<br><div><aside class="gnt_em gnt_em__fp gnt_em_vp__tp gnt_em__el" aria-label="Video - 'America's Got Talent': Watch this nine-year-old make show history"/><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">The stakes are higher than ever. </p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">Tuesday kicked off the last night of auditions on <a target="_blank" href="/story/entertainment/tv/2021/07/14/americas-got-talent-recap-howie-mandel-reprimanded-over-rude-comments/7943716002/" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|inline click|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">"America's Got Talent," </a>which judge <a target="_blank" href="/story/entertainment/celebrities/2021/04/08/heidi-klum-daughter-leni-klum-first-solo-magazine-cover/7147986002/" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|inline click|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">Heidi Klum</a> described as the "best season yet." And with competition amping up, that means scoring four "yes" votes from the judges does not come easy. </p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">Now imagine trying to land a "yes" without one half of your act? That's the exact predicament Pasha found himself in after his "dance partner didn’t arrive tonight."</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">"My wife and I would perform together," Pasha said. "Unfortunately, she couldn’t be here tonight. She missed her flight. So I’m really in a jam. I’m trying to figure out what to do." </p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">Although he claimed to never have performed by himself and said he was "very worried" about his audition, <a target="_blank" href="/story/entertainment/tv/2021/07/14/americas-got-talent-recap-howie-mandel-reprimanded-over-rude-comments/7943716002/" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|inline click|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">Howie Mandel</a> said this was the "ultimate" example of "the show must go on."</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p"><strong>'AGT':</strong> <a target="_blank" href="/story/entertainment/tv/2021/07/14/americas-got-talent-recap-howie-mandel-reprimanded-over-rude-comments/7943716002/" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|inline click|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">Howie Mandel apologizes after being scolded by contestant's mom over 'rude' comments</a></p><figure class="gnt_em gnt_em_img"><img class="gnt_em_img_i" style="height:441px" data-g-r="lazy" src="https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2021/07/21/USAT/22344ef7-c6be-4c27-adb7-77ded08aa8c3-NUP_193480_8336.JPG?width=660&height=441&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp" decoding="async" alt="Pasha and Ailona compete on "America's Got Talent.""/></figure><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">Host Terry Crews rolled out Pasha and a "scary" life-size doll of his wife, but it turns out it wasn't Pasha exactly. He tricked the judges with the ultimate illusion, which showcased a pair of oddly flexible, lookalike dummies dancing on his back. </p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">"You got us, didn’t you," Simon Cowell said. "We were all thinking this is going to be terrible and it was actually … great. It was a great surprise."</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">Mandel added, "You are going to freak a lot of little children out."</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">Surprising the judges paid off because Pasha earned four "yes" votes and moved on to the next round of the...</p></div> <style> .wrapper { text-align: center; } </style> <div class="wrapper"> <a class="button" href ="https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2021/07/21/americas-got-talent-recap-simon-cowell-surprised-dancer-advanced-without-partner/8034041002/">Read more <span>➤</span></a> </div>
