America's Got Talent: Judge Cuts Episode 1

NOTE: If you do not care about America's Got Talent, you can stop reading here.

We are now in the Judge Cuts round and unlike last year where it was one new episode for four weeks, they decided to make it two new episodes for two weeks. So for two weeks, there are two new episodes of Judge Cuts each (one on Tuesday and Wednesday). Also, the live shows after this round will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood (which is best known for hosting the Academy Awards ceremonies) as opposed to Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

Judge Cuts goes for four episodes and a total of 80 acts perform. Each episode, 20 acts perform and only 7 advance to the live shows out of those 20. So the pressure was on. Each episode, we have one new guest judge joining the judging panel. The guest judges are given one golden buzzer to use per episode on an act they really love, which immediately ensures them one of the 7 spots in the live shows.

So here are my reviews for Episode 1 of AGT's Judge Cuts, which aired on Tuesday night.


Episode 1:

This episode, R&B singer Ne-Yo was the guest judge and joined the judging panel with the four regular judges Howie Mandel, Mel B, Heidi Klum, and Simon Cowell.

~ Hara: Hara is a magician/illusionist. For this performance, he trapped himself inside this box/container with his hands chained together. Basically he had to break free of the chains before the rope above him burned off completely releasing knives to fall and stab through the box. The rope had burned off, the knives fell and stabbed in, and he was nowhere to be seen. He then appeared out of nowhere right in front of the judges scaring them. It definitely left me wondering how he did it and overall, I thought it was a great performance.

~ Philippe and Marie-Lee: These two are an acrobatic dance duo. The performance was basically just the guy lifting the girl up in all these crazy ways that look really hard. While it was interesting to watch, it wasn't anything spectacular that I think would go through.

~ Edgar: Edgar is a family band. The mother, Nikki, used to be Christian artist by the name of Nikki Leonti. She had music, tours, and pretty much everything. However, she got pregnant as a teenager and immediately lost the record deal and everything she had. She then had her daughter, Jaslyn, and married her current husband, Ryan, and soon enough they started doing music together as a family. For this performance, they did a cover of Let It Be by The Beatles, which I thought was a really great performance. They all have great voices and they sound amazing together. One of my favorites of the night.

~ Miniotics and Jumpers In Command (two acts): Miniotics are a dance group. Their act was rather boring and not that exciting. It was more of a throwaway act. Jumpers In Command are an acrobatic jump rope group. This act was a lot more boring as it was just simply them jump roping pretty much. Throwaway act.

~ Christopher: Christopher is a dancing puppeteer act. Basically he dances with four other life-size puppets. It's kinda dumb, but fun to watch at the same time. But with only 7 out of 20 acts going through, it's a tough competition and I wasn't "wowed" enough by this.

~ Brennley Brown: Brennley Brown is a fourteen-year-old singer. She really does have amazing voice for that age and the amount of control she has is incredible. However, the act was cut short. So that probably does not mean good news.

~ Lori Mae Hernandez: Lori is a stand-up comedian. She started doing comedy when she realized her father had some sort of disorder that prevented him from showing facial expressions. All she wanted to do was get him to smile and comedy was her way to do that. For her performance, she talked about what it's like being a tween. Growing up, she was a rather shy girl who barely talked. However, her performance was on point and she had such confidence on stage. And that Caitlyn Jenner reference was awesome.

~ Dangerous Stunt Acts: The dangerous stunts acts compilation includes two acts: John Ferraro and Jon Call. I honestly have no idea how either of them got through their auditions. John Ferraro was just awful as he was breaking things with his head and using it as a tool pretty much. He got buzzed by Mel B and Heidi Klum, but that act totally should've gotten all four X's. Just look at Ne-Yo's reaction all throughout the act. That's pretty much how I felt about it. Jon Call's act was just plain stupid as he did nothing but throw a gorilla to the ground and throwing a person at the judges. Both were throwaway acts.

~ Duo Guerrero: Duo Guerrero are a danger act couple who do tightrope walking. Their performance this time around was similar to their audition. However, to make it more dangerous, the woman had her face covered as she walked along the tightrope. I was really nervous watching this. Overall I thought it was entertaining.

~ Jon Dorenbos: Jon Dorenbos is a magician. He's well-known for being in the Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL. He has gone through a lot as his mother was murdered by his father. His father was then sentenced to thirteen years in prison and soon enough, Jon and his sister were adopted by their aunt and uncle. With all this going on, magic was his escape. For his performance, he had Ne-Yo pull out a card from his deck of cards and not knowing what it is, he attempted to draw it out, but purposely drew the wrong card saying that he meant to draw a deck of cards and that Ne-Yo's card was in there. After Ne-Yo showed him the card, a drawing of the card starting to come out of the deck of cards Jon had drawn. That performance was honestly mind-blowing to me. I not only love his magic, but his comedy as well. Clearly, Ne-Yo felt the same as he felt this was the appropriate moment to use his golden buzzer to ensure Jon one of the 7 spots in the live shows.

~ The Passing Zone: The Passing Zone consists of two members and they are jugglers. For their performance, they did knife throwing including Mel B and Howie Mandel in the act. Not only did they do their act well, but they are also great comedians.

~ Group Singers: The group singers compilation consists of two acts: Julian Davis and The Hayburners and Raii and Whitney Smith. Julian Davis and The Hayburners are a bluegrass group. Their act was cut short, so there's probably a reason we barely saw them. Raii and Whitney Smith are a singing duo. I loved their first audition, so it was kind of sad to see them get their act cut short like Julian Davis and The Hayburners. That obviously does not mean a good thing.

~ Ronee Martin: Ronee is a 62-year-old singer. She really does have an amazing voice and that definitely showed in this performance. She's definitely one of my favorite singers in the competition. She has so much soul and passion in her voice. She is without a doubt one of my favorites of the night. And does anyone else notice how she kinda looks like Whitney Houston?

~ Cory Kahaney: Cory is a comedian. Her act was cut short, and it was mostly focused on the little fight between Mel B and Simon Cowell. At least that was entertaining to watch.

~ Axel Perez: Axel is a 17-year-old extreme balancer. Let's just say I was on the edge of my seat watching this performance. It was definitely scary to watch, but thrilling at the same time. Overall, I thought it was a cool performance.

~ Rory Freeman: Rory is a contemporary dancer. He definitely dances with a lot of passion and I love to see these kinds of acts. However, the act had a very small amount of air time. So that must not be good news.

~ Linkin Bridge: Linkin Bridge is a beat boxing singing group. They came from a neighborhood where there were gangs and shootings and stuff like that. So life wasn't easy for these guys. Music was their escape. Their performance was fantastic. I could feel the emotion with every word they sang. They have such great harmonies. It was absolutely incredible. It's hard for people like them to pursue music in the neighborhood they live in. But I believe that they are going to go really far in this competition. They were excellent. My favorite performance of the night.

Results:

Acts Moving Forward:

• Jon Dorenbos, magician (Golden Buzzer)
• Ronee Martin, singer
• The Passing Zone, comedic jugglers
• Lori Mae Hernandez, comedian
• Hara, magician
• Edgar, family band
• Linkin Bridge, A Capella singing group

My Top 5 Performances

1. Linkin Bridge

2. Jon Dorenbos

3. Edgar

4. Ronee Martin

5. Lori Mae Hernandez