(Fwrd Axis) — America’s Got Talent finally went live on Tuesday night with a new format and a new location as 11 acts took to the stage at the Pasadena Civic Center to try and win over the public and the judges to advance into the finals.
In a new controversial format like Britain’s Got Talent across the pond, only two acts will advance into the finals with the viewers picking one and the judges picking the other. So the stakes couldn’t be higher for the acts in this year’s live shows.
Here is a recap of all 11 performances as well as a prediction on who could advance:
Amoukanama
The live shows kicked off with the West Africa acrobatics doing some high-flying stunts and routines. However, the only problem is it felt very much the same as their auditions and went on a bit too long. Not the best start with the live shows kicking off and with this new format, we may have seen the last of these guys.
Amazing Veranica and her Incredible Friends
The second act of the night belonged to some furry little dogs as Veranica attempted to get her pups to do some tricks. I say attempt because there were some mistakes and when you reach the live show stage, you can’t afford as many mistakes — especially with this new format.
Ava Swiss
Next up was teen singer Ava Swiss, who attempted to sing to honor those who died at the Oxsford School Shooting in 2021 but also attempted to showcase that with a cover of P!nk’s “Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken”. While I am a fan of Ava’s voice, this song did not do it for me at all.
Ben Lapidus
I’m not even going to get into this one. No.. just no…
Lace Larrabee
The beauty queen turned comedian was up next and performed a set about her husband and his lack of knowledge for diamonds. I personally felt Lace was funnier in her first audition and apparently Simon Cowell did too, giving her the big red X.
“It felt like it was going downhill,” Cowell told her.
Drake Milligan
After an hour of disappointing performances, Drake and his band finally woke up the Pasadena Civic Center. Prior to his performance, he revealed his song from his audition made the top of the list on iTunes. For his live show song, he and his band performed Kiss Goodbye All Night” and it truly felt like he was a guest performer and not a contestant. So good!
Oleksandr Yenivatov
Again, just no.
The Players Choir
After that wack job performance, the Players Choir got things back on track with Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop This Feeling” and it was fun and just what we all needed at that moment.
Stefany and Yeeremy
The Columbia salsa dancers were up next and they performed a nice routine to the hit song “River”. While the lighting for this act was terrible, they did a nice job despite getting the X from Simon once again. While I did enjoy them, I feel they are more suited for Dancing with the Stars or World of Dance.
Don McMillan
The comedian made me laugh during his America’s Got Talent first audition with a unique way of using his PowerPoint. However, he did not do it for me this time around. With that said, he was still one of the better acts of the night and that’s saying something considering he was the penultimate act of the evening.
Avery Dixon
Closing out the show was host Terry Crews’ Golden Buzzer choice. The young saxophonist performed a truly incredible rendition of Stevie Wonder’s “Higher Ground” and killed it. He showcased his talents beyond his years and should be a lock to advance to the finals.
Prediction
This first live show round saw very disappointing outings with only Drake, Avery, and Don performing well. However, with his new format, only two of them would advance. My prediction is Avery wins the public vote while Don advances thanks to the judge’s decision.
America’s Got Talent continues Wednesday night at 8/7c on NBC and streams on Peacock for the live results show with host Terry Crews.
