America's Got Talent: Leftover Auditions from All Cities & the Last One Before Vegas

The last audition show on America's Got Talent was basically acts that didn't make it on earlier episodes due possibly to time constraints. Nevertheless here they were for our entertainment. They have an audition show just like this on American Idol with contestants who've tried out, but weren't shown until the last "special" episode. It seemed most of the acts we saw were from Los Angeles, yet I recognized one from Chicago, because of its venue I had worked at years ago. We saw some interesting acts this time, but it was mostly a lot of acts there for the shock value. One thing was certain for me. It is definitely time to move on to the next phase of America's Got Talent. The auditions have been incredible this year, far better than year's past. I've really resented seeing the purposely bad acts; because there were so many better ones we could have watched instead. Now here is the good, bad and yes, the ugly, of America's Got Talent, but not necessarily in that order.

The Bad & the Ugly

I really liked Jimmy Dihn, (pronounced Dean) the Vietnamese eyelash extension tech from LA. When he was himself JImmy was funny, engaging and charismatic. Unfortunately he was heckled by some in the audience for his truly unfunny stand-up routine where his nerves were getting the best of him. I hope Jimmy Dean does come back next year to try out. The judges felt he had great potential to be a comic. There were sumo wrestlers that didn't belong on a talent show. Five ladies who called themselves the "Frequent Flyer Productions" who were so bad they got buzzed by all three judges. The only thing I liked about them was the name of their act and Howie's brilliant attempt at hanging from the bars. He was better than the ladies. Believe it or not two ladies came out as the "Tap Dancing Sarah Palins". I must say they looked and acted as stupid as the real Sarah Palin. Then someone dressed as a bear comes out in the middle of the act with simulated bear droppings. That's when the act was getting gross.

Last but definitely the least one of all was Clownvis. He really gave clowns a very bad name with his beyond ridiculous act of being a cross between a clown and Elvis impersonator. Clownvis truly pushed the envelope with insulting the judges after his rendition of "Mary Had a Little Lamb." Yes, he sang that song. He said some ugly things to Sharon about her husband. I'm glad she shot back with "no one disrespects my husband" and then a censored expression back to him. To take it a step further he insulted Howie's career, but in an unexpected manner Howie also fires back at Clownvis with another censored word. This mess could have been avoided entirely with no more of these bad acts for next season please. I agree with Piers it was the worst audition ever on the show.

The Good and the Great Mixed Together

This episode I felt there were no standouts, though I had my favorites. Many of the acts were truly entertaining. Of course Howie and Piers were drooling over the belly dancers from the Chicago auditions. I must confess they were good, but not great. The hip hop violinist was unique. Rick Smith, Jr. had Nick Cannon assisting him with his card trick that was unlike any I have ever seen. He holds the world's record with playing cards. Nick shielded his hand with some kind of plate while holding in the cover hand a stalk of celery. Nick also wore goggles to protect his eyes. Rick tossed his cards twice chopping not just the top part of the celery stick, but the other half where it was leveled with the shield. His cards go at a rate of 92 miles per hour. That is his world's record and why Nick had to protect himself.

Team X Pogo is an extreme pogo stick act. That is putting it mildly. This is the same act that was shown on the television commercial for America's Got Talent. Among my favorite acts of the night was Phil Trau a 74-year old tap dancer. At first his act seemed a bit amateur-ish. After Piers buzzed him, Phil came to life and gave an extraordinary performance. Arthur Nakane is literally a one-man band where it takes him 3 hours to set-up all of his equipment. I loved the sound of his instruments. It was unlike anything I had ever heard. Arthur was a very sweet man dedicating his song to Sharon. 20-year old Luigi Seno from the Philippines gave an exhilarating performance on the acoustic guitar. He literally wowed the judges, the audience and me with his charm and infectious smile.

SOURCES:

"America's Got Talent", NBC

Momthemaid, "America's Got Talent: Recap for Wednesday June 30, 2010", TV Grapevine

Lara Martin, "'America's Got Talent': Last Audition Recap", Digital Spy