Yes, America (and beyond) has some odd talent

As it prepares to go live, “America’s Got Talent” (shown here) has a wild variety of acts.
There are robots and roller skaters, acrobats and aerialists, magicians and musicians — lots of musicians. There’s also a lady with a crossbow, dubbing herself Anna Danger.
And yes, there are some Americans. We’re told that America’s got talent.
Despite its title, the show is sometimes dominated by imports. One year, seven of the 11 finalists were from other countries.
This year, it’s about even. Of the 44 acts to reach the quarter finals (beginning 8-10 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 19 on NBC), 24 are from the U.S.
But most of that is bunched into one category: Among music acts, 17 of the 20 are Americans. For everything else, there are seven acts from the U.S., 17 from elsewhere.
This year, there are acts from Argentina, Austria, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, England, Ethiopia, Germany, India and Italy. The roller skaters are from the Ukraine; “Anna Danger” is actually Anna Saranina, from Russia.
In addition to the 20 music acts, the field has 10 dance acts, plus four magicians, two comedians, two jugglers and six that can merely be called “other.”
Among individual acts, the youngest and oldest ages listed are for singers — Bay Melnick Virgolino, 10; and Charity Lockhart, 49. But there are others: The Funkateer Dancers (from Inkster, Michigan) range from 59 to 66.
All of these were chosen during a two-month audition marathon. Now “AGT” will pause (8-10 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 12) for a special (shown here) celebrating its 20-season history; then the live episodes, with viewers voting, take over.
Those 20 seasons have mostly seen “AGT” be No. 1 in summertime ratings. In this streaming era, however, it’s difficult to keep an audience.
As recently as 2011, the show was reportedly averaging 12.6 million viewers; by 2022, that had fallen in half, to 6.2 million. This season, it’s been generally been between 4.5 and 5.
But now the big push comes. During each of four Tuesdays, 11 acts will perform and viewers will vote, with the results revealed Wednesdays, propelling some to the semi-finals.
The first quarter-final line-up (Aug. 19) will include Tom Sandoval — who drew fame and infamy as the “Vanderpump Rules” bartender — and his band. Other music acts are Lockhart. Jourdan Blue, Steve Ray Ladson and CitiLimitz.
That night will also have three dance groups — B Unique (from India), LightWire (Brazil) and Loco Pop Familia (Japan). Also performing are comedian Shuler King, the magic act Phobias (Italy) and trapeze dupo Sirca Marea (Argentina and Chile).