‘America’s Got Talent’ Auditions Recap: Professional Cuddler And Stuttering Comedic Drew Lynch Debut

America’s Got Talent kicked off its 10th season with a first round of auditions on Monday that included cute kids dancing and a comedian, ‘Piff the Magic Dragon.’

America’s Got Talent Auditions Part 1

Judges Howard Stern, Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum and Mel B. returned behind the podium to watch the first round of contestants. Host, Nick Cannon, also returned.

First up, Elin, 7, and Noah, 8, two elementary school students, BFFs, and together they are a “dancing duo.” The adorable duo shut down rumors they were boyfriend and girlfriend – “That’s gross” – before hitting the stage. The energetic twosome dance to “U Can’t Touch This,” and Elin even mouths the words! Not only do these two have some serious moves, they can also do tricks, and Noah does a few flips on the stage. “I thought you were adorable,” Heidi said. “You, young lady, are a superstar,” Howie told Elin, before saying that their song choice was his life motto. The sweeties walked away with Four enthusiastic, yeses, and then danced off stage with Nick.

After the dancing duo, Triple Threat, a cute, slightly nerdy, boy band trio, auditioned. Will, 21, Caleb, 21, and Tyler, 21, are all former high school football players who were “all injured at the same time” and formed their band while they were sidelined. Howard is noticeably apprehensive, but warms up when the trio starts to harmonize on MTKO’s “Classic.” They get a standing ovation from the audience and the judges, and, no surprise, are sent through to the next round. “God, finally a boy band that looks like me!” Howard said.

Ira F. Bloom, a puppet, auditioned next, accompanied by his “lovely mother” (also a puppet). He wanted nothing more than to sing to Mel B., his one true love. Ira sings “You Are So Beautiful” to Mel B., who cringes at the puppet’s admiration. The crowd loved it, and Ira did show off a nice singing voice, but it wasn’t enough to impress his favorite judge. Mel B voted not to send him through, earning her a chorus of boos from the crowd, but Howard, Heidi and Howie voted yes. Howie and Howard agreed that he wasn’t the best singer, but that he moved them.

Chris Jones, a professional hypnotist, got some help from Howie Mandel for his audition. Howie has a phobia of germs, and never gives high fives or shakes hands (he’s a fan of the fist bump), so Chris announces that for his act, he’s going to hypnotize Howie and try to get him to shake his hand. It works! Chris shakes hands with Howie before lifting the hypnosis. When he returned to his seat, Chris put him under again and told him that all the judges were wearing gloves. Howie, again, shook hands with Heidi and Mel B., and the magic spell convinced all four judges to vote yes.

Show Project, a group of male gymnasts, was next. Two men from Germany and two from The Czech Republic, aged 21-33, performed an exciting and impressive acrobatic routine involving parallel bars over a trampoline. Everyone loved the act, giving it a standing ovation. “Wowza!” Mel B. exclaimed before sending them through.

Johnny Shelton gave the most heart wrenching audition of the night, performing “That’s Love,” a song he wrote for his son, who died of cancer. Johnny moved the judges and the audience, and Howard called him “an inspiration” and a “real artist.” Johnny was tearing up, and Howie didn’t even take a vote before declaring that he had been voted through to the next round.

Piff the Magic Dragon is an aspiring comedian, who tells Cannon he thinks his act is worth $1 million because “why not?” He also claims to perform at children’s parties, which is hopefully a joke. “It was either this or Game of Thrones. And, I’ll be honest with you, I don’t want to die yet,” Piff quipped before starting his magic act.

Howie loved the act – he laughed all the way through. “That was amazing,” Howie said. Mel B., Heidi and Howard all agreed he was entertaining as hell, and he sailed through.

SIRO-A was the second dancing group to audition, but instead of more cute kids, it was comprised of 23-36 year-olds. The Japanese techno dance troupe performed with an impressive array of laser lights and screens, creating a dizzying effect. “It was big, it was exciting, this is exactly what we’re looking for,” Mel B. said. Howie agreed, calling them the act that people will talk about tomorrow. “You are going to be famous all over the world,” Howie said. All four judges agreed and sent them through to the next round.

Samantha, a professional cuddler, brought out Nick to help her demonstrate her talent. Samantha’s cuddles claim to reduce stress, and the act ended in an awkward judge pile-on cuddle. She began with “the Cleopatra,” allowing Nick the chance to loosen up a bit, before moving into more involved cuddles, like “Mother of Pearl.” Howard pressed his X button quickly, but then invited himself up on stage to cuddle Nick himself. Heidi, Mel B. and Howie all gave Samantha the cuddler a ‘yes for now,’ saying they were curious to see what she does next.

Drew Lynch, 23, a young comedian, turned a negative into a positive after being hit in the throat by a ground ball, damaging his vocal chords and leaving him with a stutter. With the help of his girlfriend, Drew turned his new stutter into a comedy act. The crowd chanted, “Let Him Through,” before he was even done. Howie loved his act, and was so impressed by his comedic chops, he pressed the special golden buzzer and sent Drew straight through to the live shows! “You are worth a million dollars,” Howie told him.

A few other acts were also sent through, including Adonis Crash Boom, the Chapkis Dance Family, Serey and Sasha – a father-daughter acrobatics duo – and X-Tream Tricking and Tumbling.

America’s Got Talent auditions continue Tuesday at 8 p.m. on NBC.

Article by Olivia Truffaut-Wong

Olivia Truffaut-Wong was born and raised in Berkeley, California, where she developed her love of all things entertainment. After moving to New York City to earn her degree in Film Studies, she stayed on the East Coast to follow her passion and become an entertainment writer. She lives on a diet of television, movies and food.