Americas Got Talent 10 Judges Cuts - Week 4: Derek Hughes, Xavier Mortimer and Stevie Starr

(For British Viewers, The Following May Contain Spoilers)

This week saw the last round of Judges Cuts on America's Got Talent, with the last group of 20 acts competing for the final seven spots in the Live Shows. The line-up included two of the most memorable magicians from the audition stages, Derek Hughes and Xavier Mortimer, as well as "The Professional Regurgitator", Stevie Starr. Furthermore, former AGT judge Piers Morgan, noted for his highly critical judging style, joined Howard, Heidi, Mel B and Howie on the panel as the "Guest Judge", so the competitors had to pull out all the stops in order to impress him.

How Did Derek Highes Fare?

Amsong the numerous changes that have occurred to AGT since Piers left the show in 2011 (after serving as judge for the first Six Series) has been the shift from the conventional Illusionists, who dominated during the early seasons and nearly always relied on big boxes and ostentatious illusions, to magicians such as Mat Franco and Smoothini who rely on smaller-scale tricks. As a magician specialising in the newer approach, Derek Hughes had to prove to Piers that a trick done with a dictionary and a few sheets of paper could be just as impressive as the grand illusions performed by the likes of Michael Grasso and Landon Swank. Derek did a trick themed around telepathy, and began by getting Howie to think of a city. He wrote down a prediction, but then discarded it after Howie revealed his chosen city. Derek then told Mel B to think of a guy's name, but after writing his prediction down, he claimed that he had accidentally read Heidi's mind and written down her chosen name. He asked Mel B to think of her chosen male again, and after writing another predicted name beneath Heidi's, he discarded the second prediction in the same way that he had discarded the first. Derek then got Howard to join him on stage for the second half of the trick. He told Howard to hold a mini dictionary in his hands, and wrote down the word he thought Howard would choose ("morbid") in full view of the audience. Howard was then instructed to choose a random page of the dictionary, and "morbid" was the first word on the chosen page. After noticing that Piers was not impressed by this trick, Derek returned to the two discarded predictions he had made earlier and opened them up to reveal that he had correctly predicted Howie's chosen city, and the names chosen by both Heidi and Mel B. Derek is enjoyable to watch and this routine was an improvement on his audition, but I still get the sense that his personality is far more interesting than the tricks themselves, which are done well but still relatively conventional. Derek's performance was praised by the regular judges, with Howard saying that he provided "great energy". Unfortunately, Piers remained unconvinced, claiming that he enjoyed the delivery but saying that the performance lacked a "wow factor". However, Derek made it through, with Piers telling him shortly after the verdict that "Many people have done very well by trying to prove me wrong." Iconic AGT magician Nathan Burton was one of the acts who managed to win over Piers on this show, so Derek has someone he can learn from if he wants to be able to compete with Oz Pearlman or Piff the Magic Dragon.

How Did Xavier Mortimer Fare?

Throughout the Judges' Cuts stage, the four regular Judges have been able to give an X to acts they disliked, with any act who got 4 X's going home immediately. For the most part, the panel have used their buzzers sensibly, with only a handful of particularly bad acts being eliminated. However, there will always be instances of the Judges abusing the buzzer to punish a talented act for a single mistake. This is what happened to Xavier Mortimer. The former Incroyable Talent finalist began his performance by juggling four glass balls. However, he dropped one of them, and all four judges pressed their buzzers almost immediately, eliminating Xavier from the Judges' Cuts before he could properly begin his routine. The Judges were far too harsh towards Xavier. Whilst his initial mistake meant that he probably would not have made it through even if he had finished the performance, the X's should only be used if an act is really bad or has made numerous errors. Xavier was merely unlucky, and the fact he was X'ed out so quickly, whilst far worse acts such as Leroy Patterson (whose act consisted of throwing himself onto mousetraps until he bled) were allowed to finish their performance, demonstrates that the judges treated him unfairly. However, America's Got Talent is not the only stage for magic acts. Xavier should not dwell on his failure, but instead take to heart advice Howard gave to another act who failed to finish their performance at the Judges Cuts - keep performing and, within a year or two, this setback will no longer seem significant. Anyone who has seen Xavier on Incroyable Talent or Penn and Teller : Fool Us will know that his performances on AGT did not reflect what he is truly capable of. Hopefully, in the future, he will get another opportunity to demonstrate what a talented and innovative magician he really is.

How Did Stevie Starr Fare?

 
 Stevie Starr has previously made it to the Live Shows of Britians Got Talent in 2010 (When Piers was also a judge on that show) and the finals of Incroyable Talent, but has never had to go through anything like the Judges' Cuts. Furthermore, he was the last act of the day to perform, meaning he was under even more pressure to deliver an impressive performance. However, he managed to do this, providing a set of tricks that were disgusting and dangerous, but still fascinating to watch. Stevie begun by swallowing a small plum tomato whole, then swallowed a sharp razor blade to go with it. He then regurgitated the razor blade, before regurgitating the tomato, which had been cut in half inside his stomach. Stevie then performed a new variation on the coin regurgitation routine he had performed in his audition. He swallowed five coins with different letters written on them (A "T", an "S", a "O" an "P" and an "A"), before asking the judges to write down the five letters and make a four-letter word from them. Piers chose the word "Pots", so Stevie regurgitated the coins with the "P", "O","T" and "S" written on them, in that order. He then swallowed a large clip, before regurgitating it with the "A" coin clipped inside it. This is unquestionably a unique and interesting act, but it is not comfortable to watch, and that could put a lot of viewers off. However, the judges reacted positively to Stevie's performance. Heidi was a particularly enthusiastic fan, saying that she was "blown away" by the act. Therefore, it was not a surprise when Stevie was put through to the Live Shows.

Who Else Made The Live Shows?

In addition to Derek Hughes and Stevie Starr, the following acts made it through:

Singer Alicia Michilli
Trapeze Artists Duo Volta
Stand-Up Comedian Gary Vider
Videomapping Dance Troupe Siro-A
Preteen Dance Duo The Gentlemen

I wish them all the best of luck in the Live Shows.

Next Week: The Live Shows begin, with Piff the Magic Dragon being the first of four magicians to compete in the Top 36. Visit this blog soon for a preview of the Live Shows.