France's Got (Plenty of) Magicians

(Before I start, I'd like to apologize for all the mistakes I made in my badly-received review of the Palladium Magic show in September. I'd also like to apologize for most of my outspoken comments on some of the acts (though I still dislike Jeff Hobson). Sometimes, it's better to look at the positives instead of the negatives.)

Of of all the versions of Got Talent in 39 different countries, the French version, Incroyable Talent, is one of the best for magicians. In the past, it has seen amazing Magicians such as Enzo Weyne, Florain, and Mohamed Chedaddi, and this year looks to be no different. In fact, we've seen more magicians then ever before! There have been four episodes of auditions so far, and there is only one to go before the top 30 is picked. 38 acts have been passed so far, and 6 of them are magicians. Although last year, just two magicians got to represent the art in the live shows, this year could be far better.

The six magicians are...

• Syl and Son - Father and son mentalists.Their act is impressively unconventional, but I wonder how far it could go.
•  Xavier Mortimer- Did an inventive spin on the disembodied hand trick. A part involving it drinking milk was particularly effective
• Aldo Nicoloni- A finalist in Italy's got Talent, Aldo's signature routine involves making his head drop off. It's very funny and clever, but I wonder if he will be able to do anything else
• Laurent Beretta - Did an effective spin on the levitation trick, but does he have the talent or ability to innovative he needs to go all the way?
• Drago- Did a version of the Aquarian illusion, which most magicians do on these shows (e.g David and Karen in Britain, Landon Swank in America,Phoenix in Australia).However, compared to those magicians, it was pretty weak.
• Amile and Sylvie- An all-female quick-change act. Unique for this show, but the changes have been seen before, and quick-change acts are notorious for lacking range (American quick-changers David and Dania did the same routine each time they were on the show)

I'm sorry I couldn't find any videos of the acts (you can watch the full episodes on YouTube, though) but I can assure you, it was worth the struggle to find these clips online.

With one episode left before the live shows, there is still a chance of new magicians before the ones who go into the liveshows are picked, however, it is very likely that at least two of those through already will make the next round. I predict that Syl and Son and Xavier Mortimer will go through, and Laurent Beretta will if there's room for three in the liveshows  (Provided a new and better magician doesn't emerge in this week's episode.

Continue coming to this blog for more coverage on Incroyable Talent in the coming weeks.