‘America’s Got Talent’ review: Nikki McBurnett, Greg Roe, Wild West Express take us outside

We are nearing the end of the “America’s Got Talent” auditions, and for at least the first 50 minutes of the show or so, we were starting to serious wonder if tonight’s episode was just a stack of leftovers for acts that NBC did not want to put on earlier. It took us getting into the great outdoors again to really impress us, even if we had a band and a comedian that were solid before that.

Samantha Johnson – A worthy start to the night, though we have to admit that seeing someone perform “(You Make Me Feel Like a) Natural Woman” in 2015 is not something particularly innovative. Compare her to some of the acts in the second hour, and it is night and day as far as originality goes.

Paul Ponce – He was certainly charming, but we cannot exactly say that there was anything in his juggling act that was brand-new. We’ve seen so many of these acts now that if you really want to blow us away, you need to come out and juggle some sort of crazy fire or something.

Silvia Silvia – Paul’s mother, a decent bow-and-arrow act. Once again, was there anything that really broke the mold here at all?

Heavenly Joy Jerkins – We are not much of a fan of this at all. We acknowledge that she has the “cute kid” factor, but we really don’t need to see five-year old singers on this show. They shouldn’t have to deal with all of this pressure for one, and they always tend to last far longer than they really should just because voters find them adorable.

Master Qi – He was nuts the first time, and he is still nuts. Still, we really dig the fact that there are acts on the show like him, mostly because they are so weird and different that they are completely captivating. You never know what they will do!

Mountain Faith Band – Probably the strongest act of the first hour. They had a nice rendition of “Counting Stars” that was not just entertaining, but also innovative. Other music acts, please take notice.

Leo Lytel – For a fifteen-year old comic, Leo was very good. There was something a little bit off about his delivery that he needs to fix. He is a little too monotone, but his material is very good and surprisingly edgy. We like it when kids come out and take us by surprise.

Trizzie D – We’re not entirely sure how there was ever a world record to be broken when it comes to using your head in order to smash watermelons. This has to be the most ridiculous thing we’ve ever seen, and we have a hard time imagining that this dude doesn’t have a concussion or something.

Wild West Express – This was super-impressive, but at the same time probably super-terrifying. Who thought it was a great idea to convince some kids that they really should decide to do gymnastic stunts on horses? We’ve never seen anything quite like it, but wild animals are so unpredictable that we definitely would not be comfortable doing this.

Greg Roe – Greg likes to jump off of really high cranes. He’s almost Professor Splash without the splash! Entertaining, but we don’t know how he can continue to keep this original unless he decides to start mixing up how he wants to do these jumps.

Nikki McBurnett – Completely insane, but also really awesome. Putting yourself in an exploding limousine was no joke. There are danger acts, but there is a certain talent that comes in the timing and the stage presence. This is what Nikki brought that makes this act stand out.

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