America's Got Talent Audition Show Four Recap

Hey all we are really moving along with these auditions shows. We should be almost up to Vegas week. And the last few audition shows have been really impressive with the talent level so let's hope tonight's show is just as good.

First we get a recap of last night's show with Nick adding that this show is the biggest hit of the summer. I thought So You Think You Can Dance was a bigger hit but maybe not.

Tonight's auditions start out in Houston, the first time ever the show has gone to this city. They also had the biggest crowd in show history.

We get the usual big introduction of the judges. Do we really need this every episode? Even American Idol saw the error of its ways and gave up on the big entrance after a few shows. Anyway David is wearing an appropriate cowboy hat.

First up tonight is Divani, a 29-year-old Russian singer who loves the emotion and feeling of the songs she sings. She promises to give 110 percent when she goes on the stage. Her dress is gorgeous, but her voice, not so much. She sounds kind of like she is drunk or very hoarse, or both. Piers X's her pretty quickly but the others let her finish. Divani claims she couldn't sing because the audience was booing her too loudly. Nick quips backstage that she can't sing when the audience is quiet either! Ha! She unsurprisingly gets three no's.

Bad Talent Montage- Jolie and Lester are dressed like farmers. Jolie sings horribly and plays guitar while Lester balances a lawn mower on his chin. They enlist Nick to throw vegetables into the mower, and he signals "crazy" to the crowd when the two are not looking. Meanwhile he can't throw the vegetables into the mower so we move on to another act. That was just weird. Rusty Reece sings "If I Were a Richman" and I don't think he's that bad but he is X'd pretty quickly. Really? They stopped him and let Divani keep singing. Rusty wasn't great but he was better than her. Nick is still failing to toss the veggies. Stone White does weird robotic dancing and has a rocker voice. I didn't think he was that bad either but the judges thought he was too "angry". The lawn mower act finally gets X'd by the judges.

The judges are not amused at the lack of talent so far. But hoping to prove them wrong are a bunch of girls in Shirley Temple wigs. Even Nick has one!! They are a large dance team named Lake Houston Performing Arts Center made up of adorable young girls aged 8-14. The act is a disco-style dance to "Shake Your Groove Thing" and they are very good. The choreography is cute and they are very in sync. They get a standing ovation from the audience too. Turns out the wigs are supposed to be celebrating the 70s, not Shirley Temple, which makes sense considering the song and dance style. Piers thought the wigs worked well. Sharon asks to see the choreographers, and out they come, plus Nick still in the wig. She says it was perfect. David says they are the best act in Houston so far (though that's not saying much). They get three yes's and are off to Vegas. Aw some of the girls are so happy they are crying.

We are back from break and Nick is on a ranch complete with a cowboy hat and Southern accent. He says we have seen the good, bad, and ugly so far (though more bad and ugly than good).

Next up is an adorable dog named Viva, owned by Pam Martin. The dog actually dances with Pam. Her husband passed away (Pam's, not the dog's), and the dog helped her grieve after her husband died. Aw that's like my aunt- her parents and sister both died within a few years of each other and so she got a dog to ease the pain. Now she's a part-time dog trainer and her second dog (her first one died a few years ago) goes to hospitals to cheer up sick kids. I don't really see much actual dancing but the act is adorable. Viva puts her legs back to the beat, then jumps around and onto Pam. At one point Viva puts her paws on Pam's legs and they move together. That is one of the cutest acts I've ever seen. Viva even walks on her front legs too and hops on her back ones! Sharon thought they were fabulous. Pam says much of their dancing is freestyle. Piers says it looked like training routines but they were entertaining. I agree on both accounts. David says it was the best dog act he's ever seen. They are off to Vegas! And of course Piers makes the obligatory Viva Las Vegas joke (groan).

Now we are in Miami, which apparently means Flo Rida must be played in the background. And David is for some reason still wearing a cowboy hat.

First up in Miami is magician Marti Brill. I think he's going to be bad, but then again I said that about the magician last night too who was great. Anyway he says he practices all the time and that people talk about his act for years after seeing him. Cocky much? He says he has been doing this for 20 years yet is only 25 years old. So he has performed professionally since he was five?? I doubt it. He first takes some cards out of his mouth, then throws them down, them takes more out of his mouth. He then pours soda into a cup and has the cup levitate. That was better than his card act but gets him two X's. He then lays a girl down on a bench held up by two chairs but only removes one chair for some reason. He seems to think he nailed it but is getting booed by the crowd. I'm kind of glad he stunk since he was a jerk. Piers says he is the most annoying man in Miami. He says the acts were all ones we've seen before, which is true. I've never seen the soda thing before but the rest was lame. David says it wasn't David Copperfield. He gets three no's, to the anger and shock of Marti.

More bad acts hated by the crowd. Brandon Paxton reads some poems on ex-girlfriends- that's his whole act? He could at least do some slam poetry or something. And the poems themselves were bad too. Diego Baner is a voice teacher who sings. Which I know from years of watching American Idol means he will be horrible. He sings very low but I don't think it's that bad. The audience however turns on him immediately, as do the judges. Sharon says he sounds like a sheep was in his throat! Ouch. The Midwest Entertainers do some fake fighting onstage and that's about it. Piers says they are not spring chickens, and they counter that neither is he. Piers counters back that the Entertainers have the guns (meaning huge muscles, not real guns), but we've got the Cannon, aka Nick Cannon. The Cannon is terrified of them, but the judges send them on their way.

40 minutes in and exactly two acts have gone through. I guess they showed all the good acts over the last two nights.

Piers thinks that Miami session was the worst group they've had in three years!

But hoping to break that streak is illusionist Joseph Constantine and his wife Casey. He has adorable kids but has had a tough life recently. He was hurt by the recession and had to declare bankruptcy, losing his car and house. He had given up on his dreams but his wife urged him to continue. He starts out doing the typical "put a woman in a box and then appear to cut her in pieces with dividers" routine but when he opens the box after putting the dividers in she is gone!
Then out go the dividers and there appears the wife! That was pretty good. I still liked the illusionist last night better but he was good enough to go to Vegas. Plus his kids are so cute! David says they've seen that act a lot before so he has to think about it. Sharon says she's seen the trick before but she's never seen his twist on it. They are all on the fence. Piers says that was the best example of that trick that he's seen. Joseph and his wife put on their sympathy faces, and Piers says the show is about giving people like them a break. David counters that 100 million people have that story and they need to focus on the talent. Normally I would agree but I do think this guy has talent, and usually in the audition shows I say if someone has talent they should go through. The weaker talents can be weeded out in Vegas but as long as they are decent they should get to the next round. David subsequently says no. Piers says they don't want to give him special treatment, and after thinking about it he says yes, to the delight of the crowd and Joseph's kids. Sharon is the tiebreaker, and I have a feeling from the sentimental music playing that she is going to say yes. Indeed she does. He won't make it far but it is nice seeing the joy on his kids' faces as they run out on stage to congratulate him.

Now for a montage of good acts for a change. Fuchsia FoXXX does a sexual belly dance that pleased David and Piers of course, and Sharon as well. Circus R Us have a variety of tricks, including contortion and giant hula hooping. The Hurricane Tricksterz do a mix of karate and dance that looks cool. And having great bodies doesn't hurt either!! All three are through to Vegas, though none of them impressed me that much.

All that's left is the obligatory "incredible" last act that the producers are putting last to pimp before the live shows. Tonight's act is Hairo Torres, who works two jobs but practices at home when he can. He is a breakdancer who has been dancing for 10 years. He comes from a poor background so the money would really change his life. His act is more of a mix of contortion and dancing than anything else. He puts his head between his legs, does jump rope with his jacket, and twists himself like a pretzel. His act makes my body hurt just watching him. He's good but not worthy of the pimp spot as the last act in the show, then again no one tonight was really amazingly impressive. David says it was terrific, Sharon calls it unique (which it surely is), and Piers says he wants to see more. He of course is sent through to Vegas.

So that's it for tonight's show. Not one of their best in my opinion. I liked Viva the dog dancer and the Lake Houston dancers the best but like I said no one really blew me away. What are your thoughts? Were you more impressed with Hairo than I was? Who else did you enjoy? And did
you think the judges were too harsh on some of the "bad" acts? And are you as excited as I am to hear the singer they showed in the commercial for next week's show? Post your comments below.