Warning! The following contains spoilers from the latest episode of America's Got Talent. Read at your own risk!
The "Judge Cuts" rounds of America's Got Talent are often the most challenging in the competition, and arguably where the NBC series separates the "entertaining" acts from the truly talented. Some talents showed they have potential to advance onto the live rounds, and elderly Brazilian acrobats Edson and Leon dressed up like the characters from Up to leave no doubt that they deserved to move on to the next stage.
If that sounds crazy, don't worry. The act totally lives up to the hype. Watch these two old men ham it up to Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now," and perform some moves that men a quarter of their age would honestly struggle to accomplish.
It's impressive enough that the 54-year-old Edson still has that spring in his step, but hats off to Leon who is still doing the damn thing at 84 years young! Leon gets extra respect for strolling out there looking like the best cosplay of Up's Carl that the world has ever seen. If this series was based on cuteness alone, that would be enough to get them to Hollywood.
It takes more than that to move on in America's Got Talent, however, so it's a good thing Edson and Leon brought the same intensity as the iconic Queen song (which had to score points with Simon Cowell) they chose for the performance. There's no denying they left it all on the stage with their stunts, and the judges seemed dead set on advancing both men immediately after.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the case, and Edson and Leon found out later in the night that their act would not move on. Judge Gabrielle Union did say that it wasn't easy decision to make, and that there was a lot of talented acts that deserved a shot but were casualties of a high talent pool. While that is certainly true in some cases, America's Got Talent viewers may contend that Edson and Leon's act was at least as good if not better than advancing act Gonzo The Tambourine Man.
Hey, this is America's Got Talent. Talented acts get overlooked all the time and it always feels like any act that isn't a singer or musician is at an immediate disadvantage when the cuts start getting made. Would Edson and Leon have won America's Got Talent? Probably not, but it would've been nice to see them stick around for at least one more performance. I, for one, would've loved to see them do an adaptation of Grumpy Old Men.
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America's Got Talent airs on NBC Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET. Stick with CinemaBlend for updates on the competition as it progresses, and for the latest news in television and movies.
