“All I have I would have given gladly not to be standing here today.” Lyndon Baynes Johnson around 1963 in his address to congress five days after JFK’s assassination. You may be wondering why I am sharing that quote with you for my AGT Season 20 Auditions 2 recap blog. Don’t worry, I get your confusion. I am here to say to you all:
All I have I would have given gladly not to be writing this article today. I don’t ever want to write about the downfall of this great show.
Last year I came to a sullen realization that we simply had seen it all on AGT. That there was simply nothing more we could see that would wow us. That we had seen so much stuff over two decades that we couldn’t possibly be thunderstruck anymore. Well, I have come to another sullen realization. Two sullen realizations in 12 months? What a treat!
Sullen realization 2.0: I think AGT has officially jumped the shark. I can’t begin to describe to you the pain it brings me to write those words. To say such things about a show that I love so dearly. A show that has made me famous beyond my wildest dreams (358 followers on X: The Everything App). A show that has brought me so much joy. Hence the sullenness.
Now, if you’re an optimist, you might be saying ‘Commenter! Jumping the shark actually puts them in some great company historically’. I like the spin. Fonzie literally jumped the shark. “The Brady Bunch” jumped the shark. Meredith Grey jumped the shark. Hell, “Game of Thrones” jumped the shark! So maybe jumping the shark just means you are officially immortalized. If that’s the case, then welcome to immortality, AGT!
Perhaps you’re saying ‘Commenter! What would be your hard evidence that AGT has jumped the shark?!’. I’m happy to show my work.
This was the second act that went through in Auditions 2:
Need some more evidence? We will have 13 golden buzzers for the second consecutive season. Not sure how much you know about this show, but that’s a lot. They stopped using the Dolby Theatre for live shows because it was too expensive. They stopped doing Judge Cuts or any type of second round of auditions because it was too expensive. By the way, NBCUniversal reported $40 million in revenue for 2024. Maybe we could skim a million or two off the top of that to give us a second round of auditions.
Don’t worry we will get to the recap of the episode momentarily. I’ll wrap this brief preamble with this thought: I don’t want this show to ever end. You may have gotten the feeling from the previous ~400 words that I want them to cancel the show. Au contraire. My dream is that I will be sitting in front of my TV, anxiously awaiting the start of Season 50. 60 years old and still sending posts about song choice and why they never should have gotten rid of Judge Cuts. Wondering who the newest judge Big Justice (the Costco Kid) will pick for his 10th golden buzzer this year. That’s the dream.
Alright, let’s talk about Auditions 2.
We spent the first ten minutes of the episode on a drone act that didn’t go through. Classic. Then we went back to Season 10 and upgraded Triple Threat with CitiLimitz.
Tik Tok star Amanda Badertscher was next up to throw some footballs (see image a few paragraphs back). Moments like these are when the sharks really feels us flying over top of them.
It got pretty ugly for a while after that. The first 37 minutes of the show were nearly unwatchable. Thankfully the TT Brothers came out and put on quite the dazzling display of balancing and acrobatics. They saved the first half of the episode from complete obscurity.
As we got into the second hour I could feel my spirit breaking. So much so, that I had to start this blog to maintain my sanity.
But then we got our first Leonardo DiCaprio meme moment of the season when the Messoudi Brothers (minus one brother) returned to the stage.
Not only did they return, they returned with a bang. They swerved from their usual hand balancing that we saw in Season 14 and did some knife juggling combined with a strip show and a impromptu GRWM (Get Ready With Me for those aren’t up on the lingo).
The duo accounted for our third Golden Buzzer of the season, courtesy of Miss Melanie Brown. I thought it was well deserved. This duo has so much potential because their background is in hand balancing and acrobatics. Add that to some juggling and knife throwing and you can put something pretty special together. Look out for the Messoudi Brothers.
We finished with our second Leo meme in a row when Alex Zinger returned after being sent home at auditions last season.
He stinks. No need to discuss.
I will leave you with my Auditions 2 Power Rankings:
1. TT Boys
2. Messoudi Brothers
3. Cole Swensen
4. CitiLimitz
5. Girish & The Chronicles
6. Kid Clippers
7. Amanda Badertscher
8. Alex Zinger
9. Phobias
And my updated Season 20 Top 10:
1. TT Boys
2. Jacqueline & Wagner
3. The Messoudi Brothers
4. Jourdan Blue
5. Team Recycled
6. Cole Swensen
7. CitiLimitz
8. Light Wire
9. Micah Palace
10. Girish & The Chronicles
Same time next week.
