America's Got Talent Season 11 - Live Shows - Result 2

Kadie Lyn, Sal The Voice, and ThroWings were in the 6th, 7th, and 8th position (in no particular order). America got to vote in the "Dunkin Donuts Save" during the show to determine who the final two spots went to. This is a huge surprise with the performance that Sal and Kadie Lynn put on.

The acts highlighted in bold below are the acts that moved on to the next round
Sos and Victoria, The Clairvoyants
Viktor Kee, Steven Brundage
Flip, Sofi Dossie, Ryan Stock and AmberLynn
Calysta Bevier, Moya Angela
ThroWings, Sal The Voice, Kadie Lynn

Sal was chosen by America in the Dunkin' Save.

Judge's choices
Howie - ThroWings
Mel B - ThroWings
Heidi - Kadie Lynn
Simon - Kadie Lynn
Tie Breaker - Kadie Lynn

Couldn't they have given the gal from ThroWings a jacket and shoes to wear on the stage? She looked really cold up on the stage. 

Why do they have judge's picks at the end of the result shows? With four judges, it will always be a tie and they will have to go to a tie breaker. 

Great job to all of the acts that performed and made it through to the semi finals. We now take 2 weeks off from the show and will return on August 23 for the final show of the quarterfinals.

America's Got Talent Season 11 - Live Shows - Quarterfinals Week 2

Mel B is wearing a red outfit that includes a dog collar. This outfit was very distracting the entire show. 

Flip - Dance routing to an Asian theme wearing gold outfits. I think this was much better than their judge's cuts performance. It seemed crisper and more rehearsed. Simon nor Howie liked it.

--Does not go through to the next round

Moya Angela - Tonight she sang the Whitney Houston song "I Didn't (Don't) Know My Own Strength". Her voice still sounds great. I loved how the band and backup singers appeared from below the stage. I think it was the right song choice for her. It seems very fitting for her story. Mel B didn't care for it very much. @MoyaAngela

--Goes through to the next round

Viktor Kee - He popped out of a sphere to how Lady Gaga did when she came out of the egg. He dropped a ball. The performance didn't feel like he had add anything new to it. I want to see him do more than juggle balls. I'm not sure this is something he can do for 90 minutes. Heidi and Howie each loved loved it and made "balls" jokes. @ViktorKee

--Doesn't go through to the next round

Kadie Lynn - Sang the country song "My Church" by Maren Morris. As much as a country fan I am, I am not familiar with this song. Each performance has gotten better and better. I think. @KadieLynn

--Goes through the next round

Ryan and Amberlynn - I love their intro package that made them look like an all-american family. I love the dangerous stunts. He swallowed a curved sword. He then swallowed a crossbow arrow that Amberlynn shot at him from the top of a step ladder. The arrow was on fire and she shot it at a target that was in his mouth. She missed the target and shot Ryan in the neck. This is one of the most dangerous acts on the show. They commented several times that Ryan was injured even though he said he wasn't hurt. All of the judges commented that he needed to go see an EMT and go to the hospital. It seems they all throught he was shot through the next and blood was splattering all over the place. @ComedyDaredevil

--50/50 on whether they go through

Calysta Bevier - This was Simon's golden buzzer from the end of the auditions. She sang "Brave" by Sara Bareilles. She sounded just like Sara Bareilles. Another song that is fitting with their back story, which is ovarian cancer. The three singers so far tonight have been really strong. The youngsters are also very strong this year @CalyBev

--Goes through to the next round

Sofi Dossi - This is Reba's Golden Buzzer from the judge's cuts. Each performance she has stepped it up and this performance she adds some additional tricks to her quiver.The way she does things were feet seems so unnatural, yet she makes it look very natural. It's almost as if her lower body is something completely separated from her upper body. This time, she shot the arrow with her feet while blind folder. She even spun around while blindfolded and made it look like she was going to shoot the judges. I love this act.  @SofiDossie

--Goes through to the next round

The Clairvoyants - This is my favorite act on the show. They had a bowl of jellybeans and Amele guess what jelly bean each one ate. Amele then guess how many jelly beans were in a glass that Mel B filled up. I always get chills when I watch this act. My mind gets blown every time I watch this act. @ThommyAndAmele

--Goes through to the next round

Sal Valentinetti - This is Heidi's Golden Buzzer from the auditions. He blew the audience away with the song "I Did It My Way". His personality is magnetic. In his one performance, he demonstrated that he has pure showmanship. Tonight he did a typical Vegas act from the 50s and 60s. He wore a white tuxedo and had the big band behind him. He sang "Story Of My Life" by One Direction as an old fashioned jazz performance. Even though this is a new song, I felt like it was a classic Frankie Sinatra song. I didn't even recognize it as a current song

--Goes through to the next round

ThroWings - Still feels like the same performance as the previous two. It's a scary performance and impressive what they do, but I don't feel like they have a Vegas act that can do this for 90 minutes. The strobe lights didn't add anything new to the performance. Simon also commented that he wanted to see more @ThroWingsDuo

--50/50 on whether they go through

Steven Brundage - Steve was not put through at judge's cuts, but viewers petitioned and AGT brought him back as a wildcard. His Rubik's cube tricks were one of my favorites. He used a large Rubik's for part of his trick. Had Heidi and Mel B roll a die and hide the color of the cube. He had Howie mix up a cube and Steve matched the sides of his own cube behind his back. He then showed that the large cube also matched in sides with Howie's cube. 

--Goes through to the next round

Sos and Victoria - The intro piece was very fitting for their act. Was the quick change into the purple outfit intentional or an accident. It seems like something was supposed to happen to let her change into the purple outfit in front of the mirror. Looks like there were a lot of mistakes in this one that won't allow them to go through. We've also now seen the same act three times in a row and I don't think I want to see it anymore. Of course Heidi (Project Runway) likes this act. 

--Does not go through to the next round

America's Got Talent Season 11 - Live Shows - Result 1

Deadly Games, Hara, and Laurie Mae Hernandez were in the 6th, 7th, and 8th position (in no particular order). America got to vote in the "Dunkin Donuts Save" during the show to determine who the final two spots went to.

The acts highlighted in bold below are the acts that moved on to the next round

Musicality, Dorothy Williams
Jayna Brown, Laura Bretan
Outlawz, Daniel Joyner
Sila Sveta, Tapeface, Jon Dorenbos
Deadly Games, Hara, Laurie Mae Hernandez
Heidi chooses Deadly Games
Mel B chooses Hara
Simon chooses Deadly Games
Howie chooses Hara
America chose Deadly games in the tie-breaker

America's Got Talent Season 11 - Live Shows - Quarterfinals Week 1

This is the first week of quarterfinals and also the first week that the show now is televised live. This is the first point where America gets to vote on the acts. 7 acts go through to the next round

Jayna Brown (14) - Singer that was Louis Tomlinson's golden buzzer pick in the final show of judge's cuts. Her and her mom have moved into her grandmother's house after losing their house. Sang "Make It Rain" by Ed Sheeran. I'm not familiar with this song. She had backup singers and and a band on stage with her. her image was projected up on the screen behind with images of rain and water. Studio standing ovation. Simon said that she killed the song and controlled the song. Heidi said that she has the voice of a winner. Said that she has so much maturity and power. Mel B said she was pitch perfect and note perfect. Howie said she was "pure".

I really enjoyed her song @TheJaynaBrown 

-Will move on to next round

Hara - Magician/illusionist. he brought in a projection of his mother. She handed him  box. He told a story with this magic trick about carrying a box through woods and having to overcome obstacles such as fire. He event floated in the air and rode a dragon. I think he stepped it up from his last performance. There was even a projection of "Harawood" on the Hollywood hills.

I believe this is definitely a Vegas show that has no known bounds. There are no limits to what he can do with this. @HirokiHaraMagic

-May go to next round

Outlawz - They feel like the underdogs in the competition. Not professionally trained.Did a ghostbusters themed dance. They came out of a New York subway dancing to "Somebody's Watching Me". I still don't feel that they are a Vegas act. They don't seem crisp. They look like 5 guys that are just having some fun at a school dance and not trying to compete for $1 million. Once they started dancing to "Superfreak", Simon gave them a buzzer. When they hit "Superfreak", I felt that their performance was starting to get cheezy @OutlawzOfAz

-Will not go through to next round

Musicality - Sang "One Last Time" by Ariana Grande. I think they did an improvement over the last performance. They are one of the best singing groups. Michael, the director, is an important part of the group, but they need to be able to do the performance without him. I think that it will really show the group's talent if they can sing witout being directed. Heidi said that this is the best that she's ever heard them. Simon thinks they have gotten better and better  @MusicalityVocal

-Will go through to next round

Laurie Mae Hernandez - Kid comedian that has had excellent auditions up to this point. Her clip showed her watching Howie Mandel stand-up. I don't think she needs to be watching old Howie stand-up. Howie stand-up from the 90s is NSFK. Told some jokes about the Oscars, Howie, and Donald Trump. Everyone laughed at all of her jokes, but I don't think it was as funny this time as the first two rounds. It might have something to do with 1/2 half her jokes having to do with election. I think I'm just numb to everything having to do with the election at this point. All of the judges liked her. Simon called her edgy, cool, and current.

--Will not go through to the next round

Deadly Games - Husband wife duo where he's a knife thrower. They upped their performance this time with him being blindfolded and standing further away. I like that they aren't just a knife throwing couple, they actually do a little performance. She gave him instructions for wear to throw the knives this time. It's still very dangerous, but I think the instructions diminishes that a little. They brought back the spinning wheel of death this week, but added fire to it. He then set his knives on fire and threw them at her. I really like this act and feel that it could do well in Vegas. Heidi gave them a standing ovation. She said he's a real showman, but that the wife is the real star of the act. Simon called it a world class act.

@Deadly__Games

-Will go on to next round

Jon Dorenbos - Magician that does small magic in front of the judges. He has the judges draw something on a piece of paper when he can't see it. He then guess which drawing went with each judge. He then had an envelope in a bottle that had smaller versions of what the judges drew. This is one of my favorite acts of the show. I love magicians and his presentation is engaging. Each act has been exceptional and I'd love to see him go far, but I don't think small magic is a show fitting for Vegas. 

-Goes through to the next round

Daniel Joyner - Singer from Tennessee. Sang "This Thing Called Love". I'm not sure if his mic was not tuned right, but something didn't sound right. I loved that he had a band and backup singers. He moved around the stage and did some moves. He didn't just stand in one place. The song is a good song choice for him, but I think he's the weakest of the acts up to this point. I think Musicality is better than him. Mel B said that she just wasn't feeling it tonight. Simon did not like the song choice and thinks that he is better than the song choice. @TheDanielJoyner

-Will not go through

Tapeface - Tapeface brough Heidi up on stage to do the act with him. He put out a blob of Play-doe and then stood behind Heidi while the song "Unchained Melody" played. They reprised the scene from Ghost. I completely cracked up at this. He then brought out Nick. He then put on a pair of sunglases and "Danger Zone" started playing. He then handed the sunglases to Nick and "Like a Virgin" started playing. He did this a couple of times with various songs playing. So far, this is my favorite act of the night. Tapeface is one of my favorite acts. Simon compared him to Mr. Bean again. @TapeFaceBoy

-Will go through

Dorothy Williams - 90-year old dancer that we saw in the auditions. Nick Cannon gave her the golden buzzer, so this is the first time we've seen her since then. She danced to "Sing, Sing, Sing", even though she didn't realy dance much. She's doing more of a strip tease. I think it's great that someone at 90-years old can dance, but I feel that she took a spot from an act that deserved it more. I think Nick's her biggest fan. 

-Will not go through

Sila Sveta - This is the first of the wild cards that were pushed through without being put through at judges cuts. In fact, they didn't even perform at judges cuts, so they went from auditions to live shows without the golden buzzer. They are dances that uses projection technology to put on the show. I think this performance carries better in person than on TV. We can see some of the tricks now in HD that we wouldn't see 10 years ago in SD. The projections look very cool, but the dance moves don't look spectacular. There was some pixelation in the projections, not sure if this was on purpose or not. Simon said that he didn't like it all. Simon said he liked the audition much better and hated the music choice. Howie said he loved and felt like he was at a different show than Simon. 

@SilaSvetaNC

-Will not go through

Laura Bretan - Child opera singer that was given the golden buzzer by Mel B. She reminds me of Jackie Evancho when she performed on AGT at 8-years old. She sang "The Prayer". She looks different between her auditions and now, but it's probably been 6 months since then. She said she turned 14 since the audition. She has the voice and the movements of a seasoned singer. The maturity her voice makes her one of the best acts of the night. Standing ovation by all judges except Howie. She started crying as the judges were talking to her.  @TheLauraBretan

-Will go through to next round

America's Got Talent Season 11 - Judges Cuts Episode 4

Judges cuts is the second level after auditions. This is the fourth and final episode of judges cuts and features Louis Tomlinson from the group One Direction as a guest judge.

The performances this week, especially by teenagers, were a little distracting. The teenagers kept oooing and awing over Louis.

ThroWings (25 & 29) - Acrobatic husband/wife duo act where the husband stands on an apparatus 10 feet in the air and throws his wife up in the air. She then does acrobatic routines. Tonight she did some of her acrobatic routines blind folded. Heidi does this thing with her hands like a kid does when they are pretending to look through binoculars. Not sure what that is. Simon said he loved the act and said that they stepped it up. Louis said this is an act he would see in Vegas, "They are legit"

Campbell Walker Fields (14) - Piano player/singer. His backstory is that he has two dads and has never met his birth mom. He Sang "A Thousand years" by Christian Perri. I'm not familiar with this song, but he seemed to put a lot of passion and feeling into the song. His dads in the audience were crying during his performance. Heidi said that his performance was not perfect; there were some mistakes, but she was moved. Louis and Simon gave him high praise for his song. Simon said that there were some issues with the tuning

Flip (14-17) - Dancing group of teenage girls. I'm not impressed with the dancing acts this year, but this group seems pretty good. We didn't get to see their entire act. 

Shane and Shannon Jensen (27 & 26) - Ballroom dancing married couple. They performed quite a few good dance moves, but AGT only showed a portion of their act. Mel B said their act was "seamless"

Outlawz (17-20) - Teenage boy dancing group. Another dancing act that is not very impressive. They did some dance moves with spotlights where different spot lights would come on and a dancer would do his movies. They started out a mess but seemed to get better through the act. Heidi gave them a No in the first round but said that they stepped it up this time. Howie loved it and said it was everything they needed it to be. Simon said that their imperfections makes them more likable

Ary Hill (20) - A singer that "The Wanderer" by Dion. It was a very abbreviated performance. Louis said he wasn't crazy about the song but that she has a lovely voice.

Avonlea Martin (16) - Singer/piano player. Another abbreviated AGT edit. Louis said she needed to pull her personality out a little more

Jayna Brown (14) - Singer that sang "Rise Up" by Andra Day. The audience stood up and started swaying with her singing. I'm not familiar with this song, but she did not sing it like a 14-year old. She sang it like she had been singing it for years. All of the judges gave a standing ovation when she finished. Heidi said her voice was so beautiful. Mel B called her a natural. Simon that she has turned this competition upside down. Louis said that she has everything and hit the Golden Buzzer on her. Her hands were shaking so hard while the judges were talking to her @TheJaynaBrown

John Hetlinger (82) - Singer that sings death metal songs. He sang "Dragula" by Rob Zombie. Louis said he wasn't sure what he just saw but he hopes he's like John when he's 82. Heidi gave him a buzzer. Heidi said that she can't detect his talent. I love this dude. I think it's great what he does, but I'm not sure he's Vegas material. 

Nathan Bockstahler (6) - Kid comedian that tells jokes from the point of view of someone his age. He says he comes up with his own jokes. This kid is really cute and tells it how it is. Mel B tells him he needs to practice if he moves on to the next round. Howie said he's adorable and cute. Louis said he wants to be his best friend. Simon thinks he will be a little movie star @NathanBocks

Victor Kee (45) - Ukrainian juggler that lost his brother due to heart attack 2 weeks after his audition. He now performs for his brother and uses a "light ball" to represent his brother. Before he started, Simon said that jugglers are usually boring, but his performance was incredible. Mel B said that she feels like he is everything this show is about. Louis said that there are so many layers to Victor's performance. Everyone loved the performance, but Heidi has to be the downer and remind him that only 7 acts get to go through @VictorKee

Sos and Victoria - Quick change illusionist couple. Sos designs all of the outfits that Victoria changes into. Heidi said that she is so excited to see them again, I think it's mainly because of the outfits. Simon is not impressed by their performance. I know there are a lot of quick-change acts out there, but they seem original. Simon didn't like the dancing in the first act, so they put magic tricks in this act. The judges like the quick-change part of their act, but not the magic part

John Bernhardt (52) - Musician that plays this weird instrument  without touching it. It's a funny act, but I don't believe it's a Vegas act. The first act I've seen where someone got 4 buzzes in the second round. Four buzzers means that he goes directly home.

Jonathan Nosan (47) - Contortionist that wore this head-to-toe outfit that has reflectors all over it. Simon gave him a buzzer. He did one contortion act and it was over. The judges didn't know what they just saw and said his audition was much better.

The Amazing Armando (30) -  Magician. He brought Mel B up on the stage. Simon didn't seem very impressed with his act and gave him a buzzer. Louis then pressed Mel B's buzzer, then Howie, and then Heidi. He will now go straight home

Musicality - Singing group. They saying "Skyscraper" by Demi Lovato. This is a group of approximately 20 teenagers. In the middle of the song, the audience stood. They are one of the strongest singing groups on the show. They have a director that directs them while they sing. I think they need to work on removing him from the equation and let them just sing. After the performance, all of the judges stood. Louis said it was incredible to watch them perform. They talked about how music programs are getting cut all across the country. We need to keep music and arts programs in schools. We need to have the arts available for those that want to pursue singing, instruments, or painting. @MusicalityVocal

Oksana Grishina (38) - Dancer that we did not get to see much of. They consider her a "strength" act because some of the tricks she does while dancing. 

The Baron of the Universe - This guy is the epitome of Vegas strength acts. In his audition, he hung weights from his nipples. Tonight he pulled a dragster by his nipples along with his girlfriend sitting on the car. Louis said that his nipples are sore by watching him. Of course gave him a buzzer. She said that it makes her gag a little but. Howie said that he could see something like this in Vegas. I think I could also see something like this in Vegas. It's going to be tough in the live show with the other acts, but I think he could go far. This type of act is why I love watching AGT

DJ Demers (30) - Comedian that makes fun of his hearing disability. This dude is really funny. Simon wasn't for sure that it was better this time. We saw an abbreviated edit by AGT, but I'm hoping he can make it through. 

Clairvoyants (28 & 29) - This group is one of the top acts on the show. It is a husband-wife duo that uses their talents to detect objects that the husband is holding. I could definitely see this as a Vegas show. This couple is incredible. She can detect things and it's an incredible trick. She guessed the number that Howie rolled on a die, then guess the card that Louis picked from a deck. Finally, she read a serial number from a $100 from Simon. All while blindfolded. This is one of the greatest tricks out there. Everyone is just blown away by this. 

**Spoiler - The acts bolded below moved on to the live show**

• Jayna Brown - Golden Buzzer
• Campbell Walker Fields, Ary Hill, Avonlea Martin
• Sos and Victoria, John Hetlinger, Oksana Grishina
• Clairvoyants, ThroWings
• Flip, Outlawz
• The Baron of the Universe, Shane and Shannon Jensen, Jonthan Nosan
• Victor Kee, DJ Demers
• Nathan Bockstahler
• Musicality

My 9/11 Story

I remember where I was and what i was doing the morning of 9/11. I was at mom and dad's getting ready for class at ETSU. Someone texted me that a plane hit the World Trade Center building. I had a few minutes to kill so I sat down to eat some breakfast and turned on the news to see what happened. My first thought was that it was a small plane and that it was going to be relatively minor.

I turned on the TV and saw that one of the buildings was billowing smoke out of the side. It still didn't impact me what happened, then the second plane hit the other building and my heart sunk. It didn't feel completely real, I felt like I was watching a movie. It wasn't a movie, it was real life and it was in our country.

It definitely did not feel real when I sat there and watched the towers crumble. There was a stationary camera pointed straight at the buildings and then to see them fall to the ground made me tear up a little. I never witnessed anything like this before.

I remember seeing all those people and all of the streets in New York City covered with ash. Papers were flying everywhere from the office buildings. It seemed very apocalyptic.

Each generation has their "moment". My parents had JFK, my grandparents had WW2, mine will always be 9/11.

The way that we travel and see the world completely changed after that day.

We have songs that were written specifically for this moment, "Where Were You" by Alan Jackson is one that comes to mind. It's one I hear all the time that helps me never forget that horrific day.

I would like to hear your stories of where you were that day. Please share.

Exercise tracker

So, I found out today that it is .08 miles, 143 steps, around the inside of my office. The office area is a square so it makes for a perfect environment to do laps. My plan is to walk laps everyday during the first half of my lunch hour.

Today, I walked 2100 steps, approximately 1.12 miles.