'America's Got Talent' Judge Cuts: Max Major earns a high five from Simon Cowell for stunning mentalism act
Another episode of 'America's Got Talent' kicked off on Tuesday, July 28, and this time we were treated to the first-ever Judge Cuts episode. This elimination round was necessary, since the four judges Simon Cowell, Sofia Vergara, Heidi Klum and Howie Mandel had previously waved through about 100 contestants from the initial auditions round and were now tasked with eliminating about 60% of the remaining contenders. Standout performers like the aerialist Alan Silva, the singers Double Dragon, the sword swallower Brett Loudermilk and the insult comic Alex Hooper all made it through to the live rounds without breaking a sweat, but there were plenty of people who were left on the rejection pile. What remained now was 'the maybe pile', a group of 10 contestants who had to audition once again for the judges, hoping to nab one of five spots in the live rounds of 'America's Got Talent'. There was a big screen set up in an undisclosed Hollywood movie lot, movie theater-style, as the four judges got down to the business of identifying the cream of the crop.
So that meant the mentalist magician Max Major had to re-audition to prove that he had the chops to be a million-dollar act on AGT. And boy, did he deliver, with a supreme feat of mind-reading that left the judges stunned beyond belief. Max started off by placing a prediction in plain view of the judges and then commenced with his act. He showed Simon five photos, which each contained headshots of the show's stars - the host Terry Crews, along with the judges. He then proceeded to ask Simon to match another set of five photos, which were facedown, based on questions that the mentalist would ask him. Simon would be attempting to match the facedown photos with the ones that were face up, based purely on instinct and Max Major's mind-reading skills.
For the first photo, Major asked Simon which personality trait he treasured, and Simon replied, "Loyalty", and chose to match that photo with the faceup picture of Terry Crews. For the second photo, when asked which was the prized possession he would never sell, Simon revealed it was a photo of him and his son Eric, right after Eric had been born. That second photo was then matched to Sofia Vergara as per Simon's request. For the third photo, Simon was asked to reveal one of his most vivid memories from childhood, and the judge revealed that it was his first car racing set that he had first gotten as a little boy. That photo was then placed alongside Howie as per Simon's request. The remaining photos were chosen by Heidi next and then Simon himself got the last photo slot. What came next was astonishing, as Max revealed that Simon's facedown choices had perfectly synced up with the photos that were facing up. To make matters even more bewildering, Max revealed that his prediction contained every single one of Simon's answers. The dumbfounded judges applauded his incredible skills and Simon even went up to the giant screen to give Major a virtual high-five.
Naturally, Max made it through to the live rounds after such an impressive display and fans on social media were also applauding his performance. One fan noted, "Did anyone get chills from @itsmaxmajor's #JudgeCuts performance on @AGT? It was one of the best Judge Cuts performances I have ever seen!" One admirer also noted, "That act was INSANE, definitely deserved to go through," while another viewer remarked, "Yeah, freaked me out, that was amazing!" Another fan noted, "Max Major really should’ve gone through because he has to endure the fact that his talent requires face to face contact, he’s doing it online. I think this second audition can really proved his worth." As another supporter concluded, "HOW THE? HOW DID HE DO THAT? That is just amazing! Max Major just hit the mark there!"
Make sure you tune in for the exciting live rounds on 'America's Got Talent' next Tuesday night at 8 pm ET on the NBC network.