Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-10812216-20190626170653/@comment-36158916-20190626235157

Week 5: 
 * 1) Sideshow Opera - Interesting combination for sure. They have a quirkiness to them which makes them more relatable instead of just lifeless dummies getting stuff thrown at them. The feet throwing and opera singing are definitely nice touches. The thing is that like Bob stated, they aforementioned throwing and singing aren’t that great by themselves. Still I think just the novelty may allow them to maybe make quarterfinals.
 * 2) Izzy and Easton - I personally prefer contemporary dance like this when it’s done solo or as a group rather than as a duo. There’s always either sexual or romantic tension which I can’t help but feel. I felt that was true to some extent here but if I were to look at it subjectively, than it was alright. I’ve seen better on WOD though. I’d say quarterfinals.
 * 3) Lamont Landers - It’s Daniel Emmet all over again but even worse. If I recall correctly, I felt Daniel was already decent enough on his first song and his second song was even better. Lamont’s voice is nice but yeah I don’t think the first song was that great. Same deal as last week where I say that Simon should either 1. Wait for the performance to end and then request a new song or 2. Buzz. It’s just unfair and rude. The way he was pushing the poor dude seemed so forced and he was CLEARLY biased. I think he could’ve done better had it not been for the added pressure and rushed rehearsal. He’ll probably be eliminated in Judge Cuts.
 * 4) Ndlovu Youth Choir - They were a lot better than the choir from last week imo. You could tell they were more refined and professional. I was pretty impressed and I’m glad they went with a traditional African song. On that note, I do feel with acts that place such an emphasis on their foreign home/culture, there is always some debate on whether or not they even belong on AGT. Acts like Verba, ADEM, and even V. Unbeatable to an extent don’t suffer as much since their tradition isn’t a central part of the actual performance. Anyways I think they’ll probably make semifinals.
 * 5) IDEGO - On one hand, I think the idea of virtual reality being used for comedy is an interesting idea that can lead to numerous possibilities if executed properly. On the other hand, it’s whether or not said execution is done properly which worries me. If it doesn’t end up being funny, it’s going to bomb HARD. This time they took advantage of Howie’s phobia which ended up being pretty funny. I think they’ll probably be cut in Judge Cuts or maybe even be the usual multimedia act producer GB. 
 * 6) Emanne Beasha - I’ve probably heard a million Nessun Dorma covers at this point. I don’t know that much about opera to begin with so I don’t have much to say about her other than it was nice. From what I remember, I think Laura Bretan was better. She seems to be a nice kid though, not too obnoxious but not too fake either. Since we need the mandatory opera singer in at least the semis, she’ll probably get that far at least.
 * 7) Lukas and Falco - Out of all the dog trainer acts on the show, he wasn’t that impressive. I’m already not a fan of most animal acts so he stood out even less. It did warm my heart to see how he’s had this dog since he was a kid who didn’t originally want it and now they’re nearing the end of their careers. It should lead to some cool storyline segments down the line. Considering how much America loves dog acts, it’ll be a competition between these two and the poodles last week. Probably semifinals also imo.
 * 8) Verba - Best act of the night by far. Just like Adem, everything was on point from the storyline to the choreography to the music. Idk about y’all but I REALLY love that “Love Me Like You Do” rearranged version. The way they switched to the instrumental was also a nice touch. They’ll probably make the finals.
 * 9) Ben Trigger - Say what you want about his sexuality, appearance, whatever, I didn’t think the dancing was spectacular. Nothing against him personally but I just didn’t find the stripping down to be necessary either. The Golden Buzzer moment was absolutely Gold though. Considering we’ve had acts like Oscar Hernandez go to the quarterfinals, I wouldn’t be surprised if Ben was the same.

'''Like I said Verba was the best act of the night but the S. African choir was good too. I think a lot of the acts this week will probably make it really far because of their status as a singer and/or a compelling story (sorry if this is repetitive). Last week’s episode is still my personal favorite.'''