Some contestants on “America’s Got Talent” are taking the show’s cutthroat talent to the next level.
Sword swallower Herwan Legaillard floored judges Simon Cowell, Sofía Vergara, Heidi Klum and Howie Mandel with a daring performance during the third round of auditions Tuesday night.
The French performer kicked off his routine by putting a curved sword entirely down his throat as 2WEI’s eerie rendition of “Toxic” by Britney Spears set the hair-raising mood. Legaillard then added some aerial flair by grabbing onto a harness and twirling around in the air with the sword in his mouth.
“Your middle name needs to be ‘danger’ because that was heart-stopping,” Vergara told the 33-year-old. “It was amazing. It was very different.”
Legaillard was the total “AGT” package for Cowell. “Everything about this audition was what we want,” he said. “You have real showmanship.”
The bold act paid off, as Legaillard received four yeses from the judges.
Here’s what else went down on Tuesday’s episode.
Simon Cowell baffled by hand-flatulence musician: ‘Absolutely nuts’
Italian musician Riccardo Pace brought a unique sound to the “AGT” stage.
Decked out in an elegant black-and-white tuxedo, the 21-year-old gave the impression he might sing “some beautiful opera,” Vergara said at the start of his audition.
However, Pace had something else in mind. With the palms of his hands pressed together, Pace made a series a flatulence noises to the tune of Kelly Clarkson’s “A Moment Like This.” While the zany performance earned a buzzing “X” from Cowell, the studio audience erupted into applause afterward.
“It’s not so much how it sounds but where it comes from,” Mandel joked. “A lot of people listen to music that is manufactured technically, and yours is all handmade.”
While Cowell voted against Pace, the comic musician earned yeses from Mandel and Klum, leaving Vergara as the tiebreaker. Although Vergara had her doubts, the audience’s chant of “Send him through!” ultimately swayed her.
“I don’t know if you deserve to compete for $1 million,” Vergara said. “I’m going to do what the audience wants, and I’m going to say yes.”
Cowell was flabbergasted by Pace’s victory. “You are absolutely nuts,” he told the audience.
Sofía Vergara says she hopes text-to-speech comedian wins season
Stand-up comedian Ahren Belisle proved that humor is its own language.
The 28-year-old, who is mute due to having cerebral palsy, delivered a sidesplitting comedy set that poked fun at his disability with the assistance of the text-to-speech function on his phone.
“I know what you’re all thinking. Who ordered Stephen Hawking off of Wish.com?” Belisle joked. “He might be smarter than me, but I would beat him in a race.”
Belisle’s self-deprecating, dark humor earned him a standing ovation and a vote of confidence from Vergara, who saw him as a frontrunner in the competition.
“From the moment you started, you were funny making fun of yourself. … You’re having such a good time up there,” Vergara said. “I hope that you are the one comedian that finally wins ‘AGT.’”
Mandel was equally impressed with the novice comic.
“I cannot believe you’ve only been doing this for one year because you seem to have a grasp of timing and humor,” Mandel said. “You open up the conversation and normalize humanity and originality, and you’re funny.”
Belisle will get the chance to earn more chuckles. The comedian earned four yeses.
Aerial hula hooper Grace Good delivers ‘perfect audition’
Hula hooper Grace Good is one step closer to making her Vegas showgirl dreams come true.
The 30-year-old dazzled the judges with her audacious hula hoop act, which saw her maneuver a trio of hula hoops while hanging from a harness and spinning flaming hoops around her torso.
“I really didn’t expect that because we’ve seen a lot of people do hula hopping, but never like this,” Klum said. “You should be in Las Vegas.”
Vergara also gushed over Good’s thrilling performance.
“That was the perfect audition,” Vergara said. “It was exciting. It was fun. It was unique.”
Good spun herself into the next round of the competition, as the hula hooper earned four yeses from the judges.
Terry Crews awards Golden Buzzer to children’s drum squad
Child percussionist Chioma showed that kids still got the beat.
The 8-year-old drummer, along with other youth members of The Atlanta Drum Academy, gave a stirring drumline performance that featured intricate rhythms and lively choreography.
“I haven’t seen anything like this before on this stage,” Vergara said. “You guys might have a very big chance to win this competition because I think everyone is going to go crazy.”
Cowell echoed Vergara’s praise of the drum squad.
“This is one of my favorite auditions this year,” Cowell said. “What’s not to like? They’re so much fun, and they’re so talented.”
But before the judges had a chance to tally up their votes, host Terry Crews stepped out onstage to announce he was using his Golden Buzzer on Chioma & The Atlanta Drum Academy, sending the group straight to the “AGT” live shows.
“There is no need to vote,” Crews said. “Chioma, you told me backstage that you dream about being on ‘AGT’ and getting a Golden Buzzer. … I am honored to make that dream come true.”
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