‘America’s Got Talent’ review: Freelusion, Daniella Mass, Professional Regurgitator, Benjamin Yonattan star
Tonight marked the final quarterfinal round of “America’s Got Talent” this season, and this gives us a chance to see whether or not any of these acts can really surprise us. It’s an interesting crop tonight, given that we have several acts that
Chapkis Dance Family – This problem here is not that this is a bad act; it’s just indicative of a dozen or so other dance crews that we’ve seen on the show. There is nothing here that is altogether new, so it’s hard to feel particularly impressed or blown away by anything. It may sound a little bit cynical, but at this point we really have to see something extraordinary in this category to give it some sort of legitimate time of day.
Metal Mulisha Fitz Army – While it does lose a little of the danger element by being prerecorded (we imagine that we would hear about it if something terrible had occurred during the show filming this), there’s no denying still how impressive this group is at what they do. We’ve never seen this many tricks in succession that are this impressive. There’s legitimate danger, and the ramp that they were using was incredibly thin.
Daditude – This was depressing. We really don’t think it was appropriate to buzz them out during the live show … but we still wouldn’t have loved it. It’s just a hokey, corny act that really shouldn’t have been put through to this round in the first place. They need more humor to make up for their lack of dance cohesion, and they don’t have that.
Alicia Michilli – The singer is back! She is very good, and with that we’re somewhat surprised that we haven’t seen her on another singing show before now. Still, the comparison has to be made between her and Chapkis Dance Family. She’s really good at what she does, but does it transcend? We’d say that she is a little better than most singers we’ve seen on the show, but she could be forgotten about as the night goes on.
Gary Vider – Really fun set. Some of his jokes are a little corny, but Gary got a huge reaction from the audience. Could this be the beginning of comedians bouncing back on the show after the struggle last week? Well, Heidi Klum still hates the majority of comics that turn up here. If the other three love you, then to a certain extent this is really what matters to get through.
Mountain Faith Band – They are very sweet, charming, and entertaining as a group. We don’t know if “Shut Up and Dance” was the right modern song to put into the genre, but we’d say at this point they are our #3 of the night behind Gary and Metal Mulisha Fitz Army. One more thing we’d like to see is maybe a little more energy and moving around the stage from the lead singer. Follow the lead of that dude jamming out on the banjo!
Oz Pearlman – These are tough acts to judge, since you’re always going to be doubtful of whether or not this is legitimate. Questions aside, Oz really has some good stage presence and is super-charismatic. He probably does sell this enough that you are still entertained, even if you are a doubter in some way.
Selected of God – We’re not entirely sure what Howard Stern meant about them needing to be more contemporary here, given that they were performing a pretty modern song here in “Impossible.” That aside, a really great performance! We probably dug it more than the judges did and thought it was a really good song choice for them. It brought some of that flair, but there could be a spiritual interpretation that appeals to religious viewers.
Professional Regurgitator – This is so disgusting, and yet at the same time kind of brilliant. He somehow finds a way to make this ridiculously entertaining, even though you are basically just watching a guy throw stuff up every time he appears. He does something more and more dramatic every time.
Benjamin Yonattan – If we were to take out the story completely here, we’d still say that he is the best dance act of the night so far. This was a really good, triumphant in many ways routine. He moves well, and while we’d need to see some very different moves from him if he advances, we’d be happy if that happens.
Daniella Mass – This is starting to feel like the sort of night on the show where performing at the end of the show may be the only way to advance. The last seven acts have all been really good in their own way, and Daniella gave a beautiful performance of “Bring Him Home” tonight.
Freelusion – A really special way to end the show, which helped somewhat to get our mind off of the fact that Howie Mandel’s joke about bulimia marred a good minute or two of airtime. They are innovative, creative, and really wonderful to watch. It’s funny that there were no golden buzzer acts tonight, but this was easy the best overall live show.
If you want to see where we ranked the contestants going into this episode, head over to the link here. Also, sign up here to get some more TV updates on everything we cover, sent right to you via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: NBC.)