America’s Got Talent Season 7: First Semifinals Top Three

Wow… I have to say that even though I agree with the Top Three in some capacity or another… all the possibilities didn’t really match up. I mean this episode was literally up in the air in a lot of ways. So let’s start at the beginning:

Last week I posted a poll asking our reads whom their Top Ten acts were

Of the poll’s Top Ten… eight of them were in the first semifinal… that can not bode well. In fact the three that made it through to the finals placed third (William Close), fourth (Tom Cotter) and sixth (Joe Castillo). So within the Top Six, not too bad.

Looking at Katie’s impressions of the acts that participated in the first semifinal she notated who she thought was going to be going through and who might go through:

My Top Three:
1. Todd Oliver
2. Dittleman
3. Donovan and Rebecca

Who I Think Will Go Through:
1. Tom Cotter
2. William Close
3. Academy of Evil

She got two of the three acts right, but in her “top six” as opposed to her “top three”. Not too bad.

Looking back at my quarterfinal impressions of the acts that made it through this is what I said about each of them:
William Close – Earth Harp:

This one I think is a no brainer. He’s not only a musician, but he’s an engineer and an artist. Granted the instrument is he most known for right now is the “Earth Harp”, however we did get a glimpse of other instruments that he has created. He expanded his act to include a vocalist and those other instruments, now just imagine what he could do if he built an entire orchestra? He mentioned in the package that his love is building his instruments and yes the “Earth Harp” is thus far the biggest draw and that will always be the biggest draw… but if he starts integrating more instruments to show just what else he has come up with and do it well I see no issues with him headlining a show in Vegas with or without the “Million Dollar” prize… he can do it.

Tom Cotter – Stand Up Comedian:

The last time we had a strong comedian on the stage (that caught my attention) was Grandma Lee and that was way back in Season 4 and she used a lot of sexual innuendos in her jokes. Thus far Tom Cotter’s sets are rather clean in comparison and he is still getting the laughs. The fact that Nick had to jump on the bandwagon and mention that Tom, during rehearsals, did entirely different set of jokes is rather impressive. How much material does this guy have? I could see a full show revolving around him I mean other stand up comedians do it all the time, but a “Million Dollar Act”? That is a possibility, if he is just barely scraping the surface of the kind of material that he has in his repertoire at the moment.

Joe Castillo – Sand Artist:

If memory serves this is not the first time that a sand artist has come across the AGT stage, but this is the first time that one was able to capture the attention of the audience and judges with his images and storytelling. Very much like Eric, I am not convinced that this is a strong large Las Vegas stage act… this is something I would love to see in a more intimate setting, not only that most Las Vegas shows are at least an hour long. I love what he can do within a couple of minutes but could that actually translate into something over the course of an hour? It’s hard to say.

What about the act that lost out on the “Judges Choice”? Well according to the poll he placed ninth and Katie had him in her top three… and below is what I thought of him after the Wild Card episode.
Todd Oliver and Irving – Comedian / Ventriloquist:

Oh Em Gee. I am really liking this comedy act. Now that Todd Oliver has changed up his jokes and did something topical he is really drew my attention. One issue, he could create really slick jokes without having to be topical but it is nice to have that as a part of his repertoire. In fact the other comedians that have come through thus far had really good material and haven’t even touched the surface of current events. So I would be curious to see what else Todd and Irving could bring to the plate that would be entertaining, because right now I am not 100% sure he’d make it to the finals, but he could give others a run for their money as long as he stays on this upswing.

Now while I totally agree with America’s Top Two (William Close and Tom Cotter), I would have preferred to have seen Todd Oliver chosen over Joe Castillo because by himself Joe Castillo would bore me. However, when Sharon mentioned combining his act with another’s (her example: William Close) then it has the potential to being great. Honestly, I could see that happening and really liked that idea as well. So here’s hoping that Joe may take that to heart and add more to his act it isn’t simply just the sand artist story but something more.

In any case… it is really interesting seeing last night’s results show… and hopefully next week’s talent pool would shine just as much or moreso than the first semifinal group. I don’t know though, because the bar has been set pretty high to begin with, it would be rather difficult to see if it could go any higher.