Final AGT Semi-Final and Predictions

By Adam at September 9th, 2009.

Tonight was the last America’s Got Talent Semi-finals. However, thanks to last week’s cop outby the judges, all the drama was manufactured. There was no judge’s choice after the judges abdicated last week by sending both the 4th and 5th place acts through. Thus, AGT had to build drama by having Nick Cannon have two acts step forward and saying, “America has spoken, one of you will go home…And we’ll find out who right after this.”

Cannon did this twice. The most interesting part of the results show was when they showed a behind the scenes look about the Judges’ decision (or should I say indecision) the week before. At one point, Piers Morgan said, “We’re the judges, we can do whatever we want.”

With an attitude like that, you know that it’s only his British citizenship that has stopped Morgan from getting on the Supreme Court.

Thoughts on the five who made it, the five who didn’t, and how the final shakes up.

Going Through:

Barbara Padilla: Padilla did a beautiful performance of Ava Maria. The only flaw in her act was her sprawling dress, which was over the top. Padilla’s voice was perfect. stage presence perfect, and a wonderful story to boot.

Lawrence Beaman: Beamanstepped it up from his previous performance and showed off his range. I’m with Michael Ross in saying that I don’t think we’ve seen the best Lawrence Beaman has to offer. He’s an intriguing finalist.

HairoTorres: Torres mixed a solid, practically effortless performance with some good contortionist moves. It’s tough for a single dancer to make it this far.

Drew Stevyns: As he did two weeks ago, when he came out of literally nowhere to claim a spot in the semi-finals as one of Simon Cowell’s wild cards, Stevyns’ performance was all heart and charisma. That carried him through to the finals.

Recycled Percussion: I didn’t actually think their performance this week was as good as their quarterfinal performance, which had more lights and pizazz. Still, it was interesting to see them gather the materials to make their own percussion equipment.

Going Home:

The Eri-Am Sisters: This was the most disappointing decision to go home. I think they were much better than their Quarter Final appearance, and I loved their song choice. I think they could have a very good future and folks in the Northwest should watch for them to be future stars.

Erik and Rickie: Great eight and nine year old dance duo. They were good, but not good enough last night. I liked them, but I have to admit having kids that young perform in Vegas is always problematic.

FootworKINGz: They took a gamble, by doing a dance to the tune of Power Rangers. It was funny and quirky, but it just wasn’t what America was looking for.

Jeffery Ou: Jeffery Outook Sharon Osbourne’s advice. Big Mistake. He came off with a huge ridiculous looking wig to give her her mad scientist look. Ou missed nearly every note. It was completely forgetable.

Mario and Jenny: I think Mario and Jenny completely transformed their act-and not a good way. They made it through based on Mario’s daredevil acts, playing with fire, juggling chainsaws. Last night he tap-danced. It was so disappointing.

The Finals: Looking Ahead

Of the ten finalists to make it, you can categorize most of them and a picture of who might contend to win it all becomes clear. Each of these acts finished in the top 4 in the Quarter Finals (no Judges’ choices made it) and the top 5 in the finals. To finish 4th or 5th can be done by capturing a niche audience such as seniors, or people from Utah. In the finals, you have to finish first. There is no second chance. You have to capture the heart of the plurality of Americans.

Looking at the acts who’ve made it, I think you can divide them into several categories:

Not Enough Talent:

Texas Tenors-They made it through a relatively weak semi-final, but even the best performance isn’t going to be enough for the powerhouses they face.

Grandma Lee-Maybe she’s the funniest woman on Earth, but I can’t help but feel she made it as far as she did on Senior Citizens’ votes and I’ll be very surprised if she comes up number one against the type of talent we have up this week.

Recycled Percussion: They’re not quite there, but they’re not far off. However, I think in this competition, that’s just not going to be good enough.

Drew Stevyns: Stevyns has shown a lot of heart, and barring a disastrous finals performance, his professional singing dreams are going to come true. However, Stevyns against the type of singing talent that’s in the final reminds me of the phrase, “Don’t bring a knife to a gun fight.”

Not Likely to Do What It Takes

I think Voices of Glory has the potential to win it all, but so far they haven’t shown the willingness to actually do what it takes. Ever since their audition of “God Bless America”, the group’s been office, except when the little sister, Nadia, sang. The judges in both the quarterfinals and the semifinals told the boys they needed to take a backseat. In the Semifinals, Voices of Glory responded to the criticism by having the brothers dominate the first half of the performance. The results weren’t pretty, as they ended up in that now infamous judges’ non-choice. If getting beaten by Grandma Lee and the Texas Tenors doesn’t make them address the weaknesses in the act, I don’t know what will. It’s easy to be dismissive of the judges as they’ve handed out some awful advice (exhibit A: Jeffery Ou), but you know what they say about broken clocks.

America’s Just Not That In To Your Thing

Hairo Torres and Fab Five

America’s Got Talent is a variety show, officially, but all of the last three seasons’ winners have been singing-based, so while I think both of these acts have got plenty of talent, I don’t see a dance act winning this show. Torres may have the better shot of the two as he’s a very unique performer, but I just don’t think his appeal is broad enough.

The Spoiler: That role belongs to Kevin Skinner. To be honest, I don’t think either of Skinner’s performances has lived up to his audition. However, the story of the unemployed chicken catcher down on his luck has a big appeal in the current economic conditions. He’s got a real down to earth presence, and a very strong online following. His challenge is that the Texas Tenors could split his potential constituency.

The Contender: Lawrence Beaman has been strong throughout the show. For Beaman, song choice will be critical. He has an incredibly powerful voice, that I thought “Old Man River” really showcased. His other two song choices have really felt like he’s holding back. There can’t be any of that in the finals.

The Frontrunner: Barbara Padilla is the closest thing to flawless in this competition. Each act has set a standard. She’s got an incredible voice, and has an amazing story of being a cancer survivor. She’s the closest thing America has to a Susan Boyle. Unlike Boyle, she doesn’t face a relentless tabloid press in America, because the focus on AGT is not as intense as what happened with Britain’s Got Talent. The only weakness for Padilla is that last year’s champion, Neil E. Boyd also was an opera singer. While America has chosen singers each year, it went from an 11 year old child singer on Season 1 to a singing ventoliquist, to a young opera singer. Will America choose similar acts in back to back years? Tough to say.

At this point though, it’s safe to say that Beaman and Padilla will both have good music careers regardless of who wins. Kevin Skinner will probably get a very good record deal out of his experience. And the rest will be at the least given opportunities to advance their careers.