Rob V

Yeah, I got it... having a good voice is a talent so I respect that. But REAL talent, IMO, is the person who can write the songs or play an instrument (not just strum a repeating chord) while singing. So many people have a great voice; so doing karaoke to a popular song doesn't seem very impressive.

Josh-da-man

Yeah, the Cube trick, I would assume was a pre-made image of Brad Pitt, and Nick was always going to pull the Brad Pitt card. Magicians have ways of getting people to pick pre-selected cards in a random draw. Seems the easiest way to accomplish the trick, though when he dalled out the other two cards, it did seem like an overt signal to a hidden assistant.

One interesting thing about Rubik's cubes is that the center tiles are in fixed locations on the cubes. The white center is always opposite the yellow center tile. The blue center tile is always opposite the green center tile. The red center tile is always opposite the orange center tile. I noticed that, on the Pitt portrait, the top couple of rows were solid green sides, which would mean that the top few rows of the jumbled side would need to have blue center tiles showing on all of those rows. I never bothered going back to check before deleting it from my DVR.

mphtrilogy

The best bits of the Rubik's cube dude were his tosses to the judges getting the cubes back to same color sides, those were quickly done. I remember my Rubik's cube back in the day, it was really hard to turn it, he seems to be able to zip these around pretty easy. I've seen enough of his act tho, so not sad to see him go.

Clarivoyants were crazy good..

Crum seems like the best singer to me, glad he went thru

Linken bridge, I like the back story, but they just seem ok at best, def don't seem final worthy.

The contortionist girl did a great job of upping her game, glad she ditched the arrow deal, this work she did seemed much more worthy, and it looked like she worked hard on it. It was a great act.

I'm glad Viktor went through and not more music acts, he is a unique act to these finals and I enjoy his shows. I think he would fit right in at a Vegas show.

creekdipper

Pretty much agree with all the choices this week. Seems that the voting public suffered from singer fatigue a bit, although 2 of the first 3 were vocal acts.

Didn't really see that any of the winning 5 gave their best performances. Kee wasn't as impressive, Crum was slightly off (and the arrangement didn't help), & Linkin' Bridge's harmonies weren't as smooth.

Sophie & Clairvoyants did do some different things, although Clairvoyants are more about presentation than wowing with skill. Not too hard to figure out the act...the clipboards handed to the judges most likely were the means of conveying the messages written (just as the dude in past performances gave "cue" words to the "psychic" to tip her off). It was interesting to see the woman insist that Cowell take the timepiece as a souvenir.

Crum reminds me of the singer "Ace" from a past season of Idol. Ace would finish every song with the same hand-extended gesture & soulful look to the camera. Likewise, Crum starts out stock-still with a thousand-yard stare, begins the song quietly, and then builds to a crescendo (like the young opera singer). It's very theatrical, but it tends to get repetitive...disappointing since he has such a great voice. Like to see him vary his style a bit, but it has gotten him this far (just as Sal's style has done for him).

That's one of the biggest gripes I have with singers on the show. Every other act is challenged to do something different, to go bigger, to up their game each time, etc. What usually happens with the singers (Grace, Laura, L. Bridge, Brian, Sal) is that they tend to pretty much stay in the same range & style but simply sing a different song. Aside from having so many other venues on tv for vocalists & having so many finalists from the same category, it just seems that the singers are not judged by the same standards as the other acts. All they have to do is to match their previous performances & they're golden.

Even when they fall short, their backstories or past performances usually carry them through.

Can't blame them for sticking to a winning formula...just wish the audience (and judges) would look for more variety. When so many vocalists each year (often reminiscent of past contestants) wind up in the finals, doesn't that indicate that being good at singing is a much more common talent than some of these other acts?

It puzzles me that people would rather hear a 12-year old singing breathily, haltingly off-key while strumming a ukelele than to see Dangerous Games coming up with truly risky, big performances.

And I vote for the female half of Dangerous Games to be cast as Modesty Blaise.

DRG

I've had this exact same thought. If this were an even playing field, then the next week they would have to throw in choreography or playing an instrument to 'up' their game. Even worse... when Sal actually went a different way with it and did a contemporary song, they zinged him for it and said they wanted him to go back to doing traditional songs!

Pizza

I think all the singers are great. Truly great. I became a fan of many of them. With that, there was just too many of them in the competition. It does get tedious seeing them sing and sing again. There was no surprise other than what song they'll perform. Eh. The show might be stronger if they wouldn't allow singing in the competition. It would be more of a challenge to find great acts to fill the two hour slots but maybe that's what it needs to do.

windom

Laura Bretan (the opera girl) already won ‘Romania’s Got Talent’ earlier this year.

https://www.realityblurred.com/reali...omania-winner/

Matto1020

Was out of town and didn't get to watch Semi Finals 2 Live. Catching up now, here we go.

Jana Brown
She's a good singer, but just doesn't have the stage presence that other singers do. Ugh, and Simon with that "It was great.......It was incredible." He's as bad as the "Wouldn't that of been cool" magicians.

Kaden Bart Rocket
Always found these kids super awkward and wow, this trick was TERRIBLE! Can't figure for the life of me how they've got this far. Couldn't AGT afford to give the kids some proper sturdy props? Yikes...

Kadie Lynn
Same as Jana... good singer, but her song choice does nothing of me.

Viktor Kee
Agree with all the judges, this guy has just been amazing time after time!

Linkin Bridge
So this is one of those acts that had past performances that didn't WOW me, and this one didn't WOW me, but I did enjoy it quit a bit.

The Passing Zone
They brought THIS act back? Good lord... Jesus Christ... I mean, all I can say is,



Calysta Bevier
Always liked her. She's a great singer, and just has a stage presence the other singers don't have.

Stephen Brundage
Ummm what? I think I saw a few Brad Pitt cards when he fanned them out.

Sofie Dossi
At least it wasn't the cross bow on the target.

The Clairvoyants
Darn I missed the act... this girl from OKCupid is texting me, so I wasn't paying attention. I doubt she can take my attention from our next act though!

Brian Justin Crum
I mean, he's my favorite singer this season, but I feel each subsequent performance after CREEP has lost a bit more of emotion


RESULTS


DUNKIN SAVE - Soffie Dassi, Stephen Brundage, Viktor Kee

I mean, really??? No way Viktor should be there.. get it right America!

1. The Clarevoyents - No big surprise there.
2. Brian Justin Crum - Glad he made it through!
3. Linking Bridge - Poor Jana... but LB was definitely the better act.

4DS. Soffie Dossi - Wow, thought for sure she was a goner. The judges getting rid of the Rubiks Cube guy AGAIN should be interesting...

5JS. Viktor Kee! Good for him, he was definitely more entertaining than SB.

Michael Corvin

Skipping the last few posts as I'm playing catch up. Just watched the Semifinals round 1 and results last night.

Typically I roll my eyes at Howie's constant "greatest season evar!!!" hyperbole, but of the 5 or so years we've been watching, I think this is hands down the best. This semifinals group could have easily been the finals group any other year. As they were showing the preview for the other acts in the Semis I kept thinking, nope...nope...not her...nope...not them...oh yeah, Linkin Bridge...nope...oh yeah, Dossi...nope... So other than Linkin Bridge and maybe Sofie Dossi(if she changes it up a bit) this group is far better.

On to the acts:

I think America got it mostly right. Laura Breton being in the bottom three with Tape Face and Edgar was criminal. To me, this is her contest to lose but unfortunately...Blake Shelton's voting contingency in middle 'murica ain't down with opera. Other than that, I'm good with all the acts that went through except I would swap out one. Deadly Games or even Malevo over Sal. There are plenty of singers and despite him being pretty solid, I'd rather have a more unique act in there. Speaking of Malevo, in all my time watching the show there has never been a single dance act I've enjoyed(they bore me to tears) but those guys are pretty badass and I enjoyed watching them(maybe not as much as Mel B though). Their performances seemed tailor-made for Vegas too.

I'm glad Tape Face moved on despite coming off his worst performance, IMO. He needs to step it up for the finals.

So at this point my top 5 would be:

#1. Laura Breton
#2. John Dorenboss
#3. Linkin Bridge
#4. Grace Vanderwaal
#5. Tape Face

I could change up 2-5 though. I think Laura puts everyone else to shame though.

Gonna try and squeeze in round 2 tonight. This has been a great season so far.

Michael Corvin

Wow, second batch brought it as well. Haven't watched the results yet but I'll keep it brief after the last post.

I always forget about Brian Justin Crum...dude can fucking sing. Brundage was excellent and much improved over the sleight of hand camera hiccup last time. I'm glad Sophie Dossi left the bow at home. She also improved. Clairvoyants were creepy fun. Viktor put on an excellent show. Linkin Bridge also improved over the Willie Nelson song choice last time. Those were my six favorites (hmm, one too many).

Passing Zone needs to go. Whether or not their act intended to go this direction, it fails once they leave the AGT stage. Their entire draw is interacting with the judges. Those judges aren't going to Vegas with them.

The rest were varying degrees of good. Calysta Bevier would probably be next on my list of likes but my wife said she was off key for her whole performance.

Matto1020

AGT Finale Show Starts Tonight 8pmEST!

----------------------------------------------------

And here we go!

Pitbull
Ha ha ok, that was unexpected... but goddamn this guy I dig. He was on Stern a few months ago and he's just a character. Anyways, fun start to the show!

Sal Valentanitti
Ha ha, I don't know why everyone hates so. I fucking love this guy. And you could tell he was totally having fun singing that song. And it's amazing how spot on he is to sounding like the songs of yesteryear. WELL DONE! Don't think he'll win, but I really the performance.

Soffie Dossi
Wow! I loved her first audition, haven't really been impressed since then. That is until now, that was just pretty crazy! Even when she dropped from the top of the ring to the bottom, I definitely let out a gasp. Another WELL DONE!

Linking Bridge
Hmmm... something about this performance isn't clicking with me. I mean, it was really good, but didn't WOW me like the first two. Plus one guy had a very questionable falsetto.

Laura Breton
CHI TOWN REPRESENT! I mean, she just kills it every time! I loved that she picked an opera song everyone knew, which will help her! And it's just pretty stunning the way she wings. Chalk up another WELL DONE!!!

The Clairvoyants
So here's the thing, I mean we know they do it through morse code. That being said, they have fantastic showmanship, and I enjoyed this immensely.

Brian Justin Crum
Fuck yes!!! I have loved this guy since the beginning, but felt his performances haven't topped CREEP. But what an excellent song choice, and he fucking nailed it! I could see him taking this tomorrow night.

Tape Face
YES!!!!! SUCH A BETTER PERFORMANCE THAN LAST WEEK! I've seen the horse race bit before, but the Side B/Side A was fucking brilliant!!! He's got all my 10 votes!!!

Viktor Kee
Goddammit! I wish he wouldn't of had that drop, but after Tape Face, my second favorite act.

Jon Dorenbos
Peace out! Probably his "smallest" trick of the season, but again, love this guy. It totally felt like a 90s PSA, but being stoned out of my mind, I loved it!

Grace Vanderwall
Ha ha, the intro video with everyone singing sound EXACTLY LIKE HER... way to show off your uniqueness. Really nothing special about this performance... but perhaps I'm just biased. "Get it over with and out of the way." I hope she just shot herself in the foot.

Michael Corvin

Sal Valentinetti
Great performance, he has chops I just think he's made it a round too far.

Soffie Dossi
I've liked her from the beginning but sh started to get kind of stale until she dropped the bow and switched to the ring. Good stuff.

Linkin' Bridge
Another great performance but last week's was better. It lacked some 'punch' moments.

Laura Breton
Wow, still my pick for the mil. She's just leagues better than everyone on this show. The camera shot of her performing from behind was incredible. Despite being 14, she looked like a star in front of that giant auditorium.

Clairvoyants
Interesting but not their best either. I much preferred last week's show. It had more of a performance feel. This felt like an early round audition. Also pulling out a wallet and a license? I bet 99% of the audience could have guessed that.

Unfortunately that's where my watching ends this evening. I'll have to catch the rest tomorrow before the live show.

Matto1020

Not staying up for Tape Face?? He's up next. At least give him your 10 votes ha ha!

whotony

Eh, I dont think tape face has much. Just a bunch of nonsense.

although it was funny to see Mel B with a toilet seat on her neck.

Anyone else notice how much weight she's lost over the course of
this season? Breasts are smaller too.
Face looks much better.

Again I don't think Viktor Kee is anything but a normal juggler with fancy clothes and set.

Jon Dorenbos is an Eagle so I'm on his team but his bit was a relatively ordinary card trick.
He did that trick on the local CSN sports show ghe other day.

Grace was good. She's the only singer in this group that I find interesting.

I'd like to see her or Dorenbos win.

mphtrilogy

Sal: Good at what he does... but not the winner

Soffie: She is great, but not the winner

Linking Bridge: I like their back story, but they are not that great.

Laura Breton: Awesome, could win.

The Clairvoyants: Didn't care for this one, too many things looked like a setup.

Brian Justin Crum: Not my favorite song of his, could win though

Tape Face: Love him, hope he wins, but I don't think he will. But he is a joy to watch.

Viktor Kee: I'm a fan, but don't think he will win.

Jon Dorenbos: Awesome job, that last card move to to the top was imprressive... has a chance.

Grace Vanderwall: She probably will win, but every song sounds 100% the same. Still for 12 years old a lot of guts to do her thing.

Really fantastic finale.

The Infidel

I wish they weren't obligated at this point to shower every contestant with praise and be honest for the sake of really getting the best act to the top. Except for the opera singer (and Grace, who's always a little off-kilter anyway), all the singers were off. Brian wasn't hitting the notes, falling flatter and flatter as he went along, and Linkin' Bridge didn't sound great at all. Victor dropped the ball again (no pun intended), and everyone else was just so-so. It's almost like everyone was thinking "well, we made it, we can lie back a little".

You can pretty much guess correctly that a singing act will win, and every other non-singing act that was brought forward was done so as a novelty, to simply entertain and kill time while they tried to show that this show should actually be called "America's Got Talent And This Is Definitely Not American Idol Or The Voice".

I do have to wonder...if Tape Face were to win, would he finally take the tape off and talk? You would think so.

Josh-da-man

Simon has a fucking American Express Black card.

Matto1020

AGT - The Finale

No matter how tonight turns out, this has been one great season, and as soon as Tape Face makes it to the U.S. for his tour, I'll be there to see him.

AND THAT RIGHT THERE IS WHY TAPE FACE IS BRILLIANT! And glad the Brian Justin Crum sang "Creep" again. The dude is talented.

- Tape Face
Darn, hated to see him go first. At least he shouldn't have to worry about NBC owning his character. I look forward to seeing him live someday.
- Linkin Bridge
Not surprised.
- Soffie Dossi
Also note surprised.
- Viktor Kee
Sad to see him not make the top 5. Him and Tape Face were my two favorite acts.
- Laura Breton
Thought she was great as well!
5th Sal Valentaneti
Had fun watching him all season! Glad he made Top 5.
4th Brian Justin Crum
Wow, that reaction seemed a bit arrogant. I was still
3rd Jon Dorenbos
Such a cool guy, and thoroughly enjoyed watching him all season. Still a Bears fan though.
2nd The Clarevoyants
Cant believe they made it this far.
1st Grace Vanderwall
Ugh... I just don't get it.

Well guys, it's been a fun season. Look forward to next season.

Michael Corvin

Just finished the second half. Top 5 based on the finals (which I think most took a step back from the semifinals).

1. Laura Breton
2. Grace Vanderwaal
3. Linkin' Bridge (totally being biased because of the Louisville connection)
4. Brian Justin Crum
5. John Dorenbos

The year of the singer.

Michael Corvin

Watching with the family so kiddos go to bed at 9 on school nights.

I voted based on what I had seen to that point.

Michael Corvin

Before we get to the results... the real loser the last few weeks? Nick's hair and wardrobe. He looked fucking ridiculous with the cornrow+man-bun combo but looks even worse with this silly turban on his head.

Michael Corvin

Bummer, Tape Face and Linkin Bridge the first two out? Double bummer.

And Laura is out. Called that one. 'murica!

Well if Laura can't win, I'm good with Ms. Grace.

zuffy

Glad Brian Justin Crum didn't win. I didn't watch every episodes but that reaction was a bit cocky/arrogant. Never like his singing style either.

whotony

I'm Ok with Grace.

Final three was probably right.

Hopefully the industry won't swallow that kid up and spit her out.

"The prize which totals $1m is payable in a finacial annuity of FORTY years,
or the contestant may choose to receive the present cash value of such annuity."

I'd be okay if they signed a new host next season.
Cannon got wackier each episode.

Tape Face is a fraud. He doesn't do anything.
His bit tonight with the human chair thing, come on.
He left Sinatra guy hanging for the handshake after he lost and ran right on outta there.
Fraud.

Michael Corvin

I enjoyed him all season but that was kind of shitty.