'America's Got Talent' Judge Cuts: Jonathan Goodwin cheats death again to prove he's a million-dollar danger act
'America's Got Talent' Season 15 just kicked into an extra, higher gear on July 28 night on the NBC network. The four judges Simon Cowell, Sofia Vergara, Heidi Klum, and Howie Mandel had to make some tough decisions as they were left with about 100 contestants who they had previously let through from the audition rounds, but now they had to eliminate about 60% of the pack. This meant jaw-dropping acts like the dancers Bad Salsa, aerialist Alan Silva, sword swallower Brett Loudermilk, and insult comic Alex Hooper sailed through to the live rounds. While quite a few people were immediately consigned to the rejection pile, other people like the daredevil Jonathan Goodwin were brought back for a special Judge Cuts episode. In this elimination round, the judges had identified 10 people who they felt they needed to see perform again. Since they had a mixed response to Jonathan Goodwin's first audition, which he had performed virtually during the coronavirus quarantine period, they called the daredevil back again to prove he was a million-dollar act.
Sitting in front of a large screen in an undisclosed movie lot in Hollywood, the judges remarked that they were glad to still see him alive after watching him literally catch a flying arrow in his initial video submission. Simon also mentioned that he had met Goodwin on a previous talent show and it was the closest he had come to actually seeing someone risk their lives. Goodwin then confirmed that he about to perform something incredibly dangerous, revealing that he had always been drawn to these kinds of daredevil stunts ever since he was a child. "All I'm going to be concentrating on is surviving," Goodwin bluntly stated while introducing his act.
Goodwin started off by showing us a metal blindfold and then introduced his setup, where his assistant April would be pouring water into a glass. However, there was a catch, as he then asked Howie to close his eyes and say stop when he determined the glass was full of water, merely by listening to the sound of the water filling up. He then showed us a crossbow, which can shoot arrows at 120 feet per second and demonstrated its blink-and-you-miss-it speed as it punctured a balloon. Then came the crazy part. Goodwin showed us an elaborate setup of four crossbows aimed at a target, all linked to taps and water bottles, which would fire once the water in the bottles hit a critical weight. Goodwin was planning to listen to the water fill up the bottles and then dodge out of the way in time, making it a life-or-death game of blindfold chicken... with arrows.
Thankfully, the daredevil had prepared well, and although the tension was palpable, he managed to successfully dodge death four times in a row, leaping out of the way at the last second as the arrows zoomed towards him. He even managed to catch the last arrow plumb in the center of a book, making for a spectacular finish. Naturally, the relieved judges gave him a rousing round of applause and eventually declared that he had made it through to the next round. On social media, fans were going wild as well and congratulated him on his phenomenal performance. "He was like: 'I'm a ninja, man!!!" said one thrilled fan, while another viewer exclaimed, "How on earth could Johnathan dodge every arrow?" Another admirer said, "I love this, it gives me chills, I love things that give me chills," so it was no surprise that Jonathan Goodwin made it through to the final live rounds, because he definitely deserved it.
Make sure you tune in for the live rounds of 'America's Got Talent', next Tuesday night at 8 pm ET on the NBC network.