America’s Got Talent: Episode 4 Review
We're in Day Two of the New York portion of auditions for 'America's Got Talent,' and the judges are prepared to see anything happen on that stage. Will Howard Stern make another kid cry with his decision? Will somebody finally break a couple of bones on this show? One of the greatest things about auditions is that you never know what kind of act - or possible star - will stand up on that stage and perform. Here's hoping that this time around we get more good acts than bad.
Howard Stern starts off the show by introducing the audiences, and the nation, to his parents. After the short introductions we're ready to begin.
First we start with Ronald, an "entertainer" who pretty much fails to do his title justice. He tries to dance and does a terrible job at it. Then it gets progressively worse when he opens his mouth to "sing," which immediately causes the audience to boo him. The judges aren't too impressed, especially Howard Stern's dad who tells the boy, "Don't be stupid, you moron" when it comes to his career.
It's that special time of the night where we go through a couple of the acts that didn't stand a chance of moving forward. Some of those acts include Paulie and James, the lackluster roller skating dancing duo, a horrible eighties hair band singer who can't carry a single tune and a mime group. Of course they're getting booed by the audience, it's pretty much known worldwide that most people don't like mimes.
Bring on the next entertainer! This one happens to be a comedian ventriloquist by the name of John Pizzi. One of the unique things about his "puppets" is that they're all done on the computer and have a slight Monty Python feel to the animated forms when it comes to the eye and mouth movements. Check it out for yourselves, but know that he's going to Vegas.
Do you think you're possibly the most flexible or strongest person out there? Then you should measure yourself next to Donovan and Rebecca, an acro-balance couple who are likely to put you to shame. Rebecca shows that girls can be mighty strong when they want to be, carrying Donovan right off the bat. Their moves are so crazy great that it has Sharon on the verge of tears. "I thought I was watching a love scene from a sci-fi movie," says Sharon. And yes, obviously these two move forward.
And let us move forward with the small selection of people that end up advancing to the second round. Among those is a gymnast group called Unity in Motion (not Sparkle Motion), and an awesome all-girl band by the name of Ivy Rose. Then there's All Beef Patty. Don't worry, that's the person's stage name, but the transvestite isn't there just to swing his/her hips and look pretty. He/she's there to show off his singing pipes. What surprises practically everybody is how he manages to move onto the next round.
We haven't had any intentional comedy on this show for a good ten or so minutes, so bring in the stand-up comedian. They introduce us to Tom Cotter, a man whose voice for some reason reminds this viewer of Chris Parnell. Of course this guy is moving forward, because he's the first genuinely funny man to appear on the show.
It's time to get in sentimental mode with our next contestant. His name is Tyrese Green, better known as "Stepz." The dancer's experienced quite the tough life and is prepared to show the world what kind of talent he has with dance. He's actually got a great routine that blends with the songs he's dancing to. Howie likes it, Howard doesn't, but Sharon says yes. Watch him strut his dancing stuff below.
It's raining men, but not the most coordinated men of the bunch. We're referring to the last group of the night, The Savage Men. Once they step out you know Sharon is interested. She says "Okay Savage Men... impress me!" but it seems like she wants to say "Okay Savage Men... savage me!" Unfortunately, they aren't really impressive to look at. They turn out to be a pinch better in Howie and Sharon's eyes when they let Howard Stern into their group - if only for just a minute - but it's not enough for the group to advance.
Howard looks mildly annoyed as these episodes go on. Obviously not all of the talent has been impressing them and you figure that they have to sit through a lot of horrible acts during the audition process. But the auditions aren't over yet! Next week they go to Tampa Bay, Florida where they hope that maybe there they'll uncover the next superstar. Until next week, that's it for 'America's Got Talent.'