‘I would love to see you have your own show in Vegas,’ Simon Cowell tells Utah trapeze act on ‘AGT: The Champions’

The Salt Lake-based trapeze act Duo Transcend advanced to the semifinal round of “America’s Got Talent: The Champions” on Monday night. | Trae Patton, NBC

Utah’s daring trapeze act Duo Transcend is advancing to the semifinal round of ‘America’s Got Talent: The Champions.’

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s daring trapeze act Duo Transcend is advancing to the semifinal round of “America’s Got Talent: The Champions.”

The show’s second season debuted Monday night on NBC, but thanks to a teaser “America’s Got Talent” released three days before the big premiere, 15 million people had already watched Duo Transcend’s high-flying performance on Facebook.

That’s more than the number of viewers who tuned in for the show’s season one premiere last year.

Mary Ellen Wolfe-Nielsen and Tyce Nielsen made “AGT” history in 2018, when they overcame a mistake that led to a big fall and became the first trapeze artists to reach the final 10. The husband-and-wife team wowed (and scared) the judges and fans with their dangerous routines that at times included one of the performers being blindfolded — not to mention the two of them being surrounded by fire.

Going into “AGT: The Champions,” the couple had one big goal: up the danger.

“We’re doing something that we’ve never done in front of anyone before,” Tyce Nielsen told the judges as he held his wife’s hand during Monday night’s episode.

And then it was showtime. In the air, Tyce Nielsen sat upright on the trapeze bar as his wife walked along his arms and across his shoulders. When Mary Ellen Wolfe-Nielsen made it to her husband’s right shoulder, she jumped.

Trae Patton, NBC

The Salt Lake-based trapeze act Duo Transcend advanced to the semifinal round of “America’s Got Talent: The Champions” on Monday night.

Tyce Nielsen caught her with his feet.

And just in case that wasn’t enough to impress the audience, in a big twist, both trapeze artists performed the last minute-and-a-half of the routine — upside-down falls and all — blindfolded.

All four judges gave the performers a standing ovation, and Mary Ellen Wolfe-Nielsen was visibly emotional after the act, sharing a long hug with her husband.

“I love the trust you have for one another, the love that you have for one another,” judge Heidi Klum told the pair.

“I think this was better than what you did a few years ago,” Simon Cowell added. “If you make the finals, my suggestion would be that you step up your game because I would love to see you have your own show in Vegas.”

When the Nielsens first competed on “AGT,” they were doing it for stability — for a chance to better provide for their young son, Jaxx. Since their initial run on “AGT,” the Nielsens have performed at a number of corporate events and NBA halftime shows throughout the country. They’ve also been able to spend more time with their son, as many companies have been willing to pay more to fly Jaxx out, Tyce Nielsen previously told the Deseret News.

But this time around, Duo Transcend is competing for total victory.

“Even though we’ve had a lot of success, still to this day we’ve wished we had won. That’s why we’re here,” Tyce Nielsen said during the episode. “We want to show our son that even if you fall, you can get back up and make it to the top.”

Duo Transcend was one of three acts from Monday night’s episode to advance to the semifinal round. Thirteen-year-old Norwegian singer Angelina Jordan — who won “Norway’s Got Talent” when she was 7 — received the golden buzzer and immediately advanced to the finals.

“We just love being able to display our art form to people around the world,” Tyce Nielsen previously told the Deseret News. “And there’s really no bigger way for us to show people what we do than being on the ‘AGT’ stage.”

from Deseret News https://ift.tt/2FsV6GS