'America's Got Talent' - 'Episodes 506 and 507' Performances Recap

(S05E06 and E07) "This is the smallest talent we've seen in the history of this show." - Piers

What a weird two hours it was. Portland should rename the town from "Talent" to "Just Plain Weird." Acts performed during the Portland auditions were some of the wackiest and craziest we've ever seen.

I really enjoyed Nick's hosting this week as he really got involved with the acts (see picture on the right) and played "prop" in at least three main acts. Even if he was truly scared or grossed out (depending on the act), Nick truly seemed to have fun. Not sure Regis Philbin or Jerry Springer would have agreed to have knives thrown at them or have someone do a bicycle trick a few inches from their faces. Except for taking part in the string magic trick, I would have not agreed to take part in the other acts Nick was in. Kudos to him.

Some of the acts I didn't enjoy:

- Erin Barylski, painter: I wasn't that impressed by her act as the painting of the flag was not clean and clear enough to make this an "OMG! Look what she was able to do!" moment. Plus her dance moves to paint the flag were not entertaining. This would be a fun street act but not a headliner act in a Vegas show.

- Fafo, "sexy" dancer: Oh. My. God. What was he thinking?! His act ended up being everything he didn't want it to be: it was embarrassing and so not sexy. It was so awful that Piers deemed it "the smallest talent he's ever seen in the history of this show."

- Tiahizzi Sharez, dancer/singer: Just from her looks and the way she mentioned that she took part in dance competitions and practiced her routine a lot made me immediately think that we would be in for quite the disaster. She's been dancing for 14 years? And what type of dance competition would allow her to participate? That was plain awful on all fronts: clothing, singing and dancing. Piers took way too many seconds before he Xed her, meaning she was Xed by all three judges.

- Efim Tabachnikov, singer: This 72-year-old who claims he learned techniques from the great tenors should go back to singing school and learn a few more techniques. He wasn't the worst singer we've heard on the show, but he was off key and his voice was not deep and rich enough for the song choice he made. What didn't help either is that he didn't pronounce clearly enough so we couldn't make out the words of the song or even identify without a doubt which language he was singing in. The funny part of the act? Efim asking Nick and crew members if he passed!

- Sponjetta, singing: Her singing and song were really bad but a tad better when Nick joined in. However, to her defense, some singers/bands made millions with songs that repeated the same sentence over and over. Example: Daft Punk's 'Around the World' in which the only lyric is ... 'Around the World!' One thing is certain, we will be singing 'I'll Be In My Studio' all week as it is the type of song that just stays in your head. Want to hear the full version of 'Studio'? Click here ... but be warned that you'll be haunted by it all day and night!

- Magique Bazaar, magician: I still can't believe that the magician fell off the stage!!! What was that?!? It was slightly impressive to see him change masks but way too basic. Plus some people, like Piers, didn't even notice the masks changing. The audience not noticing your magic is a huge show stopper for a, well, magic trick!

- Rebecca Roudman, musician: She just butchered a fantastic instrument. I cannot believe that she has a strong musical background, performed all over the world and is a music teacher! If all that background is true, wouldn't she know that for music to be appreciated you actually need some type of melody that your listeners can hear properly? Her act made Piers say one of the best lines of the night: that when he'll die, he'll be sentenced to listen to her terrible cello playing for eternity due to all the bad things he's said in life.

Some of the acts I don't know what to think about:

- Murray, magician: And yet another box trick. It was well performed but the fact that the area below the box was hidden made the magic trick way too easy to explain.

- The Airpopcalypse, air guitar super group: These guys definitely have perfected and practiced rocker moves. But air guitar? Really? A talent? I don't agree with Howie when he says it would be fun to see an entire air concert. It'll surely get old rather quickly.

- Connor Doran, indoor kite fly: That is probably the most peaceful act we've seen in the entire series. The movements of the indoor kite were flowing and in sync with the music. It was really beautiful. My only concern with this trick is that, no matter the song choices, the kite movements will always be the same. What more can be done except adding more kites to the routine? With the cords in the way, Connor can't really make the kite go through obstacles and adding fire would surely be too dangerous since the kite flies all over the place.

- Sally Cohn, handwhistler: Her whistling wasn't bad at all. She didn't go off key much and was well timed. She can whistle all sort of songs but I'm afraid we will get tired of this rather fast. My ears wouldn't be able to listen to more than 10 minutes of whistling. By the way, you can see the cover of her book and buy copies, via Amazon, online. From a quick search in Google, she seems to be rather popular in the hand whistler world.

Some of the acts I enjoyed/loved:
- Frankie Elliston, magician: When Frankie said that he would have the string come out of another orifice, I was expecting the usual "through the nose" trick. When he unbuttoned his shirt, I expected him to use his bellybutton, maybe he hid a string there? Never ever did I think he would have the string come out of his skin!!! It really looked real with the skin moving as he pulled the string out and blood on it. This was a pretty wild performance. I can't wait to see what he'll do next.

- Max Winfrey, knife thrower: It really fun to watch Max's performance as it contained humor and Nick as a guinea pig tied up to the board.

- Simeon Mulder, pianist: This little Amadeus has a very promising career as a pianist. His piano playing was spot on; he didn't miss a single note. The fact that he dressed as Amadeus helped make his classical music act more fun to watch. Him choosing classical songs that the audience would recognize helped too as the crowd was able to relate more to the act.

- Harmonik, singers/musicians: When the lead singer started to sing, I found that he was a tiny bit off key and feared that this wouldn't be that great of a performance. I'll blame nerves as, when the others joined in, he was way more in control of his voice. The arrangement was pretty unique and the band connected well with the crowd. The icing on the cake was their very touching story. It's very noble that they want to win to donate their winnings to Haiti to help that country rebuild.

- Jeremy, bicycle daring act: Jeremy, from Talent, Oregon, may have fell while performing his bicycle tricks but overall it was really impressive. He was really precise when moving around Nick and some of his moves on the different props were impressive.

- William Scott Anderson, magician: When this medical evacuation pilot began his trick, I said to myself: Yet another magic box trick. Boring. Was I surprised when he not only folded the box so it became tiny and inserted swords it in but also moved the box full circle so we could see on all sides. Where was she hiding? There's no way the lovely assistant could have hid in the box, no? As Piers said, it was a brilliant delivery.

What was your favorite act of the night?

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