American dance group appropriating a musical style/dance from another country.

Mentalists were pretty dull. I'm not sure if they were on Fool Us, but Penn & Teller just revealed how some mentalism is done on a recent show. Penn basically called them out too basically saying they hate when those acts come on because there is zero skill involved.

Eric F

Michael Corvin

It's just the first round. They're super lenient during the auditions. Most of the "coffee house" acts (and joke acts, and marginal talent) get weeded out pretty quick.

windom

The new judges are super boring. I know not everyone liked Mel B. and Heidi but at least they brought some personality to the panel and would criticize the acts (esp. Mel B.). Hopefully, they'll be better on the live shows.

mphtrilogy

Kind of a weak season for sure.. not too many standouts that i can recall.. still a fun show tho...

Michael Corvin

Yeah, this season is lacking big time.

I gotta say, for all the bitching and moaning about singers, the show would be dreadfully boring without them. Take the last two episodes, basically the most entertaining ones were singers.