The world’s biggest talent search is back with a bang!

In the show’s first few minutes, Nick Cannon promised us that, this season, we would laugh, we would cry, and we wouldn’t believe our eyes. Something he promised us last year as well. However, I must admit that the season premiere delivered the goods to at least make me laugh and to make my jaw drop a few times. This was probably one of the most entertaining episodes of the series thus far thanks to the fact there were less singers and dancers than on previous seasons — allowing AGT to slightly step away from being too much like American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance — and because the acts they chose to show in the episode were diverse: ranging from magic, to juggling with stun guns, to a comedic act with a parrot!

Kudos to the staff members who decide who gets to perform on stage for having chosen 50-year-old Frank Olivier to start the season off with a juggling-on-a-unicycle act. If you check Funny Frank’s official site, you’ll discover that the act he performed during his AGT audition has been performed many times before, including on TV shows, and with other celebrities. But what made his AGT performance extra special was that he chose not Sharon, not Piers, but germaphobe Howie Mandel to be his helper! Howie truly seemed freaked out by Frank especially since the latter was very good at faking being rather unstable on his unicycle. The fact that Frank was holding onto Howie’s head and one of his arms was just pure comedic genius considering Howie hates being touched because of all those nasty germs! Even if Frank will never get Howie’s vote, the comedic juggler will more than likely go far in the competition.

Some of the acts going through:

• Singer and piano player Ryan Andreas who sang Sarah MacLachlan’s “Arms of an Angel.” His soulful performance was so fantastic that not only did he get a standing ovation but he got Piers to use the word “impressive.” It’s hard to believe that he never performed in front of an audience before considering his amazing voice that will surely lend him a recording contract even if he doesn’t win AGT.
• The Vegas Birds offered us what was probably the best animal act ever on the show. Debbie’s energy and comedic timing were spot on but what was most impressive was Danny the Parrot’s answers and imitations. As Piers said, Danny is probably one of the most intelligent animal a lot of us has ever seen. Case in point: When Debbie imitated the sound of an animal, Danny was able to say which animal it was! It will be interesting to see where this act is going as Debbie claims she has a bird that can read minds and another that does magic tricks.

Some of the acts not going through:

• John “America’s Greatest Weapon of Mass Instruction” Jacobson and his “Double Dream Hands Dance.”
• Primitivo Montoya, “Robot Wang Chung New Age” dancer who also thinks he can sing. Tivo was the first of two contestants who fell off stage by not paying attention while doing their act!
• The second contestant to fell off the stage was Metatron, the angel of light who claimed he would show us the path … yet, he was not able to stay on his own path!
• Louie the fart impersonator. The fart noises he chose for each judge were spot on, especially the one for Piers! Judge for yourself in the video below (go to the 5:18 mark).

The Worst of the Worst: My vote goes to The Forever Young Dancers. Don’t know about you, but I think I’ll have nightmares tonight featuring those elderly men dressed as babies with diapers! That was just plain wrong. Udi “How you feelin’?” Abagnale was a close second.

The “I Can’t Believe this Act is Going to Vegas” act: Olivia Bellafontaine, burlesque dancer. Really?!

The Show Stealers: Tobias, Young J, and Lil’ Josh, the members of SH’Boss Boys, rocked the house and won over the hearts of the crowd and the three judges! Their “wapping,” as they said, was not the best but those boys were so darn cute! Extra brownie points for one of the kids saying that, if they win, he would buy a big house with tons of toys for kids who currently don’t have a home. Awwww….

The Best of the Best: Team iLuminate amazed everyone with their performance. Some might say they are “Fighting Gravity” wannabes since both acts were done in the dark with some cool light effects. But what Team iLuminate seems to have that Fighting Gravity didn’t to the same degree is the dancing. Some of the moves iLuminate members made were quite daring considering they were in total darkness. For sure, this group will make it through the Top 20 if not further in the competition.

Lastly, here is a clip from the premiere featuring some successful contestants, including magician Landon Swank who performed an amazing and unique box trick.

Clacked by Isabelle Carreau
on Jun 01, 2011 @ 00:47 EST5EDT