‘America’s Got Talent’ Holiday Spectacular: On Grace VanderWaal, Terry Fator, The Clairvoyants, and others
Tonight’s “America’s Got Talent” Holiday Spectacular is something a little bit unusual for the show, given that this is the first time that we’re having a show with almost nothing relevant at all in it. We’ve going to be here throughout the night with our take on all of the performances, but we’re also probably going to be a little more jolly. Hey, it’s the holidays! Why be mean? Ultimately, this isn’t going to be a typical review so much as a reflection on some of the best acts in the history of the show.
Before diving into the acts, there are two things to mention here: Nick Cannon’s Christmas suit (love the plaid), and Simon Cowell continuing to be relatable to the everyday American by reminding us that he is spending Christmas in Barbados. Does he build sandcastles instead of snowmen?
Now, let’s move on to the acts.
Terry Fator – He won the show back in season 2, and there is still something that he does that is unique and amazing. He’s a really good singer in his own right, but then if you add how he is able to be a ventriloquist and sing as a puppet, it’s something else entirely. This rendition of “Blue Christmas” was simple, but also fun.
Silhouettes and Sons of Serendip – At this point in the show (which was around the half-hour mark, our biggest criticism for the show was mostly that we weren’t getting many opportunities to actually see performances. It took a long time to get here! Still, we didn’t really need to pan over to the judges for the middle of the performance. That’s our one Scrooge commentary for the show so far.
The Clairvoyants – They were one of our favorites from last season, and they came back to offer up a fun holiday-themed performance that showed off more of their personality. We’re sure that there is a method to the madness here, but at the same time this is an occasion where we really don’t want to know! After all, that would ruin a bit of the fun.
Jackie Evancho – Hey, she’s getting a lot of headlines these days … but let’s ignore most of that for the moment since we want to put most of the focus here on her voice, which still is amazing. Easily, she’s the best opera singer to ever come on the series.
Olate Dogs – If you don’t love this act and their various super-cute dog tricks, we’re going to start wondering whether or not you really have a soul. There are certainly few acts that manage to be this consistently adorable every single time that we see them.
Sal Valentinetti and Heidi Klum – Was that fall on Heidi’s part intentional? We thought so at first, but given that the rest of the performance was pretty straightforward, we’re starting to think that it wasn’t… It was fun otherwise?
The Professional Regurgitator – Sure, everything that he does is pretty disgusting, but at the same time it’s really fun — and we find it somewhat hilarious that this is one of Heidi’s favorite acts ever given that she is so anti-comedian.
AcroArmy – This routine was a little bit creepier than most of the other ones on the night, but at the same time we do think that they in general had a theme that really lended itself to having this sort of darker theme. “Carol of the Bells” is one of the creepier carols out there.
Piff the Magic Dragon – The best part of this whole act with Penn & Teller was the bag of “questionably obtained cash” that they gave to Simon Cowell.
Mat Franco – This was a fun holiday-themed trick that was pretty perfect — especially since kids are probably still singing about wanting to build a snowman from “Frozen.” For those who missed it, we actually spoke to Mat about performing earlier today!
Grace VanderWaal – She returned with “Frosty the Snowman,” and it was everything that you probably wanted it to be: Fun, but also energetic and heartfelt. Perfect for the winner of the season.
Professor Splash – Yes, we did end the show watching a grown man belly-flop into a pool of eggnog, and it was incredibly ridiculous. Yet, we probably watched this more intently than any other moment on the entire show.
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