Last week, the Americas Got Talent Semifinals began, with 11 acts competing for the first five places in the Grand Final. This means that it will be harder to get through, and the high standards at this stage will mean that some excellent acts will be eliminated.
Among the 11 acts competing in the first Semifinal were two magicians: Blake Vogt and Jon Dorenbos. Given that both of them specialise in Close-Up Magic and Mentalism, the competition between the two would be especially intense.
How Did Blake Vogt Do?
After theming his previous performance around birds, Blake Vogt made flight into a central part of his Semifinal routine. He began by showing the audience a balcony to the left of the stage, where his fiancee Nikki (who he introduced us to in his pre-performance video) was seated. After this, Blake talked about how he and Nikki would often engage in a "nerdy debate" about the two most common" superpowers, flight and invisibility, before promising that he would demonstrate both of these. Blake's first trick was a card trick. He asked Simon to choose a card, before tearing off a corner and giving the remainder of the chosen card (the Ten of Clubs) back to Simon. Blake then made his quarter of the card vanish from inside his bare hands, claiming that it had become invisible, before making this invisible piece "fly" through the air and "land" inside an empty box of cards lying on the Judges Table. Heidi was asked to open the box, and revealed a piece of a card inside. This piece turned out to be the missing piece of Simon's chosen card.
After this trick, Blake promised to do something much more spectacular, and demonstrate invisibility and flight himself. He revealed a Scissor Lift and climbed onto it. He then turned it on, lifting himself high into the air. After this, Blake claimed that he could only make his body invisible, and not his clothes. He covered himself with a sheet and took off various items of clothes whilst hiding beneath it. Blake then removed the sheet to reveal that he was now dressed in a head-to-toe "camouflage" bodysuit, which resembled the brick wall in the background (However, the camouflage was not too convincing). After this comedic demonstration of invisibility, Blake promised to demonstrate the power of flight. He covered himself with the sheet a second time, and after a few seconds, it fell away to reveal that Blake had vanished from the Scissor Lift. Almost immediately afterwards, Blake reappeared inside Nikki's balcony, still wearing his camouflage suit.
Overall, this was probably Blake's best performance to date. After so many Close-Up tricks and mentalism routines, it was interesting to see him tackle a Grand Illusion as well, and this was performed competently. I also liked the superhero theme, which made Blake seem a bit more unique. In addition, Blake's showmanship was far better than it had been in his previous two performances, possibly because the grander scale of the routine suited his energetic personality well. However, whilst this routine was fun, I don't think it changed my belief that Blake is the weakest of the five magicians who made the Semifinals. This is the stage where magicians have to provide their most unique and/or spectacular tricks, and whilst Blake's tricks were performed well, they were inferior those provided by fellow magicians such as The Clairvoyants or Steven Brundage.
The judges generally gave Blake positive comments, with the exception of Heidi. She claimed that "I don't think bigger necessarily is always better" and argued that the card trick at the beginning was more impressive than the main illusion. However, Simon said told Blake that "this performance may have just changed your life". Howie said that he agreed with Simon more, and felt that the climactic trick was "spectacular". Finally, Mel B said that Blake left her "bewildered". Ultimately, Blake's early performance slot and the incredibly high standard of competition meant that he did not receive enough votes to make it through to the Grand Final. However, he did pretty well in this series, and went out on a high note.
How Did Jon Dorenbos Do?
In addition to his skills as a magician, Jon Dorenbos has been defined by his status as a professional American Football player for teams such as the Philadelphia Eagles. For his Semifinal performance, Jon provided a routine which centered around his experience in the NFL.
In addition to incorporating American Football into his performance, Jon also used an American theme. He began by walking on stage to the James Brown anthem "Living in America", then introduced the judges and audience to three props. The first of these was a giant map of America at the back of the stage, the second was a Treasure Chest which his grandparents had given him as a child, and the third was a Journal which Jon had also used during his childhood (It was used in "intense therapy" to help Jon cope with the traumatic events which defined his childhood, which I won't mention on this blog). Jon told Howie to look after the journal, before turning his attention to the Giant Map.
Jon then took an American football ball of a bucket near the Judges Table, and demonstrated his skills as a "Long Snapper", throwing the ball at the Giant Map backwards, and between his legs. The four judges were then given an American Football ball each, and told to aim at the giant map, either throwing their ball, or "snapping" it as Jon had done. The footballs had magnets, which allowed them to stick to the giant board when they landed on it. This would be used to allow each judge to randomly select a state from the giant map, as they would be given the state nearest to the spot where their ball landed (each state was marked with a number between 1 and 50). The Judges lined up and tried to show their American football skills. Simon hit a spot on the map between Alaska and Hawaii, and chose to select Alaska as his chosen state. Heidi successfully pulled off a "Snap", hitting the area representing Wyoming. Mel B and Howie both threw their footballs, with Mel B hitting the area representing Texas and Howie hitting the area representing Oklahoma. The states randomly chosen by the judges were marked with magnets (showing the faces of the judges who chose them), and Jon took note of the numbers corresponding to each of the chosen states.
After this, Jon brought Howie on stage, and told him to remove a key attached to the back of the journal, which was used to open the treasure chest, which contained a number of coins. Howie was instructed to bring the coins to the Judges Table, where Jon revealed that the numbers corresponding to the four chosen states added up to 167. Jon claimed that the total value of the coins would be $1.67, thus correctly predicting the combined total of the states, but the coins turned out to be four Quarters, two Nickels, and a Penny, which added up to $1.11. Jon stated that Quarters had the names of states engraved on them, and it was revealed that three of the quarters had the names and symbols of three of the chosen states (Alaska, Oklahoma and Texas). The fourth Quarter didn't, but Jon had something even more impressive to reveal. He told Mel B to open his journal, and she found a small paper map folded up inside, This was opened to reveal a smaller copy of the giant map, with four stickers of the judges in the exact same place as the magnets on the giant map, providing four correct predictions of the states which the judges chose.
Overall, this was an enjoyable, if rather long routine. I liked the manner in which Jon's American Football skills were incorporated into his performance. The patriotic theme was also effective, probably inspired by Simon's claim in the previous round that Jon was "a real American hero". I also liked the greater level of spectacle, as Jon made full use of the stage for the first time after three Close-Up routines. As usual, Jon's showmanship was excellent, and his routine was hard to figure out. However, the main problem with the routine was the use of the judges. The judges are not the most reliable volunteers, as they can often struggle to follow complex instructions. Whilst they had no trouble throwing the footballs (apart from Simon, who initially missed the map completely and required a second throw to choose a state), Howie took a while to open the treasure chest. Worse still, Howie and Mel B proved hopeless at understanding American coins (which is what happens when you have an American talent show without a single American judge). When they had to count the coins from the chest, they had no idea what they were worth, initally accepting Jon's claims that they added up to $1.67 without examining them properly. When it was time to read the names of the states on the backs of the four quarters, Howie had trouble doing this, forcing Jon to reveal the state on the back of the last quarter (Hawaii) before Howie could have a proper look at it. I appreciate Jon's desire to have a more elaborate routine with a greater number of reveals, but the two fake errors (the value of the coins not totalling $1.67 and the fourth quarter not having "Wyoming" engraved on the back) had little impact, because Howie and Mel B's mistakes slowed the routine down. Overall, there were enough positives to prevent this routine from seeming too boring, but it was still Jon's weakest performance on AGT to date.
However, the Judges were full of compliments for Jon's performance. Howie called the routine "amazing". Mel B said that it made her "speechless". Heidi called Jon's performance his "best touchdown yet" and Simon was even more effusive in his praise, saying that the routine was "the most incredible thing I've ever seen on one of these shows". Jon has always seemed like an act who can get plenty of votes even if he provides a subpar performance, so it was no surprise that he gained enough votes to advance automatically to the Grand Final, which will be held next week. I look forward to seeing Jon's performance in the Grand Final, and I believe that he has the potential to do really well.
Who Else Made It Through?
In addition to Jon Dorenbos, the following four acts made it through to the Grand Final. They Were:
- Child Singer/Songwriter Grace VanderWaal
- Teenage Opera Singer Laura Bretan
- Jazz/Swing Singer Sal Valentinetti
- Mime/Physical Comedian Tape Face
I wish them all the best of luck in the Grand Final.
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