I thought he bombed tonight. I really liked his last "hippy" performance but this just seemed TOO forced... not only that but half of the canvas was already set up before he started (the buzzers for example). But I did laugh at him giving Howard the beret. That was a solid touch.

I hate to bring it up for the upteenth time, but when you compare the Ukranian sand artist's final performance to Mr. Beret's tonight, it is just embarrassing.

Doing some little portraits of the judges? Wow, talk about not even trying to connect with the audience. This is probably the largest audience he will ever have, and he dosen't even attempt to say something personal? Use his art to convey something from his heart? What a shallow, empty hack this bum is.

William Close or David Girabaldi should definitely win. I don't get the love for Tom Cotter. I would never pay to go see him, let alone even watch his stand-up special on television for free. The problem is I can see his cheesy act winning this thing.

I hope Mr. Girabaldi wins it.

Cotter's jokes aren't very original. Most of them I've heard before or at least variations on them. I've heard the Donald Duck thing a few times recently. Plus he has the same agent as Howard. He is like a poor man's Steve Carell.

I personally would not pay to sit an hour and watch Girabaldi. I am impressed he can paint so good in so little time, but an hour would be too much. Though I am interested in seeing Close and the earth harp, if the music stays so similar, I would be bored pretty fast. I do know the originality in the beginning would be a draw. I respect Cotter. It takes a lot for a person to hook an audience in so little time and keep them laughing for 90 seconds. That is why there have never been a comedian in the finals. Plus Cotter's act can be changed or different for each show using the theme gimmicks he has employed lately. This could bring repeat business and alleviate it from becoming stale.

I think Cotter has a lot of non-clean material that would have us all laughing.. but for this show he has to do a PG / family set. I do agree with Holydoc the spin the wheel / dice of comedy could keep a show fresh. Now I don't think he could do this for an hour set.. but if he did half an hour he could do the wheel of comedy bit for 10 minutes.

The earth harp guy is great in person. The sounds are amazing. If he worked on his set and updated some of these songs he could have a great show.

The dog show always makes me laugh.. it could be a great show.

Painters are fun to watch. They could have a fun show doing 10 -12 paintings a show. they could spend a bit more time on detail.

The sand art guy dropped an egg last night (the stern Spock hand sign had me laughing), Howie was right that the dance troop was not as exciting as last week.

Cotter's material last night wasn't that good. I still think this is William Close's competition to lose, but who knows. I wouldn't be upset with either of them winning.

It did sound like they are doing a show with a bunch of different acts. I wonder how that will work out. Maybe I'll check it out in Vegas when I'm there in November.

kids dancing - I just do not see it, they did not even look to be in synch. I don't know... I don't even think that they are good kid dancers...

dogs..... well, they are trained dogs....that's it.

all the rest are very talented. I do not think that the winner should be based on who you would want to watch for an hour....because really, I dont think I could watch any of them for that long.... especially the sand art guy...

I think the painter is the most talented followed by the Earth Harp guy...
Of course its just my opinion.... good luck to them all.

Geez, I thought Flo Rida was bad, this Neo guy is even worse. He can't sing for shit. It's actually crazy how bad he is.

that's gotta be rigged

it's going to be a terrific Vegas show when 1/2 the crowd leaves before the headliner

Whatcha gonna do?

Wow, really? This was my first time watching this show from beginning to end and while there were some lacking parts throughout the season, overall I was entertained until now. While I know that everyone has their favorites and were rooting for certain acts, the winner of this season not only underwhelmed me, but soured me on the show as a whole. It is akin to watching a movie or tv series that was good until the ending where it just craps on everything that came before it.

My top three would have been William Close, David Garibaldi and Tom Cotter. Living in Vegas I would say that I would pay money to see these three acts on a given night. The dogs would have placed fifth or sixth for me. And before it starts, I have and love my dog Maverick. However, I would not pay to see a show involving dogs. It seems like a side act or intro to the main act, but nothing special or headlining. Call me an elitist, but this just goes to show you that the majority of the tv watching populace are just idiots of the lowest common denominator. I guess I should just take the show as a popularity contest and realize that the most deserving doesn't win, the one that allows you to turn off your brain does.

//end rant.

I get what you're saying, but I find it hilarious someone watching a cheesy TV talent show is accusing others of being the lowest common denominator.

That's like going into a porno theater to play with yourself and then complaining about "all the perverts in here".

I know, ironic isn't it?

I can live with Olate Dogs winning it. It is amazing what they got those dogs to do and knowing how much work they had to have put into training them to do it makes me happy for them. And I'm just happy the earth harp guy didn't win.

Earth Harp guy will be fine. A year from now, he'll probbaly have a PBS special at pledge time... 2013's Yanni.

Exactly. I spent a good hour last night arguing with my wife that he was better off not winning. He's free to tour and take any bookings he wants now instead of being tied to Vegas and trying to fit other stuff in depending on that schedule.

I can't believe the dogs won either. I just don't understand it. Yeah training them must have been difficult and time consuming, but you're still just watching a bunch of dogs. I like animals, but I guess I don't understand the fascination with getting them to act like humans.

I kind of thought all the acts this year were marginal. It improved as the show progressed, but there weren't any real standouts. I though Close was good just because it was always so polished - like the judges said professional.

I guess I am at least a little glad that a singer didn't win this year.

My thoughts without reading any of the comments, since I'm only halfway through.

Blue Man Group is what light wire should aspire to. I've seen them twice in person and I'd continue to see that shit. It's fucking fantastic.

William Close with the band was pretty good, although he got drowned out a lot.

Cotter roasting the judges had some decent material. Bringing in Joan Rivers was a good move. I wonder if Stern pulled the strings for that since they are friendly. Now she has great material. That face, though, ooooof. That Imus slam was fantastic.

Girabaldi's painting of Flo Rida was pretty good, although the match up was stupid.

Dogs one was dumb.

Bringing Barry back and Whatcha Gonna Do guy back, meh.

Sand artist guy continues to suck. I don't get why people think he's good at what he does. I've seen the same act but way better many other times.

Kids dancing, whatever. They should've never been there to begin with. Crying isn't going to save you guys now.

Sharon leaving the show announcement. Good. She didn't add much to the show anyway. I think they need to skew younger for this show with the judge.

I know they wanted to do everyone with a team up act, but doing these eliminations one right after the another is sort of suspense-less.

Holy shit. William Close in 3rd? Wow. I really hope he puts together a show some how and travels around. I'd gladly pay to see him.

WTF. Dogs won that shit? America is fucking stupid.

At least Tom Cotter got enough exposure to be a national act, now.

America voted for the dogs...hmmmm.
maybe we need some sort of electoral college for next year?

Honestly the one group who actually needed a show was the dog act.

Cotter is a stand up comedian - the show will / has already catapulted his career to the next level. He will get more dates and more $$ per appearance when he is on the road. A fixed act in Vegas would have slowed him down

Close is very good, and a fixed stage would have done him some good. But now he is free to tour to different cities and do concerts, work with singers / bands, etc.

Garibaldi Painters - honestly not much to put a show around.. we saw last night he was painting while FloRida was singing - he had to stop a bunch of times and dance because he was done before the song was over.. that would be one boring show.

The Dog Act - they have tons of dogs (live animals) that take a long time to train, get them used to their surroundings to be comfortable and able to perform. While this is a fun side act, the fixed location will benefit them and the animals in the long run. I'm going to Vegas in a few days and came across this act:

http://www.vtheater.com/comedy_pet_theater.html

This will give you an idea of how the dog act could be set up as a Vegas show.

If you think about it the dog act is a family act where you will bring the kids, which equals more ticket sales, where you can bring the entire family at 4pm before dinner. Kids love animals and won't get bored.

The dog act makes me smile and laugh..

Vegas isn't a family destination like it was promoted to be in years past. Plus, this is at the Venitian. Not a family friendly resort really. I'm willing to bet they are out of Vegas in a few months.

Tom Cotter is like your good friend who tells shitty jokes that you laugh politely at at first, but 20 mins later you're wondering why you're even friends with this person anymore, and frankly you just want to punch him in his stupid, unfunny mouth.