'America's Got Talent' Season 15: Psychedelic to folk, rock music dominates the night and fans are loving it
'America's Got Talent' gave its viewers a musical treat in its latest episode with everything from psychedelic blues-rock to traditional Siberian singing providing entertainment and inspiration. The first musical act of the night was a band of five siblings called Liliac, whose lead singer had some tweeting, "Janis Joplin would be proud of this band." Unfortunately, the band got all of a few seconds of airtime, and not everyone was okay with that.
One user tweeted, "The first rock band on AGT in years and they show 10 seconds of it. Smh." Another said, "You had a band called Liliac on your show tonight that have a huge fan base of their own. 99% of those fans are really upset right now that their time on stage was edited almost completely out. I don’t think that was a very good decision to do to this particular act," one shared, "Why did you not give the Liliacs the much deserved tv time to audition?!?! Bad call! Sad call!! Not sure I’ll keep watching!" and another stated, "@AGT the best band in years Liliac got totally ripped off by your program. WTF? A puppet boy has more talent than musicians? I will never watch your show again!"
They were followed by Luca DiStefano, a singer with a baritone that made many question if what they were hearing was his real voice. "Luca DiStefano has got an amazing low voice," tweeted one user, while another quipped, "A white Barry White!! Lol." Not all were fans, however. "They liked that???" asked one user, another said, "That was dumb / Just a fun song / And an unexpected voice / Not a Vegas act," and one stated, "Voiceover work, yes. #AGT, no."
Some had harsher criticism, tweeting, "It didn't sound good. It was super gimmicky. It has no staying power. He didn’t deserve a standing ovation. We need a higher standard." One user offered a solution, stating, "I thought Let's get it on had a falsetto #AGT That would have enhanced the gimmick, and the octaves." And other users had another complaint with regards to this audition, tweeting, "Kinda hard to decide if I liked the deep voice or not cause I could barely hear it with the other background noise. AGT can y'all work on audio???"
Next was Nolan Neal who decided to treat the audience to an original song titled 'Lost'. But even before he began performing, he was already tugging at people's heartstrings with his painful backstory. "What a horribly sad start to this act. Sheesh. #AGT," tweeted one fan just as Neal got into his journey, beginning with the moment his father called him and told him he was about to take his life. The next day, he did. Neal was inspired by his father, who was a drummer, and he said the loss was devastating to him, particularly due to the guilt of not doing enough to stop him as well as feeling like he wasn't worth sticking around for. "This guy is going to make me cry thank you. you can never be blamed for someone's suicide. It was their choice. For those who are thinking about it, please get help. It helped me. God bless," tweeted one viewer.
Neal continued his story, which took us through his experiences with being signed to a label and making his way to sobriety, which culminated in his writing 'Lost', his first song written after he got sober. One viewer shared, "@NolanNeal dude. Your passion, your story. I’m over here with tears in my eyes. Congratulations." Another said, "America loves a good comeback story."
Following his performance, many shared they were now fans of Neal. "My favorite singer this season so far," tweeted one user, "@NolanNeal just became an instant fan of yours. Killed that song on #agt and I’m rooting for you. Your story is incredible. Your voice is raw and organic. The world needs you!!!!!! Rock on brother," shared another. One said, "DAMN YOU SING IT @NolanNeal!!!!! YOUR VOICE IS INCREDIBLE!!! I GOT CHILLS!!!!!!" And many more were fans of Neal's song' Lost'. "WOW! Not only is this guy a great singer, he wrote an awesome original song here," tweeted one. "He can sing. Listen to those lyrics," said another, and one shared, "What a voice, @nolanneal can sing!" to which another responded, "He sings decent but his guitar playing? That's one of a god."
Duo Olox followed with an impressive performance of The Cranberries' 'Zombie' delivered via the magical sounds of traditional Siberian singing. "Ok I was literally on my feet and drawn closer to the tv as if I were under a spell. THAT was like nothing I have ever heard and I. Want. More!" tweeted one user. Another shared, "OLOX was hypnotic and perilously close to spiritually enlightening."
One user said, "The vocal abilities of @oloxofficial were absolutely CRAZY! That bass.... That's the type of originally that the #AGT stage needs." Another tweeted, "OLOX was amazing. The minute they finished singing I immediately wanted to hear them again. The last time that happened it was @Kodileerocks," while one user joked, "Dolores O’Riordan just looked down from Heaven and yelled 'WTF!!!'"
Twelve-year-old Ashley Marina, the only non-rock artiste of the night, closed out the singing acts with a seemingly powerful performance, but owing to the overpowering backing track, she was asked to sing her second song acapella by Simon Cowell, and the audience and viewers both agreed that "She is even better a capella." Sadly, her song choices didn't win the judges over. But thanks to Sofia Vergara going to bat for the young singer, she was asked to return a little later with a better song. Viewers were not happy with this judgment, however.
"Normally I'm keen to agree with Simon's criticism of singer, cause he has that experience to back it up. I don't agree this time. Her talent still shown through," said one. "That's a lot of pressure for this young girl. I like her voice," shared another. One tweet read, "This is the one time probably this whole season you can think Sofia Vergara for actually doing something and you can also think Simon for being a d**k and trying to ruin this girl's dreams." Another stated, "This little girl is 12 years old. I would be so mortified if Simon Cowell stopped me in a middle of a song. I am glad she is getting another chance to come back with another song."
Much like with earlier acts, many viewers criticized the show's sound, tweeting, "The background music has been an issue for years now, yet nobody fixes it."
Marina returned, this time boldly taking on an original song about her father and demonstrating why she deserves to be on the show — she's a gifted singer and songwriter.
"Sounds like it could be a worship song by Lauren Daigle #AGT #AmericasGotTalent but this song is really personal and actually good! I can see it on the market! Why she didn’t do this to begin with is baffling," tweeted one viewer. Another said, "@Iamashleymarina has me in tears with that original song. Well written. I would BUY THE SONG. Please record it." One stated, "Goosebumps and teary eyed. Way to go Ashley," and another shared, "She took a gamble with an original song but now that song could be bought by a big record company n sell it in time for Father's day."
Marina was clearly one of the fan-favorites for the night, and owing to her songwriting capabilities, many are looking forward to what she will bring to the show in the future.