On Episode 2 of Canada’s Got Talent: an Octopuses garden full of performing delights

By BILL BRIOUX

The pursuit of the “wow” factor intensified on Tuesday’s second episode of Canada’s Got Talent on Citytv.

First of all, the show moves faster than Connor McDavid through a defense pairing. Tuesday’s opening scenes were a blur of clips showing talented Canadians charging the OLG Stage at the Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls, all in pursuit of the $150,000 grand prize.

Three acts were put through to the next round in quick succession: Christian Mascia, a magician from nearby Stoney Creek, ON; Xpectaculo, a circus troupe from Scarborough, ON; and Dean Gunnarson, a stunt man who hung upside down in a straight jacket and set the rope on fire from Onanole, MB.

When things settled down somewhat, Magic Ben, a magician all the way from Whitehorse, YT., magically appeared. He brought a deck of cards to the judges table, then blew Lilly Singh’s mind by clasping her hands and changing a deck of cards into a framed portrait of her.

“You’re combining my favourite things, which are – magic and merch,” she told Magic Ben. It was four big yeses for the man from Yukon.

Things settled down when young Evangel Omari Besong sat behind his keyboard. The lad from Edmonton admitted he was very nervous. He got off to such a shaky start, Howie Mandel stopped him mid-song. “Everybody here loves you,” he told the lad, who, with some coaching from Trish Stratus, took a deep breath and launched back into his Shawn Mendes song. The intervention worked and Besong was able to hit his high notes. Then Lilly did something extraordinary – she held up her cellphone and showed Besong that Shawn Mendes himself was on the line! It was a big YES from Mendes, which blew the kid’s mind (as did the four other yeses that followed).

The show then took a most surprising turn. Cameras followed Howie outside the Fallsview Casino where he was drawn to a woman busking on the street. He jammed five bucks into her jar, asked her what she was up to today and invited her to audition immediately for Canada’s Got Talent!

The surprised lass’s name is Meave, who is from Niagara Falls. She got a few hasty backstage instructions, was padded down with makeup and then strode on stage in front of a packed theatre. She obviously had no music prepared and had to sing acapella, launching into an appropriately gnarly rendition of “House of the Rising Sun.”

The result: a standing ovation. Howie beamed at his last-minute recruit. “Sometimes surprises can turn into dreams,” he said. Kardinal Offishall, the professional singer on the judges panel, was amazed at how the young woman was able to handle the pressure. “I don’t say this often,” said Singh, “but Howie, you did something great!” It was four big yeses for Meave.

After that, the stage was commandeered by Captain Finn and the Salty Sea Dogs, a rag tag band dressed as pirates from London, ON. They were quickly buzzed off the stage.

The night stayed nutty with the next act, Kenton & Lise, an upbeat vocal duo from Toronto. Dressed in too many colours, they sang a song about mass extinction while she mimed dinosaurs and held up signs. It might best be categorized as teacher rap, or historical hip hop.

Trish loved it. “On behalf of nerds, it’s a yes from me,” she said. The duo moved on with three yeses, with Howie, who hit the buzzer, admitting he just didn’t get it.

Mr. Cuddles the Evil Octopus came all the way from Gibons, BC. He was joined by a mad scientist who fed Howie’s toothbrush into a “Clone-a-tron” machine. Wouldn’t you know it, somebody had set it to “Hideous Mutant.” Out popped a slimy gross and sticky mutant Howie head baby with glasses. Howie immediately adopted it and was rewarded with a bag of mutant chow. “Let’s quit while I’m a head,” Howie quipped. The act drew four yeses, so we’ll see who Mr. Cuddles will clone next.

The night ended with the strongest act of the episode. A 36-member Quebec dance troupe known as Conversion threw themselves into an intense and dramatic routine. They used every inch of the stage to perform an original routine in honour of the fertility struggles faced by their coach and his wife. By the end, tears came to both Trish and Lilly. The act earned a standing ovation.

“We are dancing on our coach’s son’s ultrasound,” explained one of the dancers. Trish slammed down her Golden Buzzer. The troop fulfilled Trish’s one ambition coming on to Season 2: “I want to feel it.” She sure did with this season’s emotional high points so far.

Canada’s Got Talent airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Citytv and Citytv+, with catch-up available on Citytv.com or through the Citytv app.

NEXT WEEK: Get set for incredible pet tricks, dynamic acrobats and more. In the meantime, go to Canada’s Got Talent’s YouTube channel for more of Conversion’s Golden Buzzer celebration. You can also listen to Howie and Kardinal set up the new season now on the latest episodes of brioux.tv: the podcast.