Vegas Week Part 1 - Recap

Auditions are over and the show is under way in Las Vegas. With the 100 acts arriving to show their stuff, it is going to be a hard decision to who is going to make it through to the next round to the Studio performance in Hollywood. The talent is ready to show that they have what it takes to get the coveted 48 spots to compete and as the episode gets started, they montage a video of all the acts that have gotten through to Vegas. They talk about their dreams coming true with the chance to show their game in Vegas and are hopeful to get through to the next stage of the competition and showcase the different talents that they have. On the airplane, the judges see the auditions again and argue about their choices of who is the best and who needs to prove themselves again.

In Vegas, the auditioned hopefuls are getting ready and are excited to move on with the performances. The judges enter the stage and Howie tells that they are going to have to be ruthless with the ones auditioning for their spot in the top 48. Howie tells that they have all been separated into three groups. Group B are picked as the judges favored and will all get a free pass to audition. Group A get the bad news that if there are any spots left, then they will get to audition. They’re considered as the stand-by performers. Group C are considered so good, that they are not going to have to audition at all! So the 10 acts going through to Hollywood without the need to perform are: “The Belly Dancing Duo”, Paulina, “Stryker’s All Stars”, “Cheer SF”, Haspop, “Future funk”, “Arkitech”, “The Maniacs”, “Fighting Gravity”, and “The South Philly Vikings”.

The remaining acts have to the chance now to show that they have what it takes and they are split up into 9 different categories: Magicians, Harmonica, Danger, Classical Singers, Dance, Female Singers, Kids, Comedians, and Male Singers. First up the magicians show their stuff and first up is Military man William Scott Anderson. He performs to the best of his abilities and he is followed by Sharon saying that he deserves a spot but Pierce disagrees. Michael Grosso is up next and Pierce tells that it was good but small scale as Michael attempts to impress with switch of hand. After Michael, Murray wants to go with the saying that “bigger is better” and makes a convertible appear behind a curtain. Last up is Chip Scoon, the anti-magician wants to make comedy and out of his magic. Pierce tells that it was pointless, but Sharon and Howie think it is funny.

Next to perform are Harmonica players 74 year old Pierre and 54 year old Ten He He. They both play for the spot and each show good talent on the Harmonicas, but Sharon is having doubts to whether or not they need a Harmonica act or not. Next are the Acrobatic groups and the Rock Climbing Duo are up and perform with precision and accuracy. Michael and Ashley are up next and towards the end of the performance; Michael gets caught on the ropes. Technical Error and it doesn’t look good for them. Rudy is up next and shows that he has strength but it is the assistant that gets the praise from Pierce when she holds Rudy on top of her and she supports him with her skinny arms.

Next up after the break, the Danger Category is up and “Sideshow Freak Show” impresses when they run a nail through a tongue, Donna drops a sword. The talent is moved outside and “The Strong Man” lifts 900 pounds of weight and holds two motorcycles in one place. The “Paul Bunyan Lumberjacks” show that they have talent and make the judges laugh when they put the log in the pool and walk on it. Back inside, Antonio enters the stage and steps up his game a little more and has a little malfunction with his fire gun.

Next category to show their stuff is classical singers. First up is John Qualley also known as “Prince Poppycock” enters and tells that despite a soar throat and sick bug, the show must go on. He performs and doesn’t show his best. Next is 59 year old Hannibal Mead, dressed as a rooster, he sings a lot better then last time. Carlos is up and he is a little nervous. He sings superb. But Howie doesn’t feel that it wasn’t impressive enough as last time. Dance Category and first up are the Hot Shot Tap Dancers” and one of the brothers slip up a little. This is followed by a Hindu dancing group and street dance group. Hip hop vilionist shows her stuff and the last two, “Rekless” and “Style Pros Crew”, are going to perform for a spot. First up, “Style Pros Crew”, moves it without any mistakes and adds style and flips. “Rekless” are up and they perform well but without the flips and twirls.

Next up is Female vocalists. April Lane performs at her best and she is followed by Debra Romer singing “Foolish Games”. She is pitch perfect and Pierce really likes her and can feel her sadness in her voice. Final act to perform for the group is Mary Ellen. She brings her bizarre talent to the stage to which Pierce walks out on her. After an agonizing 10 minutes, they finally get her off stage. Pierce, in the break room, calls it “Musical Torture”, but Howie and Sharon love it. The Kids are up now and the talent is tight with this group. Each have that raw talent and not all perform at their best. Conner, the kite flyer is up and he tells his story and gets on stage. He flies his kite perfectly but Sharon feels that he won’t be able to handle the pressure of Hollywood. Little rapper C.J. Dippa is up. This 11 year old can rap and it is own words to the song that he makes up too.

Comedians are on stage and Doogie gets to tell his all of his jokes. But they are not sure which one was better. Novelty acts, or the acts that are so bizarre that they get a category that doesn’t know which area to put them, and first up is the sexy painter and shows her “assets” and paints another painting that you have to put together to see the picture. Dressed up in a tight leather outfit, she gets the “attention” of every male in the audience. She is followed by Arthur Nacane which shows his talent of….you know. This is followed by 74 year old Sally Cohen to prove that hand whistling is a good enough talent to get through and it is amazing how she can hit the high and low notes. Guess that the 63 years of experience of hand whistling has paid off.

Last category up is male singers. One singer cracks under pressure and is not going to impress while Taylor Mathews sings great despite Pierce saying that he was he was pushing a bit. Michael Grim is up and tells that he is a mellow singer. He sings but he goes over the 90 seconds and it could be disqualified for it. Yeah, tell that to Mary Ellen who went over the 90 second mark by 9 minutes! However, he is a crowd favorite and is the only act to get a standing ovation.

Decision time and the judges are picking their favorites and they argue back and forth about who is worth the spot in Hollywood. There are several categories to pick. The judges come to a decision and first up to get decided upon are Sideshow Freak Show and The Strong man. Both go through. Paul Bunyan Lumberjacks and Donna don’t. Antonio gets through as well. Sexy Painter get through of course and hand whistler, Sally Cohen goes through to Hollywood. As for the dancers, Rekless gets through. Pierre makes it to Hollywood and Rudy and the Rock Climbing Duo. This is followed by Doogie getting through and the other comedian asking if Doogie gets sick or dies, does she fill his spot, and and so does crazy Mary Ellen gets her chance to get though. This is followed by Debra and the mother of the famous actress from “Precious” and finally Taylor and Michael from the male singing group. It has been a long road but all have their spot in Hollywood.

27 acts go through and the 11 spots remain. The 17 acts that join the other 10 from Group C are: Strong Man, Sideshow Freak Show, Antonio, Chips Cooney, Murray, Hannibal Mead, “Prince Poppycock”, C.J. Dippa, and another, Anna and Ben, sexy Painter, Sally Cohen, Rekless, The 3 dance groups, Pierre, Rudy and the Rock Climbers, Doogie, Mary Ellen, Debra and “Precious” mother, Taylor Mathews, and Michael Grimm. 21 spots remain for the coveted Top 48 on America’s Got Talent. Who will go through? The choice is up to the judges.

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