America’s Got Talent: The Last Hurrah

Tuesday night’s episode of America’s Got Talent was the last night of auditions, and though I’ve enjoyed most of the audition episodes I’m excited as a first-time viewer to see where the show will go from here. The show wrapped things up in Chicago – and those clips of Ferris wheels and deep dish pizza made me think that Chicago wouldn’t be a bad city to visit. Seriously, that pizza looked good. Do they let chefs audition for this show? I want to see someone get up on stage and make delicious, delicious pizza.

First up, though, was not a pizza chef. It was a guy named Zack whose “talent” was sneezing with his eyes open. I loved seeing Howie’s reaction to the germ-tastic act – he moved to the back of the auditorium and shouted “What are you doing?” and “X!” Honestly, though, did we really need to see this kid get up on stage and pick his nose for a minute? Gross. Howie put it best with “That’s snot talent.”

Strikers All-Stars, an all-guys dance crew, really impressed me with their military-style performance. I also really loved the “classical music” group who performed the Kelly Clarkson hit “Since U Been Gone”. It reminded me of my childhood days playing the violin when a particularly cool music teacher would give us a Beatles arrangement or something.

Possibly the worst audition I’ve ever seen was the guy who sang “I’m eating cheese” while wearing a cheese-shaped hat. And I love cheese. Seriously, I really, really love it. In fact, if something doesn’t have cheese melted on it then it often isn’t worth eating. And I’ve probably been known to sing a little ditty about cheese myself when home alone some night, making myself a plate of nachos. But that doesn’t mean I should go on TV to do so, and I don’t want to watch anyone else singing about cheese either. Especially out of tune.

The big surprise of the night came halfway through the episode with Puerto Rican opera singer Carlos Aponte.

Finally, how cute was the last contestant? Debra Romer started out rocky with a serious case of stage fright (I’m surprised we don’t see that more) but ended up doing really well. She’s certainly not a power singer but she has a soft, sweet, soothing voice that would sound lovely live in a small setting. She’s practically made to record a CD to be played in Starbucks or something. Yes, she needs to get over the nerves. But I think she has potential. Howie said no, but Piers and a hesitant Sharon put Debra through to the next round. Of course Sharon would come around in the end – there was no way they’d end the audition episodes on such a disappointing note!

How do you feel about this season of America’s Got Talent so far? Do you think we’ve seen the winner?

Comparing Fedor’s loss to GSP’s loss to Matt Serra

Talkin’ Hoops with Halifax Rainmen Assistant Coach, Shannon Hansen