Tag Archives: America’s Got Talent

Trashy TV Recap – AGT, TCJD & honorable mentions…

Hey there! It’s already Friday and I feel like the White Rabbit is stamping his little paw at me and checking his watch. Oh, yes, I’m very late indeed! (I have a good excuse, really I do, but more on that later)

I’ve made me some nice Earl Grey, so let’s get to this…

America’s Got Talent

It’s the semi-finals and only 10 acts are left. As a special treat, the judges hung out with the acts at their hotel and it was fun to see them more casual and mingling with the lesser folk. Even meany pants Piers smiled a few times. Incredible! Although, that stinky Piers tried to set up Anna Graceman with one of his sons, um, excuse me Piers, but she’s already promised to MY boy. The nerve!

After schmoozing and boozing, we got treated to a performance by last season’s winner, Michael Grimm. I have to admit, he was my favorite the whole season, as well as Prince Poppycock. It was great to see him more professional and with a back up band. I love his voice… ah, so sexy.

Sorry, back to the show. Wait! Did I just see dancing hamsters and robots? Oh, yes, that was the Kia commercial. I actually rewound the DVR just to watch it again. So random. So funny!

Up first, Miami All Stars. Um, what’s with the chicken dancing? We went from hamsters to chickens and I’m confused. They were great, but the judges and I agree they picked a strange theme (football players, cheerleaders, and the chicken mascot). I want salsa and sexy, not high school. Still, I didn’t know women’s bodies could move like that! Incredible dancing.

Lys Agnes. I don’t know how I feel about her. Each show she talks about how sad she’s been and how music helps her. Okay, I get that, but move on! Her song was bizarre. She sang Dream On while floating in a huge dreamcatcher. Her voice went from deep down low to super high. I didn’t like it. Neither did Sharon or Howie, but meany pants did.

Landon, my sweet Landon Swank. His act was slow at first, but then when you see what he’s doing you’re like, what? He just pulled a fish out of his mouth? Wait! He put it through a glass wall into the aquarium? How did he do that? The judges liked it and so did I.

Anna Graceman sang True Colors and I liked it, but wasn’t blown away by it. And her dress? It looked like someone went crazy with a roll of toilet paper. No, seriously. She’s usually super cute, but this time she was stilted. Once again, the judges agree with me. What’s going on here? Usually they hate my opinions.

Silhouettes had a cute piece about how some of the dancers are struggling with physical issues and it made me cry. To see them dance so beautifully you’d never guess they had chronic diseases. Sharon actually thanked them for giving us such beauty week after week. Yes, exactly. Meany pants called them the best performance of the night.

Smage Bros came out and rode motorcycles all around the stage, but it lacked the energy they had last week with Rad Grandma Smage. And poor Troy Smalls! He’s the guy they jump their bikes over and, well, let’s just say he lost a few brain cells and some skin off his leg tonight. Ouch! I did like it when he opened root beer bottles with the spinning wheels of the bike. Pretty cool.

Poplyfe took my breath away. This band rocks. Period. They have it all, stage presence, showmanship, the chops to sing greats like they did last week and tonight. They took on the Jackson 5! Oh, yes they did! And they rocked the house. I can’t wait for them to have an album because I’m buying it.

West Springfield Dance Team. Yawn. Seen it. Been there, bought the t-shirt, ready to go home. Piers buzzed them and for once, I’m not calling him meany pants because he was right to. They keep doing the same act each week. Yeah, okay, we get that you’re ‘horror’, but the same moves, the same whatever… step it up! Show us some versatility!!

Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. I swear to the White Rabbit, if you sing Sinatra again I’m going to slap you. Wait, what’s this? He’s singing Dean Martin? Well, okay then. Not! It’s the same frigging type of music. Show me some range. I’d love to see him take on Adele or Lady Gaga and make it his own with his sweet crooner voice. If I want to hear Dean or Sinatra, I’ll listen to the originals. Jus’ sayin. Dang, the judges love, love, love him. I’m outvoted.

Last up is Team iLuminate. Wow. They are so incredible, I’d buy a ticket to see them. Each week they do something different and I like that. My favorite was a few weeks ago when they performed a video game. That was awesome. Tonight they were just as fabulous and once again the judges are with me.

AGT Results:

First up: Smage Bros and Team iLuminate. This is a no-brainer. Yep, it’s Team iLuminate moving on!

Next: Miami All Stars and Lys Agnes. I told my son, I bet neither of them and I was right. They both got booted.

Third up is Poplyfe and my sweet Landon Swank. No, this can’t be happening! I love them both, but only one can go through. It’s Poplyfe moving on to the finals, but Sharon tells them, whoever is going home, this isn’t the end, but the beginning of their career. I truly hope so. I’d love to see Landon in a full show. He’s brilliant.

Then we have West Springfield Dance Team and Silhouettes. Hmmm, it better not be neither of them and I hope it’s Silhouettes, but that would only leave one place and two great singers are left. It’s Silhouettes moving on. Yay? Because that means…

It comes down to Landau Eugene Murphy Jr and Anna Graceman. They are both incredible, but only one spot is left. Last week Nick messed with Landau and so I know they won’t do that this week, but ??? Dang, sweet Anna is going home. Landau moves on to the finals. He is so gracious, he felt bad for the kids that didn’t make it. They all call him Uncle Dooney. Isnt’ that sweet? I kinda like him more now.

Did I mention we saw Howie Mandel naked? Yeah, my eyes are forever burned for the experience.

Next week I’ll have your winners! Check back.

Top Chef Just Desserts

This episode was bizarre. Not for the food, but because the guest judge is one of the housewives from Beverly Hills. One of the only reality shows I can’t watch because it gives me a nervous tick.

The other guest judge is Huge Acheson. If you watched Top Chef Masters, you know how funny this guy is. I’m super excited to see him on the show. Some of the cheftestants? Not so much. Orlando whined about it. Big surprise.

Quickfire challenge!

The chefs had to make these teeny tiny little desserts for the husband of the BH housewife. I don’t remember his name, oops. His little dog, Jiggy was cute, though.

The winner of the challenge won $25,000 and would be in the race to have their dessert made into chewing gum. Kind of bizarre, but whatever.

Of course chipmunk Craig wins with his little pancake with strawberries. Why can’t this guy just go home already? He bugs.

Wait? What’s this? A bromance is brewing between Chris and Matthew. Right on! They are two cuties and if they’ll get more air time for their bromance, I’m all for it.

The Elimination Challenge will be a team challenge and you know what that means. DRAMA! And they did not disappoint. Orlando, of course, whined about it.

Melissa is just plain pissed that she got picked last – again. Hey, maybe if you change your attitude and start being nice to people, they’ll pick you first. Just a suggestion.

So the teams make desserts and put together a pretty tablescape made mostly of pink, since that’s Lisa Vanderpump’s favorite color. Hey! I wrote down her name this time. Yay me. Lisa and some of her BH friends check out the tables and sample everyone’s desserts. I so wish I could be a judge for this show. They all looked yummy and simply scrumptious.

I’m not going to lie, when the chefs describe their food, I have no idea what they’re saying. Gelees and glaces, foams and what? I’d be like, it’s good, just eat it. You don’t need to know what’s in it. And I’d probably be sent home first. Ah, well.

The judges thought Craig’s team’s table was prettier, but Chris’ team’s table was more refined. Wait a minute, they keep saying Chris’ team, but really it was Amanda’s team. Oops.

Chris/Amanda’s team wins the challenge. Hooray! Now maybe Craig will go home. Or whiney Orlando.

What? the judges sent home Nelson? Who’s Nelson? Is he even on the show? I guess so because they sent him packing, but not before telling Craig he was damn lucky to have immunity or he’d be sent packing. Stupid immunity.

Project Runway

Sorry kids, I don’t have an update for PR this week because we lost power for most of the day and night here in San Diego. Apparently the DVR won’t record by osmosis, so I have to wait to watch the episode. I did see who got Auf’d, but I’m not telling!

Here are a few Honorable Mentions I caught last weekend:

Millionaire Matchmaker. That Patti is hilarious! She just says what she wants (which is usually what everyone else is thinking, but has the manners not to say). She scares me. I’ll only watch this show again if there’s nothing, and I mean nothing else on. I’d rather watch Hillbilly Handfishin’ before this.

Big Sexy. Five young women of larger proportions are trying to make their mark in New York City. Good for them! I liked the show, but thought the girls were hypocritical in their stance that they like being big, but then would whine that men don’t love them because they’re big. One girl’s ex boyfriend told her no, it’s because you’re a stalker. Loved that! If the show happens to be on, then I might catch it. But, Meh.

All American Handyman. I’m a sucker for a show that challenges it’s competitors to be amazing. This show did not disappoint. On the first challenge, Mike Holmes (Love him!) tells the contestants to make something with a sheet of plywood. I’m still trying to think of what I’d make and it’s been a week. They had two hours and some of the stuff they made was incredible. I’m definitely going to check out this show again.

The Great Food Truck Race stressed me out. I mean, they drive all over the US making food in these tight quarters and have to outsell their competitors. You’d like I would love this show, but I need a drink beforehand to keep me calm. I’ll watch it if it’s on, but I won’t seek it out.

My friend told me to check out Dance Moms, so I’ll give that show a shot. Next week America’s Next Top Model starts and I’m super excited for that! I’ll also be DVR’ing Dancing With the Stars because it looks like it will be feisty this season.

Thanks for getting through this beast of a post. Let me know what shows you’re watching this week and if there are any I need to check out. I’m always on the prowl for new guilty pleasures!

Fantasy Friday Trashy TV Recap

Here it is, my first ever Trashy TV Recap! I’ve got my cup of chai tea ready, so let’s get started.

America’s Got Talent

We’re into the semi-finals now, so these acts are serious about winning. Well, most of them. Can I just say how dapper Nick looks in his burgundy sport coat? Not at all like Hugh Hefner like Piers thinks. Piers is a meany pants.

The show starts off with the Kinetic King. Now, I love a good puzzle or maze, but I’m bored by the King. I just can’t see this act being a Vegas headliner, but all the judges love him, so what do I know? I DO, however, love his blinged out goggles.

All of his stuff works. Balls fly into the audience, sticks flip in the air, yeah, yeah, yeah. Whoohoo!

Onto Fatally Unique. Well, not so much tonight. They looked an awful lot like West Springfield Dance Team. Fatally Unique went for a creepy/asylum look and it was good, but not fabulous. Oh, wait, the judges disagree with me. They LOVE FU. Huh.

Landon Swank. Oh, my sweet Landon, what will you do to yourself tonight? I have to admit, I have a bit of a crush on Landon and he just might show up in my crush of the month segment.

O.M.G. he’s going to let the judges blow him up. Really? I can’t watch. He’s in a box and the judges pick a detonator and at the same time they blow up a box. Landon is betting they don’t blow him up… and they don’t! Yay! Landon lives! Wow. How did he know they wouldn’t pick his box? That made my heart stop.

Gymkana does flips and flips and flips and flips and oh yeah, flips. Some guy is balancing on chairs (didn’t we see this last week with another group?) and then some dude flips through fire and misses. He’s on fire! Okay, nope, he’s okay. Nick blames Piers for buzzing the group and making them nervous. Really, it was the person before the dude that hit the ring of fire and made it swing. Poor guy. Hope his butt’s okay.

Summerwind Skippers. What? They’ve got four people in the ropes playing leapfrog? They definitely brought edge to their performance, but they messed up twice and Piers (rightfully) buzzed them. Of course, Howie thinks Piers was wrong to buzz them, but I agree with meany pants on this one.

Snap Boogie is one of my favorites. I’m just going come right out and say it. If I could adopt him, I would. His smile is so infectious and he has such a great heart. Too bad tonight he didn’t dance so well. The judges try to be nice, but Snap was a little flat tonight.

Anna Graceman belts out ‘Home Sweet Home’ and wins the vote for best performance of the night. She’s way too adorable and if she lived near me, I just might work out a betrothal between her and my son. I adore her.

Steven Retchless not only needs a better stage name (makes me think of retching every time I hear it), but he needs shorts that don’t show all his junk. No, seriously, if you’re going to pole dance, I don’t need to see your wiener every two seconds. It’s distracting me from your beautiful dancing!

Smage Bros brought the whole family for this performance. Even Rad Grandma Smage got in on the action. The boys jumped OVER her! Now, that’s some trust right there. They did fabulous, only missing one flip, but he’s flipping a motorcycle, so who cares!

Oh, Professor Splash, how you annoy me. I do so hope America sends you home because if I have to see you in that ridiculous swim suit thing one more time I might cry. Oh, yeah, he did a flip into an 8′ pool from really, really high. Underwhelming is the general consensus.

Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. has the longest name in showbiz and is probably taller than 99% of all the singers in the business, too. His voice is nice, but I want him to stop with the Frank tunes and branch out. The judges, again, disagree with me. They love, love, love him. Except meany pants. He thought it wasn’t Landau’s best performance.

Last, but not least, Silhouettes. Meh. I loved their last two performances and tonight was just okay. Meany pants agrees with me on this, but Howie and Sharon are gushing about how great they are.

AGT Eliminations:

It’s between Gymkana, Steven Retchless, and Silhouettes. Hmmm, not sure on this one. Silhouettes go through!

After making Landau think he’s going home and Anna Graceman is staying, Nick tells Landau he’s in as well. Cruel trick, Nick!

Next is Professor Splash, Fatally Unique, Summerwind Skippers, and Landon Swank. Please, not Prof. Splash, no, it’s Landon! YAY!

Judge’s Choice – it’s between Snap Boogie, Kinetic King, and Smage Bros. King goes home first. Sharon, of course, picks Snap. She loves him as much as I do and I wouldn’t be surprised if she did adopt him. Piers picks Smage Bros, and that leaves Howie, who picks Smage Bros as well. Poor Snap.

Next week will be insane! I can’t wait to see what everyone brings to the stage.

Top Chef Just Desserts

First of all, I feel I need to confess to you that I love Johnny and when they don’t show enough of him I get cranky. Well, I’m cranky. Tonight’s show was all about Margaret Braun. Who, you say? She’s a cake lady, that’s all you need to know.

Quickfire challenge – Lemons. Make something amazing for Margaret with lemons.

Orlando lets his claws out bitching about the guest judge, which I don’t understand because lemons are used in dessert all the time.

Matthew wins the challenge!

The Elimination Challenge is to make a cake for the L.A. Philharmonic, which performs at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Architecturally, this building is awe-mazing. These chefs are lucky to have such a challenge.

This is a team challenge and the judges want the chefs to push the limits and yet make sure the cake tastes delicious. Easy, right? Um, no.

Just a side note here, does anyone else think Craig talks like a hyper chipmunk?

Back to TCJD.

Johnny comes into the kitchen to check on the chefs, oooh, he’s looking dapper, very um, not Johnny. What’s up with that? Oh, on the Bravo website it says he cut his hair so people would focus on the cooking and not his hair. Yeah, I’m still focused on you, sweet Johnny.

The teams come up with their ideas and you can tell right away that Chris’ team will rock it out, Orlando’s maybe not so much, Matthew’s team is somewhere in between and Vanarin’s team is in deep doo-doo.

They take their cakes to the concert hall and some of the chefs complain about the heat hurting their cake. Um, your cake is psychotic and looks like something I made when I was on pain meds. Seriously.

The judges all taste the cakes and agree that most of them are pretty delicious. Melissa took a huge risk by making a cake with cardamom, but everyone loved it. Whew! She was in the bottom last week, looks like she might be safe.

Two of the cakes look amazing. Two look odd. Here are the cakes, judge for yourself, but mind you – the picture quality isn’t the greatest because, well you don’t want to know. See that pic up above? That’s the concert hall.

Judging was pretty easy to pick for this one. It was between Red Team and Green Team and Red Team won! (The one on the bottom right)

Vanarin’s crazy music cake lost and he went home. I kind of wish it had been Craig since he bugs me, but I’m not too particular at this point. We’ve only had two episodes and I’m not smitten with anyone yet. Except Johnny.

Project Runway

Last week was crazy with Olivier fainting and witchy lady leaving the show, so I didn’t know what to expect this week. Well, it did not disappoint.

The challenge was to make an avant garde dress based on a piece of art made by a student at the Harlem School of Art. Cool beans! The designers were with the students when they painted what they wanted to be represented in fashion.

Laura starts complaining about the other designers and her sweet little art student Kai goes all Ghandi on her and tells her positive things like, suck it up, cupcake, you chose this. Okay, she didn’t say that exactly, but close enough.

Josh M. is all freaked out because his artist painted a dead tree with roots that are still alive. He gets my vote for favorite quote of the show, ‘I can’t do organic. I like fake.” What a card!

At Mood everyone is racing around trying to find chiffon. Why do they all think chiffon is avant garde?

There’s a touching moment when Bert talks about his partner of eighteen years and how he turned to drink when said partner died of aids. Everyone ooh, and ahhs, and then goes back to trashing Bert. Poor Bert. His garments, as Heidi says, are ‘old farty farty’.

Tim Gunn advises the designers to take it farther, don’t be safe (Olivier, are you listening? Becky?)

On runway day, when Olivier tries to glue his garment to the model, Tim tells him that’s against the rules. Ya think?

Most of the fashions look great, but a few look ho-hum or just plain freaky. It comes down to Olivier, Josh M, Bert, Laura, Josh C, and Anthony. Honestly, I don’t know which the judges like or not since they always seem to disagree with me. I think they need to call me before judging next time, because what they love I just don’t get sometimes.

What the judges love: Anthony’s nude dress with strips of fabric everywhere. Yeah, I think it’s interesting, but then it looks a little too homemade crafty to me. Laura’s peachy cream floaty dress looks too commercial for me, but the judges like how she made boning underneath show through. Huh. Josh M’s tree with flaming top is cute, but avant garde? I don’t think so.

What the judges didn’t love: Josh C. Poor Joshy, he already got booted once and now he’s on the chopping block again. I like his outfit, but I wish he’d kept the cape and jewels he thought of using. He scaled down out of fear and it worked against him. The judges thought it looked like a hooker/dominatrix outfit. Wow, poor Joshy. Bert’s wacky pants and applique’s confused the judges. Michael thought it looked like a Teletubby’s party outfit. Ouch. Olivier’s gown was just a snooze fest with too many weird angles cut into it. The judges liked the top, but barely.

So, who wins and who goes home? Anthony wins! Josh M is a little pissed, but really, when isn’t he? I like Anthony and I hope he goes far in the competition. The fact that he’s color blind far outweighs his one-ball coolness factor for me.

That leaves three. Poor Joshy. Heidi has to say, Auf Weidersehen again to the guy. Yep, Josh is booted for a second time. Too bad, because I really wanted to see where his relationship with Josh M might’ve led. Hmmm, guess we’ll never know.

Well, that’s it for this week. I know it’s long, but I appreciate you stopping by to read what happened. If there’s a show you want me to put in my weekly recap, let me know! I’m excited for ANTM to start and I’m thinking of Rachel Zoe, but can’t commit to her yet. What would you like to keep up with?

My Dirty Little Secret

It’s Fantasy Friday here at A Cup of Tea and Sorcery and I had two very cute videos lined up to show you today, but then something crazy happened. Don’t worry, you’ll see the videos next Wednesday – babies and bubbles, super cute!

So, I’m getting set to watch ‘America’s Got Talent‘ with Michael and IT happened. There, at the bottom of the DVR recorded list, was ‘Top Chef: Just Desserts‘. Ooooh! I got a little shiver of excitement just seeing those words. I had no idea the new season had started, but there it was, in my queue just waiting for me!

Yes, you guessed it – I’m a trash T.V. reality show junkie. There, I’ve said it. Stop judging.

I really want to say I have my limits, but if there’s no one home on Saturday afternoon and I need a break from writing, I’ll pop on the couch to watch some trash T.V. with the hope that something like ‘Toddlers and Tiaras’ or ‘Hoarders‘ will be on. Oooooh, more shivers of excitement!

But those are only the shows I watch when no one is home because, yes I’m ashamed to admit it, they are my guilty pleasure and while my husband is quasi understanding of my love for ‘Project Runway‘ or ‘Biggest Loser’, he absolutely does not understand my affinity for those shows.

“It’s research” I tell him in all honesty. What better character research than watching a bunch of people try to perform at their best in a pressure situation? That, and some of those moms on TnT’s really make me look good.

Here’s what I’m thinking: Wednesday will now be for fun videos and my crush of the week (I’m pretty sure Johnny Iuzzini needs to be my first one!) and on Friday I’ll do a recap of the shows I’ve watched over the week. That way, if you missed any of the fun (drama), check in here and I’ll get you caught up.

Wait, before you go – what are the trashy shows you watch? Are there any you hide from your family and friends? That’s okay, you can tell us, we’ll keep your secret!