‘AGT’ Recap: Was This the Weakest Live Show of the Season?
Photo by: Chris Haston/NBC Reading Time: 3 minutes
America’s Got Talent Season 17 returned Tuesday night with the fourth round of live shows, as eleven acts performed for America’s vote. On Wednesday night, only two acts will make it through to the Finals.
This week’s episode might have been the weakest live show so far this season, as the judges were underwhelmed by many of the performances. It will be interesting to see which acts move on out of this group. Remember that you can vote until Wednesday morning at 7 a.m. ET.
‘AGT’ Live Show Underwhelms the Judges
Toward the end of Tuesday’s show, judge Simon Cowell called it “one of the strangest evenings we’ve ever had.” It was certainly one of the weakest episodes we’ve seen this season, as many of the acts failed to surpass their auditions.
At the start of the show, Cowell called tap dancer Bayley Graham “underwhelming,” saying his performance lacked a “spectacular ending.” After that, Howie Mandel buzzed Acapop! kids, saying he felt like he was “at a school assembly.” Cowell said they actually got better after the buzzer.
Singer Lee Collinson earned a tepid reaction from the panel, as the judges questioned his song choice (“Flowers” by Lauren Spencer Smith). Magician Jannick Holste delighted Heidi Klum, but Cowell thought there was too much dancing and not enough magic.
Later, Sofia Vergara buzzed the Lazy Generation, who ended their performance with a tug-of-war over a bed of cacti. Impressionist Merissa Beddows confused Mandel with parts of her medley, and Cowell thought her intro clip lacked personality.
Even some of the better performances of the night, like the one from multimedia act Metaphysic, weren’t spectacular. In this case, it wasn’t that different from their audition, except with Terry Crews and Howie Mandel added into the opera-singing mix. The judges seemed to mostly like it because they were featured, with Cowell calling it the best act of the series.
Mike E. Winfield Could Be First Comedian in the Finals
The highlight of Tuesday’s episode was comedian Mike E. Winfield. He said he was going to trim the fat from his set, and he delivered, telling funny stories about being not much older than his stepson and being shocked by the prices at Victoria’s Secret.
The judges gave Mike a standing ovation, with Vergara saying he has “so much charisma” and Cowell predicting he’ll go to the Finals. Meanwhile, Mandel was so impressed that he invited Mike to open for him at his upcoming show if he doesn’t make it through.
The night ended with a performance from Heidi Klum’s Golden Buzzer Lily Meola, who sang an original song called “Butterfly.” While it was a lovely performance, it wasn’t the showstopper we’ve come to expect from end-of-the-night Golden Buzzers. Only Klum stood up for it, and Mandel told her it didn’t blow the roof off like he would have wanted.
Who will America vote through to the Season 17 Finals? We’ll find out during Wednesday night’s results show, which will also feature a performance from former AGT magician Piff the Magic Dragon. Be sure to get your votes in before Wednesday morning at 7 a.m. ET.
I think when the judges picked the acts for the semi,s they wanted there favorites to win, so they put up some real stinky acts in because they new they had no chance. By doing that many better acts wernt chosen. You can also tell the judges go ape shit over there favorite acts even when they suck. Case in point Moke Winfield was o.k but no way was the great, he gets a bonus from the judges because of diversity, thats so obvious since st george floyd !
The concept of AGT is good but the format must change. Voters were forced to pick 2 winners from a weak group, while excellent talent was eliminated in previous weeks when too many strong acts were grouped together. What good is the Golden Buzzer? Let the viewers vote early on so that the semi and final shows showcase the best talent. Maybe let the viewers pick more wildcards.