Judges Don’t Dance Around Good Talent This Week

By Adam at August 19th, 2009.

Wednesday was the third quarter final results show in America’s Got Talent. And rather than last week’s doggy fiasco, the judges addressed a tough choice in a fairly non-controversial manner.

The FootworKINGz were a dynamic group of young male dancers from Chicago. Pixie Mystere were a group of grade school dancers. The talent was slightly on FootworKINGz side plus the fact that America is unlikely to send elementary school girls off to do a Las Vegas show, the logical choice was clear.

And the judges didn’t mess it up. FootworkKINGz are taking their eccentric spelling and mad dance moves on to the semi-finals. It’s been a brutal first three rounds for dance troupes. This hasn’t been helped by the fact that many of Simon’s Wildcards (which with one exception have not been the acts that fans thought were unfairly cut) have been dance groups. The only other dance groups to make it were Acrodunk and the Fab Five. Astrodunk’s Athleticism puts them in whole ‘nother category. And Fab Five has that whole “sisters” thing going. Looking to the next round where there will not be the plethora of dance acts that led to a lot of vote splitting in the Quarter Finals, FootworkKINGz could have a lot father to go before it’s all said and done.

More on this week’s other acts that were moving on and those that got eliminated:

Moving on the Semi-Finals:

Lawrence Beaman: He made it through to the top 20 with a performance of “You Are So Beautiful.” I love Beaman’s vocals, but I have to say that last week I suggested that “Voices of Glory” sung a song that was too big for them. Given his performance of, “Old Man River” in the auditions, I think he sung a song that was too small for his talent. I’d love to see Beaman sing something that blows them away in the Semifinals.

Mario and Jenny: Mario and Jenny are a husband and wife daredevil act. In their audition, Mario juggled running chainsaws. In this act, they played with fire-literally, as Mario juggled flaming guitars and other flaming objects. I don’t usually go for this kind of act, but this was a genuinely good act doing some amazing death defying feats. The only real question is whether to send these guys out again is whether to let them put their lives on the line again. However, that’s not really our choice. Whether they’re voted forward or not, they’ll continue to do what they do. The question is whether they deserve a chance to earn a good living doing it, and I think the audience got it right.

Jeffery Ou: A gracious gentlemen in advancing to the top 40 when the judges brought him with a talented harp players with her leaving and him moving on, Ou did a two part piano act last night beginning with a well-played classical piece and then trying an Elton John number. Unfortunately, Ou brought in back up dancers and one of them unplugged the amplifier by accident. While, I’m not certain if based on a half a performance, he should have gone on, I think its fortune his chances didn’t end on a technical glitch. What pushed Ou through was that he showed a lot of the same manic energy that propelled Arcadian Broad through to the judge’s choice two weeks ago.

Hairo Torres: A very good cotortionist/break dancer. Torres showed a lot of charisma, and energy. The talk leading up to Torres performance was how hard it was for an individual dancer to make it, but I’ve seen a lot more dance troups eliminated. It can be far easier for a single dancer or two dancers, in the case of Paradizo Dance, to charm their way into America’s heart rather than a dance group.

Eliminated:

Jay Mattioli: Another wild card that flamed out. I absolutely loved Mattioli’s style of magic. It’s a 21st Century version of Jack Cassidy’s Great Santini, a magician who used modern music beats to make his magic act hip. It also has to be said the high standards for magic set by the judges of doing something never seen before is absurd and would be seen as absurd if applied to singers or dancers. That said, when Mattioli pulled out the scarves, I had to groan inside. You need more flare for television and David Hasselhoff made a genuine point that on a Vegas stage, nobody can see the scarves.

U4ria Dance Crew: I was not really a fan of this group, but they did the best they could. I think that what U4ria did last night was put on a flash to compensate for their lack of technical precision. The flash was good, the dance not so much.

Marcus Terrell and the Serenades: Terrell would not have been allowed through with his original back-up singers and refused to fire them. But they resigned out of friendship so that he could advance. Unfortuantely, the new group may have had better vocals, but they lacked chemistry. This may be yet another act the judges set up to get some hate from America due to their poor handling of it.

Bri: She was a very talented singer. Judge Piers Morgan compared her to Katie Perry and Amy Winehouse, and his comparison wasn’t entirely without merit. That’s why she’s going on. Last night, she sounded like every professional female pop singer out there.

G Force: Cute little girls band whose vocals aren’t quite there. I don’t agree with Piers Morgan buzzing them, but they’re just good enough for this level of play. Another act that begs the question, “Why were these girls put through and not Ciana Pelekai?”

Dave Johnson: The judges set him up for failure with a move to the Quarter Finals that was based on the novelty of his “love anthem” to David Hasselhoff. Truth is that at what he does, he’s not half bad. He writes some pretty funny, quirky songs. However, singing about the Golden Girls which has been off the air for 16 years seemed a little silly. Johnson might be able to make a living at what he does if he finds someone more talented to write for, and keeps his material current.

Tags: America's Got Talent