AGT Quarterfinals

Watching America’s Got Talent this season has not been all that thrilling, at least for me. Usually when I watch one of these type of talent shows I pick out a favorite act or performer. Not necessarily a favorite to win, but one I like. Winners and favorites aren’t always the same. Well, this season I have watched faithfully – though it seems to drag on a little more this season then I remember. But maybe that’s because 1) there seem to be so many more finalists and 2) nobody really stood out to me. Not like the year Terry Fator the ventriloquist with the incredible singing voice showed up to take the show by storm. Terry Fator won the show and the million dollars and has his own Vegas act in the Terry Fator Theater at the Mirage. I voted for him back then – he won and I have gone to see his show. I am telling you, if you get to Vegas you have to see his show. Incredible talent and entertainment.  A must see and it is for the whole family.          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiYli7lt0pc

Fast forward a few seasons of America’s Got Talent and there is nobody in the same category as Terry Fator. However, after watching tonight’s last 12 performers of the last round of eliminations, 8 will be eliminated after tonight’s votes are tallied, I saw a few acts that just might have what it takes to win the contest. The winner need be a show with entertainment value, be worth a million dollars and have John Q Citizen be willing to spend money to go see the performance. William Close, a contestant, is an inventor &  musician who engineered an instrument he calls an ‘Earth Harp’. It is hard to explain, it is harp like, it has wires stretched, I’m going to guess, maybe 100 feet across the stage and over the audience attached to something I can’t see. At  the stage level they are attached to wood, similar to a harp and he coerces music from this monster size harp that he made. Tonight he stepped it up with his performance and added homemade drums and a singer. You have to see the act if not just  to see this instrument and how he manipulates these wires or string to make such beautiful sounds. The music is not only captivating but to know he made this harp is impressive. He stands out from the run-of-the-mill musical artists who come across the AGT stage. Even if he doesn’t win the competition I am sure this will not be the last we hear of William Close.

I would say out of the 12 performances tonight, it will be a difficult choice to whittle it down to four, but America votes and tomorrow night we will know who moves on to the finals. The one act that I don’t get is a guy who calls himself Horse. His “talent” is taking hits to his bits and pieces! Hits with bats, drop kicks to his scrotum, run in with poles. In his audition he had a guy use a sledge hammer on his family jewels. Can that really be categorized as a talent? And why? He’s up against 10-year-old Mariachi singer Sebastian and mind-reader Eric Dittleman, to name just a couple of REAL talented contestants. If you haven’t seen Horse get repeated nut shots it’s hard to believe without seeing. To see William Close’s Earth Harp and Horse, go to:   http://www.nbc.com/americas-got-talent/   I’m going to wait until the final 12 contestants before I pick my favorite from that select group and I’ll choose who I think will win. Anybody have any guesses who will make it to the top three?

So here I am…

…in Las Vegas where it is supposed to be 108-degrees today. Because it is a 24-hour city there are always people around in grocery stores, bowling alleys, car washes. Generally speaking, the school of thought is why go grocery shopping or wash your car during the day when you have the option to do it at night when the temperature drops to 90 degrees! The whole diurnal and nocturnal system is askew here. And becuase it is I am very grateful for my DVR.

With my travels, I’ve had to play catch up with America’s Got Talent  but I am up-to-date and so far I have seen some pretty weird things. But the one that stands out is the trio, made up of two guys and a girl who calls her self, Candy Pants. The group name; Cut Throat Freak Show & Eric Odditorium. I knew something was up when one of the guys dumped a pail of broken glass on to the stage. There’s a clue there. And Candy Pants jumps on top of it with bare-feet and does so repeatedly. Then dude #1 exclaims that he is gonna lift a chair with his eye lids… rigged with fish hook like things. You can check the video out if you can stomach that kind of freaky behavior. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMMGua7_Msc    I’m not sure how one gets started trying that out. But after you watch a few episodes it becomes clear that a lot of people are willing to humiliate/injure/tempt fate to achieve the American dream of being rich and famous. That’s also evident here in Las Vegas. Just go to Fremont Street when you are in Vegas – Fremont Street is in downtown Vegas, not to be confused with ‘The Strip’.  Fremont Street Experience was the downtown committee’s solution to revitalizing downtown which had become the wicked step-sister to ‘The Strip’. So Fremont Street was a street one could drive on in front of the casinos years ago. Well, a decade or two ago the street was closed off and it was made into a open air strolling experience in front of the casinos where now there are bands and street artists ( and I use that term loosely ) who are stationed along the walking area ( which is actually the old Freemont street I mentioned ) those artists range from spray paint painters, palm readers, musicians,magicians and to top it off there are people dressed as famous people, just in case you want a photo of yourself with a 5′ 2″, 135 pound Stevie Wonder impersonator. Or perhaps you’d rather have your photo with a 6′ 6″  ballerina with a beard. Oh, I’m not kidding.  Though they are not be vying for the Million Dollar award from AGT. It is money and validation that motivates them to exploit themselves. I suppose if I could hide behind a Spiderman mask and have people drop money in my tip-jar I’m thinking I might do it. Maybe. Okay, I would. But not when it’s 108 degrees.