Yahoo Lifestyle Simon Cowell disgusted by 'repulsive but brilliant' “America's Got Talent” audition
It involved confetti, maggots, and a reference to judge Sofia Vergara's show "Griselda."
America's Got Talent, yes, but sometimes it's a very odd one.
On Tuesday, in one of the reality show's creepier moments this season, a zombie-like character popped up in front of the judges' table and scared them, before directing judges Simon Cowell and Sofia Vergara onstage to play a "game." It wasn't a very fun one, of course. Cowell was instructed to look at several numbered balloons to pop over the head, who was seated onstage wearing a blindfold.
Lucky for the Modern Family alum, each of the balloons Cowell selected contained confetti. Once Vergara was safe, the contestants popped another balloon that had what appeared to be more sinister contents: maggots.
Related: Heidi Klum makes a grandma cry with her America's Got Talent Golden Buzzer
While judge Heidi Klum hit the "X" button to stop the act just before it ended anyway, Cowell actually complimented them. "That was repulsive, but brilliant," he said, "seriously."
Skeptical judge Howie Mandell asked Cowell if he and Vergara had been in on it, but apparently they were not. Mendel later quipped that the whole act was "a scene from Griselda," referring to the Netflix miniseries about a Columbian drug lord that Vergara stars in and produces.
For her part, Vergara said she didn't even know what was happening, so she would defer to the audience. They approved by cheering loudly.
Related: America's Got Talent contestant freaks out the judges — and the audience — in season 19 premiere
Greg Gayne/NBC
The "America's Got Talent" judges take in an audition.Cowell and Mandel both said yes, too, but Klum could not be persuaded. To her, it was simply "hideous."
Mandel declared it "a win for the maggots."
The night was a rough one for Vergara, who proclaimed another act, by a parkour instructor from Pennsylvania, "plain masochism." In it, the contestant subjected himself to several painful stunts that targeted him down below.
The Jackass-like performance was almost painful to watch.
Related: America's Got Talent contestant freaks out the judges — and the audience — in season 19 premiere
When the contestant said he felt like such performances are what he was meant to do, she deadpanned, "It's a call from god."
So she said no, but Cowell, Mandel, and Klum all voted yes.
In one of the night's happier moments, a Cuban singer took the stage early in the episode, explaining that he had been up all night trying to learn the lyrics to the song he was about to sing in English. For the first time. He had been all ready to croon in Spanish, he said, but the lyrics were not cleared legally. But his cover of Jennifer Lopez's "Waiting for Tonight" was not doing it for anyone.
Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.
Cowell said flatly, "I don't think this is working."
He told the contestant to come back another day with another song.
At the end of the show, he did just that, singing in Spanish and giving off better vibes. He was, as Cowell put it, "a different person."
July 23 is the final episode with auditions. After that, the show will make room for the Olympics, but it'll be back on Tuesdays and Wednesdays between Aug. 13 and Sept. 18 for the live shows, in which the judges' votes won't be the only one that count.
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.
