Trama

The "America's Got Talent" auditions were back in Orlando, Fla., and the first act of Tuesday's two-hour audition episode was magician Frankie Elliston, a 19-year-old Chili's waiter who earns extra tips by performing magic tricks. He swallowed a piece of string and pulled it out through the skin on his stomach. He freaked everyone out, and Piers Morgan called it "one of the most disgusting things I've ever seen." He was intrigued, though, and voted yes as the crowd cheered. Sharon said she didn't know if it was good enough, so she voted no. Howie liked something about Frankie and put him through to Vegas.

Another magician made it through with a slick "girl in a box" trick. A group of South Philly's Mummers, and a knife thrower who surprisingly used host Nick Cannon as his target all made it to Vegas, as well.

Erin Barylski, a painted-up gymnast painted an American flag using pigment on her thighs was just odd enough to make it through to Vegas. A 16-year-old kid dressed as Amadeus came up next. Simeon Mulder recently immigrated from the Netherlands and played the keyboard like a whiz. The crowd was on its feet, his mom was beaming with pride and the judges really had no choice but to send him to Vegas.

Customer service representative Tiahizzi Charrelle was pretty well covered up before taking the stage to perform a "song-and-dance routine." Howie buzzed her immediately, and Sharon followed suit. Piers held out long enough to watch Tiahizzi remove most of her clothes, then buzzed her. A string of extremely odd characters followed, including a large man with small talent who pranced around the stage in short shorts before stripping down to briefs.

A young dance group, Studio One Young Beast Society, made up of dancers ages 10 to 21, impressed the crowd and the judges and earned a trip to Las Vegas.

A 73-year-old Russian immigrant named Efim Tabachnikov, who moved to the U.S. 33 years ago, sang "Some Enchanted Evening" using a style and technique he developed himself. It didn't work. Piers buzzed him almost immediately, and Sharon soon followed. Howie let Efim finish, but the crowd was somewhat relentless. All three judges seemed to like him personally, but voted no.

A Haitian group called Harmonik hit the stage with something to prove. They performed for themselves and for their families back in their homeland, who are still reeling from the massive earthquake that hit in January. They wanted to win so they could send the prize money back home. They sang their version of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," and the crowd was into it. The judges agreed it was a great performance, and voted them through to Vegas as the crowd gave a standing ovation.

A singer and songwriter named Sponjetta wasn't lacking in confidence, saying she felt she could be as big as a Alicia Keys and Beyonce. She performed some original material, a song called "Studio." She kept repeating the line, "I'll be in my studio, studio." All three judges voted no. Nick took the stage and tried to give her another chance, encouraging the crowd to bounce as she sang the song all over again.

Sponjetta was the last act Orlando had to offer, and the second hour was dedicated to auditions held in Portland, Ore., for the first time.

The first act in the city that prides itself on being weird was a magic duo called "The Magique Bazzar." The guy changed his face mask five times in 90 seconds, but while performing with his back to the crowd, he fell of the stage. They went home, and they were followed by a string of bizarre acts, including one in which a woman dressed as a zombie kept telling a leashed man to roll over.

The early portion of the auditions displayed mostly the weird part of what Portland has to offer. But bicycle trickster Jeremy Vanschoonhoven, 27, brought the crowd to its feet. He first used Nick as a prop and balanced his front tire over Nick's face multiple times, then went through an obstacle course. Piers buzzed him because he fell at one point, then he voted no. Sharon voted yes, along with Howie, to send Jeremy on to Vegas, where he vowed to crank it up even higher.

Banghra Empire, an Indian dance group, had the crowd and the judges smiling, and they kicked off a run of quality acts who earned tickets to Vegas, including a singing duet called The Strange Familiar and a kids' dance group.

Airpocalypse, an air band supergroup, started slowly and Piers was primed to buzz them, but he held off and they kicked it up a notch, bringing the crowd on board with them. Howie voted yes, as did Sharon, and Piers was into it, as well, sending Airpocalypse to Vegas.

A classically trained cellist with a heavy metal vibe was X'd off the stage, but Connor Doran was ready to demonstrate his indoor kite flying prowess. The 17-year-old said he was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 4 and flying his indoor kite helped give him confidence and calm. The crowd and the judges were mesmerized by watching him guide the apparatus around the stage. Howie called it "one of the most beautiful, unique things" he'd ever seen. He was flying off to Vegas.

William Scott Anderson, a medical evacuation team member in the Army who performed magic for injured children, amazed everyone with an illusion in which he put a woman in a box, then folded the box up, drove swords through it and then unfolded the box with the woman still inside. How and the judges loved it and put him through to the next round.

Sally Cohn, a 75-year-old former teacher who vowed to knock everyone off their asses with her performance, was a hand whistler. She whistled "America the Beautiful" and Sharon buzzed her. She wrote a book about hand whistling and had copies for sale for $12. Howie bought one. Sharon liked Sally, but said no. Piers, though, had the last vote and as the crowd cheered, "Vegas! Vegas!" he voted yes.