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Finale Red Carpet: Landau Eugene Murphy, Jr.
Watch him talk about winning first place!

Finale Red Carpet: Stevie Wonder
Watch him talk about his duet with POPLYFE.

Finale Red Carpet: Patti LaBelle
Watch her talk about her favorite act, Landau Eugene Murphy, Jr.

Finale Red Carpet: POPLYFE
Watch them talk about their AGT experience.

Finale Red Carpet: Jackie Evancho
Watch her talk about going from contestant to guest performer!

Word on the street is that tonight is going to be the America’s Got Talent YouTube auditions. I must admit that I didn’t have a chance to really look over the various acts they chose from the YouTube auditions. So, I’ll be going into tonight blind. Which I think is a good thing since hopefully the acts will be a bit of a surprise.

Of course, I think the acts could be incredibly entertaining or a major flop. I remember the old MySpace auditions were basically a flop. However, last year, Jackie Evancho came out of the YouTube auditions and she’s doing pretty well.

What do you think will happen on tonight’s America’s Got Talent YouTube auditions? Fame or Flop?

The America’s Got Talent season 6 YouTube audition deadline is June 9 (that’s today for those keeping score). You can upload your short video to http://www.nbc.com/americas-got-talent/auditions/. Plus, you can also submit your audition using the Android or iPhone app, at YouTube.com/agt, or on the AGT Facebook page!

I think Jackie Evancho was a YouTube audition. Plus, she was a Pure America’s Got Talent reader (or her mom was) years before she made it on the show. I always love when readers of this site make it on the show. So, go and submit your video and be sure to remember the little people when you become a star.

For some reason, lately I’ve been staying up late and catching a bit of the late night talk shows. I must admit that I’m more of a Dave fan than a Jay, but I generally enjoy both of them. The stars they have matter more than the host, but I digress.

For some reason, last night I was watching Jay and just happened to enjoy Jackie Evancho’s performance on the Tonight Show. Pretty impressive as always. The song was perfect for her. She still waves her arms in funny ways which I guess is a bit endearing since she’s still being herself. It’s part of who she is now.

The most amazing thing was when Jay said that Jackie Evancho’s first album “O Holy Night” had already sold over 1 million copies. Props to Jackie Evancho. No wonder she could turn down the chance to perform at Carnegie Hall. She’ll have more opportunities to do that in the future.

America’s Got Talent’s Jackie Evancho performs O Holy Night from her debut CD.

You might remember that we posted about Jackie Evancho choosing NOT to sing at Carnegie Hall with Tim Janis. Well, I just found out today that America’s Got Talent will still have two representatives from the show at Carnegie Hall to perform on the Tim Janis Christmas Special on December 2nd. It’s not Jackie, but Donald Braswell and Eli Mattson.

Congrats Donald and Eli and best of luck!

Here’s the full details of the performance:
Little Sisters of the Poor – Thursday December 2nd
Carnegie Hall, Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage
The Tim Janis Singers – 200 voices – and the 94 piece Tim Janis Youth Symphony Orchestra
400 musicians in this concert with special guests Donald Braswell, Sarah Darling, Emily Bear, Eli Mattson, Jim Cole, Chandler and Ryan Lutz
Tickets on sale at the Carnegie Hall Box Office October 2, 2010

Word on the street was that Jackie Evancho was to perform at the famous Carnegie Hall in New York City on Dec. 2nd. In fact it would break a record:

Pittsburgh area fifth-grader Jackie Evancho is scheduled to perform at Carnegie Hall in NYC on Dec 2 , and will be the youngest female vocal soloist ever to have performed at Carnegie Hall. -source

However, I just got work via Facebook that Jackie Evancho won’t be performing at Carnegie Hall in December. Here’s the note from Jackie’s mother:

Just wanted to give advanced notice to all jackie fans that she will not be performing with Tim Janis at Carnegie Hall this December. This was not an easy decision and we wish that things could have been different.

Can you imagine making these tough decisions? Seems like they’re doing their best to take care of Jackie since she is so young. I certainly applaud these efforts. Hard to imagine passing up Carnegie Hall though. That’s pretty amazing.

Last night, Jackie Evancho made her first talk show appearance on the Tonight Show! Jay chatted with her about fifth grade, cheerleading, and more in the clips below. And of course, she sings another song!

Jackie Evancho on Tonight Show Part 1

Jackie Evancho on Tonight Show Part 2

We’re finally here. This is the final America’s Got Talent 2010 voting. Now that we’ve seen the top 4 perform, it’s time to vote for who you think will win America’s Got Talent season 5. I’m not sure the performance tonight will make that much difference, but I guess we’ll see. So, start voting for your favorite.

Well, season 5 of America’s Got Talent is coming to a close. I’m kind of sad about that since it really has been an interesting season. The talent on this season of America’s Got Talent has had more variety and has been more refined and professional than in season’s past.

That said, I was right that the top 4 has kind of been a disappointment for me. I’m not sure if it’s the top 4′s fault or AGT for having so many episodes to finally make it to the final. Either way, the top 4 are talented, but the TV show just wasn’t all that exciting for me.

Ok, enough in general, here’s my specific thoughts on the top 4:

Prince Poppycock – Piers is absolutely right to buzz him. Ok, maybe it’s a little distasteful to do it in the finale, but that’s his job as a judge to do it. Prince Poppycock is as much about show as he is about singing. Tonight he chose to take away half of his talent by really just singing. Ok, he gets some partial points for the costuming, but the costuming is really just meant to accentuate and underscore his performance. The song just doesn’t match the Prince Poppycock persona. Two weeks of generally disappointing performances is not looking good for him.

Michael Grimm – With singers so much of it is choosing the right song. Michael had chosen good not great songs up until the finale. The songs fit his voice, but didn’t really compel the masses to love him. I think tonight’s song choice was a great choice. It fit his musical style. It had the right amount of energy and excitement that is needed for a show like AGT. Very well done. He should be very happy with his performance. I still have some doubt that his style and genre will have enough mass appeal to get him the win.

Jackie Evancho – I thought it was an interesting choice of music for Jackie. Although, I think the music plays perfectly for most of her fan base. As I listened to her tonight I think I was most impressed with her ability to really nail the pitches and create such a beautiful and consistent tone. We’ve seen some amazing kid singers on the show, but one of the challenges they usually have is hitting the right pitches (what people call pitchy) and being consistent in their singing. Jackie has been pretty flawless in that regard and that’s talent. Although, I think her special X factor is that she’s just adorably cute.

Fighting Gravity – I was glad that we got another chance to see Fighting Gravity perform after last week’s relatively weak performance. Tonight’s performance was back up to the Fighting Gravity level. I’m not sure the mistake that Piers pointed out will matter that much. I do think they were kind of missing that next level of WOW that would have given them a chance to win AGT. However, Howie is spot on that a black light theater show is going to be in Las Vegas. It will also likely be branded Fighting Gravity. When Terry Fator got to Las Vegas, he worked with some great talent and really took his show to the next level. I think the same thing will happen with Fighting Gravity and it will become one of those must see shows that I tell people who visit me about. I’ll be the first one at their premiere to let you know about it.

As you can see, my bet is on Jackie Evancho winning, but as I said in my previous AGT 2010 winner post, it is so close that tomorrow we could be surprised. The suspense will be pretty intense. I can’t wait to see what happens!

When we posted this America’s Got Talent Winner poll last week I would have never been able to guess the results that we’ve seen. Usually, there’s a pretty clear cut result in the polls that we post on Pure America’s Got Talent. In fact, you, the readers, are amazing at predicting the outcome.

Plus, almost always there’s one that’s in the lead and a second one that’s close to the person in the lead, but well ahead of the rest. That’s what makes the results of our poll for the America’s Got Talent top 4 so amazing. Check out the results as of this posting:

Plus, when I checked this morning the voting was even closer. All 4 of the acts were within 24 votes of each other. This was even after a few thousand votes. Pretty amazing.

Let’s just say that this might be the first year that it really is anyone’s game on who will win AGT 2010. Of course, I’m still waiting to see the performances tonight. Many of you may have already seen it and have an opinion. I’ll post mine after I see the acts.