NBC .
It’s ‘America’s Got Talent’’s auditions from Austin, Texas or The Continuing Adventures of the Show Spinning Its Wheels. You know the drill, some good stuff, some bad stuff and then a guy shoots himself out of a rocket! In an effort to keep this brief, let’s talk about the three best acts – three acts that actually have a shot to make it when the competition really begins.
We’ll begin, as the show did, with Sebastian El Charro the ten- year old Mariachi band leader. Obviously, this was great. All too often kids on these competition shows come off as way too precocious for my taste, almost as if they were bred for the moment they could do something (anything) in front of television cameras. It rubs me the wrong way. This kid, however is the complete opposite and Sharon herself remarks on his lack of precociousness. He’s just good at singing and at leading this band and at being genuine and endearing and at making people cry, I’d imagine. I want this kid to win the whole thing. His parents seem great.
Then there’s The Bandbaz Brothers who are not brothers, but rather uncle and nephew. They balance each other on someone’s head. Something like that. Acts like this happen often, but Howard and Howie honed in on something when they mentioned the seeming imperfections of this act were the real stars. These acts can often be boring because they’re too perfect and that perfection takes away from the sense of danger. These guys were a bit shaky at times and it totally worked. It seemed dangerous! Like they were just barely pulling it off. That lends drama and I wonder if they weren’t doing it on purpose.
Tim Poe is a war veteran who suffered some brain damage when he was hit with a grenade. An actual grenade. Now he stutters, but not when he sings and boy can he sing. His brand of pop country may not be my favorite genre, but this guy is the real deal. He’s likable and a legit hero. ‘AGT’ was made for people like this.
From an act of genuine patriotism to a hokey and manipulative one. This week’s overrated and underwhelming act was Joe Castillo who made a sand portrait of the statue of liberty while “Proud To Be An American” blared from the speakers. I know he’d never do it because he’s a gentleman, but I wish Tim Poe would’ve come out and threw this guy’s sand drawing on the ground. Schlocky and ultimately worthless, but the judges, I believe, are contractually obligated to send acts like this through to Vegas. Ugh.
