America's Got Talent: Semifinals, Week 2: Performances

September 2, 2014 11:26 PM - Season 9, Episode 20

Twelve acts perform. Six will advance.
posted by cribcage (3 comments total)

I'm a big fan of both magic and comedy. I always watch those acts with interest on AGT. Smoothini's original audition was one of the most impressive I've ever seen—the salt, the water, etc. And since then he's been very lucky: he got pushed straight through to the live shows, has only had to perform once, and survived a mediocre performance to make the semifinals.

So last night it was Smoothini versus Mat Franco. I'm pretty sure I know how Mat Franco did his trick. He must have used three different phones: Mel's, a dummy he dropped in the water, and a dummy sewn into the seat cushion. But that's just a logical guess. I know how Smoothini moved the ring from the shoelace to the pen because I saw him do it. That was disappointing.

I have mixed feelings about Wendy Liebman and Jonah Smith because they're both professionals I was well aware of before AGT. Jonah Smith's Lights On has been on my Amazon wish list for a few years; I've seen Liebman perform any number of times on television, and I've also seen her live. It's always a little odd to have seasoned professionals competing against genuine amateurs on these talent shows—like when Carly Rose Sonenclar mowed her way through The X Factor, rather unsurprisingly since she was already a successful Broadway performer.
posted by cribcage at 9:21 AM on September 3, 2014

Since there's apparently limited interest, I don't think we need two weekly threads. Just in case anybody wanted to discuss results from tonight's eliminations. No objections to that happening here?
posted by cribcage at 10:08 PM on September 3, 2014

So the top twelve acts are revealed. I'm surprised Jonah Smith isn't among them, and I'm surprised Mara Justine is. I am not crazy about encouraging kids in these competitions who clearly aren't going to win but clearly don't know they aren't going to win. Letting adults do that to themselves is one thing, but with kids it's different. That said, I actually do think there's a chance Quintavious Johnson will get tons and tons of votes and he's the same age as Mara, so what the heck.

I'm a little disappointed there are no comedians in the finals, but there were none really good this year. The contrast with Last Comic Standing was stark. On the other hand, there are three magic acts. That's pretty cool.
posted by cribcage at 10:15 PM on September 4, 2014