'America's Got Talent' recap: 'Back Hoff' the talent!
Aug 27, 2008, 03:14 PM | by Jaya Saxena
Categories: 'America's Got Talent', Mini TV Watch, Reality TV
Olympics, schmolympics. The real challenge of the human spirit returned to NBC yesterday in the form of America's Got Talent. Sure, winning 8 gold medals for swimming is impressive, but would Michael Phelps be able to withstand a critique from Piers Morgan without cracking? I doubt it.
Seriously, though, NBC's inexplicably top-rated reality competition is down to 40 contestants, and we saw 10 last night (with 10 more scheduled for tonight's telecast). And lest you think there's nothing on the line, apparently last seasons winner, Terry Fator, just signed a $10,000,000 deal in Vegas. That's right. Eight zeroes.
Extreme Dance FX not only had the daunting task of being the first act up for judging, but also the challenge of bringing clog-dancing into the future. Mission accomplished, if by "future" you mean "1987." Whether or not this is an act worthy of advancing to the next round depends on how you feel about the following five-word combination: Sequins, clog dancing, “Push It.”
Next up came the James Gang, the anachronistic street performers from New York (embedded below). Sadly their Idlewild-esque act didn't translate to television. I loved the music, I loved their dancing, but somehow it all felt too small on the small screen. The fact that their dove-producing magic trick crashed and burned when a dove fell out of one of their jackets didn't help either. It did, however, produce the Hoff's best exclamation of the season, when he informed them that their act was "as American as the Olympics." Too bad the Olympics are Greek.
The second-funniest moment of the night arrived when Hasselhoff admitted that Derek, the Britney Spears impersonator, was making him question his sexuality. That not unpredictable event would've been enough on its own, but when Morgan backhandedly (or actually, quite fronthandedly) insulted Hasselhoff's dancing skills, the former Knight Rider star got up to reveal his jeans back pockets, emblazoned with “Back Hoff” in olde tyme font.
Such inspired lunacy outshone even Elite, that act in which a 10-year-old girl beats up her father (but this time dressed as a pirate); Ronny B, who did his best Hector Lavoe impersonation, but ended up looking more like William Hung; and The Cadence, who played "Beat It," with six drums and a canned guitar line. I guess "Beat It" could be funny, considering they're a percussion band, but maybe not. And as for Jessica Price, even if affected, tortured singing is your thing, it's not a good sign when the audience doesn't recognize a song as iconic as "Time After Time" until the chorus.
All in all, we didn't see anything truly impressive till the 45-minute mark last night, when Shimshi hit the stage. It's been a while since I've been impressed by a magic act, but anyone who combines gymnastics stunts with card tricks can't be too bad, right? Um, not according to Morgan and Hasselhoff, who both hated Shimshi's entertaining routine (embedded below). Ah well, there go my dreams of being a television personality/talent judge.
We finished off the night with DC Cowboys' souped-up line-dancing to "Footloose," and Neal E. Boyd's uplifting version of "Somewhere." In classic AGT style, the biggest sob story was saved for last -- Boyd's grandmother recently died -- but there's no denying the guy has actual talent. Better still, the Olympics-induced hiatus seems to have improved the telecast: No more gratuitous reaction shots, no cutaways to Jerry in the wings, and even a reduced number of commercial breaks and attempts at heartwrenching backstories. The producers did manage to save one shocker till the end of the show, though, when they revealed that Donald Braswell, the man who couldn't sing for 11 years (and therefore won the gold medal in Sob Storying), had replaced the Russian Bar Trio in the final 40.
So what do you think? Could the quality of the show finally be on the rise? Could the Hoff take down Derek in a hip-gyrating showdown? And am I the only one who just wants to vote for Sharon? Start voting!
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