America’s Got Talent Season 12 Quarter-Finals Show 1: Act Lineup
We’re just days away from the start of the Season 12 live shows, and I have to admit I’m pretty relieved we’re past the messy and questionable Judge Cuts portion of the season. After last night’s “Road to the Finals” episode, the AGT twitter page released a preview of next week’s performers.
There’s been a bit of confusion as to who is actually on next week’s roster. Eleven acts have been confirmed by pretty much every source, and they are:
Angelica Hale (child singer who received Chris Hardwick’s Golden Buzzer)
Artyon & Paige (child dance duo who Simon red-buzzed during the audition round)
Billy & Emily England (roller-skating siblings who previously competed on Britain’s Got Talent)
Christian Guardino (teen singer who received Howie’s Golden Buzzer)
Darci Lynne Farmer (child ventriloquist who received Mel’s Golden Buzzer)
In the Stairwell (military a capella group)
Just Jerk (South Korean hip-hop dance crew)
Preacher Lawson (the only stand-up comedian to make it past Judge Cuts this season)
Puddles Pity Party (singing sad clown)
The Singing Trump (singing/dancing Donald Trump impersonator)
Yoli Mayor (singer)
There has also been some speculation that Kechi is also part of this episode’s lineup, as she appeared for a split second in one of the previews, but I think that was simply an editing error since there seems to be no evidence pointing to her being on. Seeing as we have singing acts taking up 18 of 36 spots in the live shows (which makes exactly half of the remaining acts singers unless we have a Wildcard singer, which I’m highly doubting) and there are already seven (over 1/3) of them confirmed for Tuesday’s show, I’m assuming they’re going to spread them out somewhat evenly over the three Quarter-Finals episodes which would mean no Kechi next week.
Speaking of spreading things out evenly, note that we have three out of nine Golden Buzzers up this week, and I assume that’s how it will be in each group this round. We also have three Wildcards that as of this posting have yet to be announced, and I’m guessing they might be spread out evenly as well, which would make one per Quarter-Finals episode. Last year they actually had an episode with one, another with two, and then one with zero, so I guess they’re not guaranteed to have them spread out evenly, but the empty spot for Tuesday’s show probably means we’re getting one this week. And the Wildcard hype this season is so strong I have a feeling they might give us one each week to keep the speculation and buzz going. Now, none of the remaining magic acts are performing next week, so I’m expecting a magician Wildcard to take up that last spot (I have to assume there will be at least one magic act as a Wildcard). Not sure who it will be, especially since after the results this week there are even more acts to add to the “potential Wildcard” list, but I still think Tom London has a good chance, as well as Henry Richardson, Jeki Yoo, and maybe even Will Tsai.
The Quarter-Finals are generally when we say goodbye to most of the “fodder” acts, so it’s usually pretty straightforward and easy to tell who will advance and who will be eliminated. Darci and Angelica are locks to sail through this round (they’re actually the current top two favorites to win the whole thing over on Goldderby) and Singing Trump and Artyon & Paige are very likely to be sent packing, with In the Stairwell most likely joining them. Preacher, Just Jerk, and Puddles will probably end up advancing, whether it be from Tuesday night votes, the Dunkin’ Save, or the Judges’ Choice.
Which means the last acts moving forward are probably going to be two of Christian, Yoli, Billy & Emily, and whatever magician ends up on this episode. On paper Christian may seem like a lock, with his inspiring backstory and Golden Buzzer under his belt, but a lot of people have already seemed to forget about him. It’s tough to call where he’ll end up on Wednesday but think he’ll probably be a Dunkin’ Save candidate unless they put him on at the end up the show and/or really play up the “almost going blind” thing in his package. I doubt either Billy & Emily or Yoli will be in the top five and if they’re in the Dunkin’ Save zone I think they might be on thin ice. I have a feeling unless the Wildcard magician bombs they’ll end up in DS territory at worst, since there is quite the crowd for magicians on this show and everyone loves a good redemption arc.
So I guess my preliminary predictions for next week’s “winners” are:
Angelica Hale
Christian Guardino
Darci Lynne Farmer
Just Jerk
Preacher Lawson
Puddles Pity Party
*Wildcard*
Let me know you’re thoughts and I’ll be back soon when I will FINALLY give my rundown on the current pre-live show format!
As much as I think it might be unlikely in the face of the other magicians, I’d really like Will Tsai back. His audition performance was stunning, and even with bad framing, so was his Vegas performance.
I feel others might take issue with his slow and methodic presentation, though. I find that it gives the whole thing atmosphere, but a lot of people like a more perky or quirky magician. (Yoo. I’m looking in your direction.)
I’m a big fan of Darci- if she keeps up the kind of quality we saw in her audition, I’d see no problem with her winning. AGT seems to have a preponderance toward Ventriloquists winning for some reason. If three manage to do it, they’ll definitely be the second most popular category behind individual singers.
I like how Just Jerk draws on the same kind of move pool as West Springfield Dance team, with new twists, although some people might get tired of that after a time. (I don’t.)
Honestly, the fact that the Singing Trump stepped it up enough to get this far was amazing. If he gets cut, (he will), he should definitely be proud he managed to get here.
A lot of people want Will, Yoo, Hnry, and Tom back for Wildcard, and those are just from the magician category of possibilities. A lot of other acts have also been campaigning for it.
Ventriloquism isn’t often seen on TV and this show is arguably the most mainstream exposure of it right now so I don’t mind them winning.
And Singing Trump’s performer has already had a show in Vegas so I think he’ll be okay. XD
Angelica Hale and Darci Lynne are the only locks to advance tonight
Spots 3-7 will be up for grabs between the other 10 Talents!
Those are the only 2 that stood out!
Them 2 and Tam are the 3 that I see winning it all with one of them getting it!
I agree that Darci and Angelica are two of the top three most likely to win but I think Mandy Harvey would be the third in that group, not Celine Tam.