Canada’s Got Talent, episode 19: the stage is on fire

Canada’s Got Talent, episode 19: the stage is on fire

Canada’s Got Talent, Episode 19

In this episode of Canada’s Got Talent, we see the final round of semi-finalists before the big live show next week. With so much riding on a 90-second tryout, the competition seems even fiercer than usual—of course, these contestants have had the longest to prepare their routines, so we’d be disappointed with anything less. It’s no shock to us now that host Dina Pugliese towers over contestants, but on this occasion, she’s a full head taller than everyone in dance crew Broken Dance. We’re starting to wonder how tall Pugliese actually is, even without the sky-high heels. We’ve also been keeping tabs on Pugliese’s bedazzled microphones, and this week we spotted yet another colour: purple. That brings the tally up to four (that we’ve seen) different sparkly microphones. A contract rider for Pugliese, perhaps? Naturally, mention is made of Measha Brueggergosman’s hair—it has been straightened—and Stephan Moccio is still sporting scarves. All is right in the Canada’s Got Talent world.

Broken Dance is a Bollywood dance troupe. They perform a perfectly in-sync routine, complete with some of the brightest and most eye-catching costumes we’ve seen in this competition (Brueggergosman jokes, “There must have been a sale on sequins”). Our only complaint is about the busy projected backdrop of golden sparkles Broken Dance opted to use. It proves to be a distraction on more than one occasion.

During auditions, Aygul Memet’s acrobatic hula-hoop act was an early favourite. The escapee from the Chinese circus opts for a completely different act this time around, balancing flaming candelabras on her hands and feet. If that’s not enough, she even has something aflame in her mouth, and she contorts her body like a pipe cleaner. For her last trick, she claps with her feet while standing on her hands. This display of agility and courage should hopefully see Aygul through to the finals.

To be fair, Jack Ettlinger is exceedingly charming. But charm alone isn’t enough to sell us on this 18-year-old crooner—his rendition of Michael Buble’s “I Haven’t Met You Yet” is shaky at best. Even when he trots out an entire marching band and stands beside a grand piano for his breathy finale, Jack doesn’t quite win us over. Sorry.

Laheeb Quddusi is the only comedian in this competition. We met him for what felt like a few milliseconds during his Calgary audition, where he did a Christopher Walken impression. His routine is set in a lineup at a busy nightclub, and Laheeb runs through many impressions during his 90-second spot: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Barack Obama, Kermit the Frog, Stewie Griffin, Glen Quagmire, Eddie Murphy, Walken and Batman. It’s not that he’s not funny or that he’s not good at what he does, but we just don’t see an impression-making comedian making it to the final round. Hopefully Second City comes calling.