America’s Got Talent finals (UPDATE)

After watching the show Tuesday night, this is how I would rank the 10 acts:

1 ) Jackie Evancho
Jackie is a fantastic singer, no matter what her age.

2 ) Prince Poppycock
Poppycock is not only a great singer, he is a complete persona.

3 ) Fighting Gravity
These guys are a riot. My only criticism about their performance last night is that it seemed to be a bit weaker than their earlier acts. Additionally, some of the props were not well hidden when moved behind the cast. However, with just a week to put the whole routine together and practice, these issues can easily be forgiven.

4 ) Anna and Patryk
A fantastic dance duo. Except for the fall by Anna at the start of the routine, their performance was near perfect.

5 ) Studio One Young Beast Society
Second only to Anna and Patryk, these are the best dancers from the whole season. Unique moves mixed with a lot of energy. I could easily see them with a stage act in the future.

6 ) Taylor Matthews
My favorite of the two male singers. Unfortunately, he is still a bit rough around the edges and needs some refinement.

7 ) Michael Grimm
A talented singer, but his voice isn’t the greatest. He reminds me a lot of Bruce Springsteen. Michael will definitely have a career following this show.

8 ) Jeremy VanSchoonhoven
This boy is crazy. The fact that he fell 15 feet, banged himself up and went to the hospital, and then return to compete live shows true grit. However, I have a difficult time seeing him as a solo act with a Vegas show.

9 ) Michael Grasso
Most of the magicians that made it into the Semi-finals were fantastic. Unfortunately for Michael, he lacks a showmanship quality needed for a stage show. Plus, with the coordination issue last night with the clear box getting snagged on the roll-away screen, the quality of the performance was a little weak.

10 ) Christina and Ali
I don’t want to come across as cruel, but I don’t think these two gals show have made it into the Semi-finals, let alone into the finals. They have a very touching story, but they are average singers. I feel more qualified acts lost out on a chance to compete in the finals, but since it was America’s choice, who am I to argue?

UPDATE:
Prince Poppycock, Michael Grimm, Jackie Evancho, and Fighting Gravity made it into the final round. I guessed three of the four. Not too bad if I say so myself!

Kappa Alpha Psi short step routine

A friend of mine sent me this today, and I think it is really cool. It’s not my usual type of entertainment, but these young men have great rhythm, timing, and attitude. According to the description, this was filmed back in October 2005 and was performed by the Mu Nu Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi at UNC Wilmington. Enjoy!

Joan meets Gwar

I’m not sure if you have ever heard of the band called Gwar before, but this is a great video.  Gwar is an extreme band that specializes in shock rock, and perform in some outrageous costumes.  The fact that this Virginia band ended up on Joan Rivers day-time TV show makes one of two statements: the band became so popular that they “had” to be on her show, or her show was lacking so much in ratings that she needed something to spice it up.  Kick back and enjoy!

Movies: The A-Team

GO SEE THIS MOVIE!  I went in to this movie fearing it would be as bad as “The Dukes of Hazzard,” but I was wonderfully surprised, and I think you will be too.  This truly was an epic movie, and I didn’t have any issue adjusting to the new actors playing the well-established characters of B.A., Murdock, Face, and the Colonel.  They even brought back the VAN! 

Since the original story line from the 1980’s TV show wouldn’t work now (being a group of Vietnam Vets would put them a little on the “old” side), the movie re-establishes the history of the team during a 15-minute introduction sequence.  From there, it is a series action scenes, wise cracks, and complicated puzzles to be figured out until the climatic conclusion.  I will caution that there is a little foul language in the movie, but much of it is implied or muffled (intentionally) by explosions or other noises.  Beyond that, I see no reason why young audiences who can tolerate movie violence could not see this film. 

Lastly, I do encourage that you stay through the end of the movie, as there is some bonus features at the end.  Enjoy!

I officially have no life.

Yes, you heard me correctly. While relaxing after a good session of rowing, I decided to play a few rounds of Hearts on the computer. Hearts is a card game where the object is to have the least amount of points when one of your competitors reach 100. During the game, the person with the 2 of clubs starts off the round. Whoever wins the hand determines which suit is played next. All suits are in play except for hearts.

Hearts have to be introduced by someone that does not have a card matching the suit leading off the hand. The goal is to avoid collecting any hearts or the queen of spades, since these cards increase your score. The queen of spades is worth 13 points while each card in the suit of hearts is worth 1. However, for the skilled player, you can intentionally collect all the hearts as well as the queen of spades. Doing so will award your challengers with 26 points each.

This brings me to the point of my article. I successfully went four straight rounds collecting all the hearts and the queen of spades. As you can see below, my challengers never had a chance, ending up with 104 points before they knew it.