I had to go to the AGT website to read Grace's 'story', as I didn't remember hearing or seeing it at all. Apparently she's quite the musical prodigy. But perhaps she would come across a little better when she gets a little older and her voice has a chance to develop more. I always try to imagine myself in one of the judges' seats (yes, pompous, I know), and 'judge' by the quality of the performance, not by my personal likes or dislikes. That's harder to do then one would think! My personal tastes always win out! And that's why I wasn't bothered in the least by the 'glitzy suit' performer being sent home. The background stories are influential, too, Although sometimes I think they dramatize and overplay the sob stories more than they should. But you can't help but admire someone who's pulled themselves up by their boot straps, and is doing their best to have a positive influence on life. They deserve the chance. The talent on this show seems to get better every year! I'd be willing to bet a dollar to a hole in a donut that a number of the contestants will be discovered and move on to bigger and better things, regardless of how they finish up here. Rusty

I wonder what happened to Nick? Anyone know? He did such a good job on that show, so talented, and I loved the way he would get on the stage and 'rescue' a contestant when things got too awkward. Wonder if Tyra will be able to do that. I'd never even heard of Tyra Banks before, don't think I was missing much. To me it seemed like she was trying to imitate Nick's expressions, reactions, etc., but it didn't come across as very natural. I missed his antics a lot. But I love the show more than I disliked Tyra, so I will get used to her. I hope. The chicken surprised me, I thought it was a definite buzzer act, but it was pretty good once it decided to do its thing. It will be interesting to see how they upgrade that act for the next level. Just how entertaining and talented can a chicken be? ? ? I'm with Simon on the clowns, I most definitely do NOT like them! And I thought Puddles deserved the buzzers he got! But that voice was a big surprise! And the brother-sister dance team! Wow! How in the world can anyone spin that much that fast and not be falling down dizzy? Rusty

My mistake, 'Creepy' did go through. I guess there are those who like that type of thing, but I'm not one of them. To me she seems, I don't know, depressing? Sinister? Even kind of evil. And she did win in Asia. I've got mixed emotions about someone winning the show in one country, then coming to another country and entering the same show. Doesn't really seem quite fair to me. And I've always had a question in my mind about rules for contestants. I wonder what, if any, qualifications they have to meet in order to audition. The group that got the Golden Buzzer were fantastic! I can easily see them winning the whole thing! And I actually laughed out loud at the lady stand-up comedian, she was really funny! I have seen trained cats before, once at Fiesta Texas, and once in a Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey circus matinee. But neither act was any where near as good as last night's cats were. Looks like some really tough competition this year! Rusty

💉💉💉 Pfizer says it will be unlikely to have additional Covid vaccine for the US until the summer. It’s been reported that months ago the US had an opportunity to contract for many more doses but declined. That’s very unfortunate. There is some moderate immunity conferred after the first shot, so that’s good news. The side effects felt after the second injection (a few weeks later) are along the lines of those experienced by the second Shingles shot — sore arm at the injection site for a day or two, and some feeling of blah all over. Just for a day or so. This demonstrates that the person’s immune system is responding. The vaccine has NO virus in it, but instead just a piece of the genetic code of the virus. There is no way that the vaccine can cause the virus in those injected. Dr. Kavita (sp) Patel (MSNBC) said she got to read some of the documents and details and is optimistic. A few weeks ago, she was waiting to see that information before committing to taking it. In Wales, vaccinations have begun and their system of prioritizing and administering (the logistics, and set up) seem exceptionally well organized and thought out. Wales has been hit very hard. From some of the video footage and narrative on MSNBC, it appears that after the vaccine has been removed from the very cold freeze, it can be administered within a five day window. I am feeling better about this. Oh, and as many of you might know, a lot of this vaccine development had been somewhat researched during the similar SARS epidemic. So researchers were not starting from a blank slate.