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Watch AGT Alum Lindsey Stirling’s First Performance on Dancing With the Stars

I’ve been wrapped up in Dancing With the Stars matters for most of the day (in addition to my work life…LOL) but will be back tomorrow with a special piece before the AGT Finals!

I won’t bombard you guys with updates every single week, but I recently mentioned the announcement of AGT Season 5 alumus Lindsey Stirling’s participation in Season 25 of DWTS. Well, tonight was the premiere, and Lindsey and her partner Mark Ballas were fortunate enough to get the pimp spot and their Cha-Cha tied for highest-scored dance of the night! They even showed a bit of her playing her violin at the beginning. Check it out!

For more coverage of Lindsey’s experience in the ballroom, head over to Pure DWTS.

September 18, 2017 I Written By

I'm obssessed with the entertainment industry, especially offbeat and nerdy things as well as those that involve live performance. The only thing I love more than geeking out over the things that entertain me is sharing in my excitement with others who share the same passions. America may have talent, but Canada has an up-and-coming blogger who is ready to take the internet by storm!

Who Should Win AGT Season 12? Who WILL? Weigh In!

I made a couple of polls for you guys! Who do you think deserves to win this season? And regardless of “should’s” who do you think will be the winner? (I couldn’t fix the size of the second poll, so apologies there!)


September 17, 2017 I Written By

I'm obssessed with the entertainment industry, especially offbeat and nerdy things as well as those that involve live performance. The only thing I love more than geeking out over the things that entertain me is sharing in my excitement with others who share the same passions. America may have talent, but Canada has an up-and-coming blogger who is ready to take the internet by storm!

Pre-Show Predictions for the AGT Season 12 Final Placements

I’ve been mulling over this pretty much since the second Wednesday’s results show ended, but today something clicked in my mind and I now feel confident enough to set my pre-show predictions.

Bottom 5 (6th-10th Place) in alphabetical order: Chase Goehring, Diavolo, Evie Clair*, Kechi, Sara & Hero
Four of these acts were on the bubble in the Semi-Finals, which usually points to a lower finish in the Finals. And I have a bad feeling Sara & Hero are suddenly going to face backlash for being “undeserving” of the Finals seeing as their act is less precise and polished than most of the others, even though everyone was in love with them two weeks ago. 🙁

5th Place: Light Balance
They’re one of the most popular acts of the season, but I don’t think they have quite as much momentum as the four above them since they haven’t really changed their performances up much (given how much backlash similar acts have gotten in the past, I’m surprised they’ve remained unscathed this long). They’re also a group, which has proven to be a bit of a detriment in recent seasons.
* If they play up Evie’s father’s death and put her at or close to the end of the show, I see her possibly taking this spot and Light Balance being bumped down to Bottom 5.

4th Place: Angelica Hale
Angelica’s journey reminds me of that of Brian Justin Crum last year; a singer re-imagining various songs and having strong momentum throughout the season only to lose a bit of steam towards the end. Angelica took a bit of a step back in the Semi-Finals while Mandy and Darci continued to up the bar, and since I don’t see three female singers making the top 3, it seems like Angelica might be the one bumped back a bit.

3rd Place: Preacher Lawson
It seems Preacher may have more support than I was thinking he did; apparently he’s the go-to act for people who don’t want a singer of any kind to support. I guess this makes sense, since comedians on AGT have often placed very high without winning.

2nd Place: Mandy Harvey
Mandy has upped her game every single week this season. While some thought she was fading into the background, she showed everyone she was still in it when she gave a dark, powerful performance in the Semi-Finals. I think with three female cover singers (and that’s not even including Darci) in the Finals, Mandy’s original music will stand out in contrast and in the end will probably result in a nice high placement for her.

1st Place: Darci Lynne Farmer
While I don’t think this is a done deal like many seem to (remember, everyone thought Grace would steamroll the competition and then the top 3 ended up being less than 1% apart from each other) Darci is the clear frontrunner at the moment, and what I think will keep her there is her ability to build on her act and change it up. I’ve been watching a lot of her clips on YouTube lately and she can do so many things with her voice that we still haven’t seen on AGT, so there are several avenues she could go down – opera, yodelling, etc. – to up the ante even further than she already has been and keep herself ahead of the rest of the pack in this last week.

September 16, 2017 I Written By

I'm obssessed with the entertainment industry, especially offbeat and nerdy things as well as those that involve live performance. The only thing I love more than geeking out over the things that entertain me is sharing in my excitement with others who share the same passions. America may have talent, but Canada has an up-and-coming blogger who is ready to take the internet by storm!

Pure AGT Season 12 Pre-Finale Live Discussion

I’ve been trying to get something like this off the ground all season, but it just never worked out…until now, that is! This is something I’ll probably try to continue doing next year, but in a more focused (and much shorter) format after each episode (I do this with Dancing With the Stars and it’s really fun!) Thanks to Sophie for coming on and sharing her adventures at the AGT live shows over the years! Listen to us ramble all about the show, our favorite acts, and Tape Face self-insert fanfiction.

September 15, 2017 I Written By

I'm obssessed with the entertainment industry, especially offbeat and nerdy things as well as those that involve live performance. The only thing I love more than geeking out over the things that entertain me is sharing in my excitement with others who share the same passions. America may have talent, but Canada has an up-and-coming blogger who is ready to take the internet by storm!

Pure AGT Season 12 Finale Breakdown AND a Surprise Announcement!

Hey readers! Gonna try something different later this week! I’m going to attempt a live discussion chat with fellow AGT fan Sophie sometimes this weekend. Not sure when we’re going to do it yet, but even if it’s at an odd time we plan to record it so you can watch later! We also want to take questions/discussion topics from Pure AGT readers, so please send those in ASAP! Sophie has actually had the pleasure of attending several AGT live shows over the past few seasons (including this year’s first Quarter-Final) so I’m sure she’d love to dish on those experiences! Leave your questions and topics in the comment section, and we’ll update you on this little project soon! 🙂

In the meantime, I’m gonna continue this posting streak with a little look at the Finale! While I think the overall quality of Season 12’s talent has been a bit below par (in the live shows, anyway; it might have been stronger had some of the Judge Cuts choices been more diverse) I think we’re left with a pretty solid lineup. The AGT Season 12 Finalists are:

Angelica Hale
Chase Goehring
Darci Lynne Farmer
Diavolo
Evie Clair
Kechi Okwuhi
Light Balance
Mandy Harvey
Preacher Lawson
Sara & Hero

While I believe this is the most singing acts we’ve ever seen in an AGT Finale, only three of them are cover (or “karaoke”) singers (most of the others were cut in the Semi-Finals, as predicted). We also have two singer-songwriters and Darci, who I consider more of a variety act. While the complete lack of magic creates a giant void that I’m sure will be felt during next week’s shows (I tried to get Colin there I really did) all of the variety acts fall under categories that weren’t represented during last year’s Finals. Darci is fighting to bring home a third win for the ventriloquism community, Preacher is representing for the stand-up world, and I can’t even remember the last time an animal act made it this far. Perhaps most surprisingly of all is the fact that both of this season’s artistic dance groups managed to survive this week’s slaughterhouse of a Semi-Final (I think this was the first time I was actually happy to see an act in the Dunkin’ Save, since I was convinced Diavolo was automatically toast after the crap I heard about Tuesday night) in sharp contrast to last season which saw zero dance acts advance beyond the Quarters.

Once again, we seem to have a pretty obvious 12-year-old winner, but performing what is probably the most multi-layered act of the season Darci does deserve it. If someone were to play spoiler to this it’d probably be Mandy, who also has gotten a lot of fanfare throughout the summer. I thought Angelica might’ve had a shot to overtake both of them but after last night I’m thinking that’s not very likely. But I’ll get more into THAT in a few days, along with some polls!

September 14, 2017 I Written By

I'm obssessed with the entertainment industry, especially offbeat and nerdy things as well as those that involve live performance. The only thing I love more than geeking out over the things that entertain me is sharing in my excitement with others who share the same passions. America may have talent, but Canada has an up-and-coming blogger who is ready to take the internet by storm!

Condolences to Evie Clair and her Family

I’m sure I speak for all AGT fans in sending condolences to Evie Clair and her family on her father’s passing today. Evie posted a tribute on her Instagram and her mother has been frequently updating a blog sharing information about his condition and how the family is doing (credit to her for the photo below). I’m very glad Evie was able to get home in time to be there for his final hours, and that she has a few days off before having to head back to Hollywood to prepare for the Finals. (Some fans have speculated she won’t return to AGT, but based on the information her mother has shared on the blog I think she will.)

If you are able, I’m sure Evie and her family would really appreciate a donation to the GoFundMe campaign set up to help cover the cost of the cancer treatments.

September 7, 2017 I Written By

I'm obssessed with the entertainment industry, especially offbeat and nerdy things as well as those that involve live performance. The only thing I love more than geeking out over the things that entertain me is sharing in my excitement with others who share the same passions. America may have talent, but Canada has an up-and-coming blogger who is ready to take the internet by storm!

HI HI! IT’S TY-TY! Pure AGT Season 12 Live Show #4: Power Rankings

Yay, I’m getting this up before the eleventh hour for once!

This first group of Semi-Finalists was clearly the weaker one on paper, but some of them really upped their game, and I think tonight turned out to be the best live show of the season yet since the first Quarter-Final. I’m noticing there seems to be a fine line that the acts have to toe at this point in the game; they have to keep upping their game with new elements to each successive performance, but by now they’ve all built a “brand” for themselves that the audience recognizes and by changing things up they risk alienating the fanbase they’ve built this far on the show. I think this is why we’ve often seen (and will likely continue to see) singing acts leave en masse during this round; most of them just don’t have the freedom to play around with their act like the variety performers do. With that in mind, let’s see how the votes seem to be falling this week……

1. Darci Lynne Farmer: With the only act of the season that caters to singing and variety fans alike, it’s no wonder Darci is the odds-on favorite to win the grand prize. Even though she seems to be relegated to the “comedy bit followed by a song” format, I like how she combined the two tonight, as opposed to her previous performance when the song started and the connection with the puppet character dropped a bit. Ventriloquism has actually proven to be the mos successful variety act on AGT, with two representatives in the winner circle from the genre. And in two weeks, we’ll get to see if Darci can be the third member of that exclusive club.

2. Sara & Hero: Remember when everyone was ripping the judges a new one for letting them advance through the Judge Cuts and now their Semi-Final performance has been getting the most love from viewers on social media (other than Darci of course)? Clearly they’re well liked if they were in the top 5 of their Quarter-Final episode; I guess I just underestimated how much support they’ve been getting. It’s certainly not undeserved-I think they’ve stepped up their game more than most others have at this point-I think I’m just surprised that one dog act was cut immediately without even getting a shot at the Dunkin’ Save and the other is likely going to sail into the Finale without ever being on the bubble.

3. Preacher Lawson: The shade was real tonight on AGT. Of  course, everyone is talking about Darci lampooning the parade of old ladies who flirted with Simon earlier this season, but I think Preacher took the cake for me with his “HI HI! IT’S TY-TY!” moment in his set (if you don’t know what that was referencing, click on any AGT YouTube channel video from this season and skip to the end until you get a Tyra bumper). Preacher’s style of comedy may not be for everyone, but like last round, being the only one of his genre is probably going to give him a boost. And his personality is just so infectious it’s hard not to root for him. If he doesn’t make top 3 tomorrow night, I think he’s probably a lock to get the Dunkin’ Save.

4. Mike Yung: His performance felt quite stagnant tonight, without a lot of range in expression or tone. It felt like a less powerful version of what the Masqueraders did two weeks ago, and we all know how that ended for them. However, Mike still seems to be a favorite of quite a few people, and he did get the pimp spot this week, which could indicate that he’s been getting a lot of audience support (though I do think that may actually have hurt him a bit, since he had to follow frontrunner Darci). In the end, I’m going to guess Dunkin’ Save territory for him tomorrow night.

5. Chase Goehring: I thought Chase would be close to a lock to advance to the Finals, but I think he might have fallen under the radar this week. Nothing about his segment was particularly memorable, which is arguably more dangerous than being outright bad. Luckily, I think he’s gained enough devoted followers to get enough votes to be in Dunkin’ Save territory.

6. Evie Clair: Evie definitely seemed less nervous this time around, and her confidence came through in her performance. I think being the only act left to incorporate a “live” piano might also help people remember her. Still, I think it’s her story carrying her through the most, and, while absolutely heartbreaking, I really don’t want it to be the main reason she makes the Finale.

7. Johnny Manuel: Johnny got some mixed reviews last night, and it seems like he could be one of the singer casualties of the week. He has his fans-as well as those who appreciated the choice to perform an original song-behind him. However, the judges were pretty hard on him, his running order spot was meh, and the hype surrounding him has died down considerably (I don’t even remember them mentioning him-or, come to think of it, anyone else but Darci-getting the Golden Buzzer tonight). I think at best he has a shot at sneaking into Dunkin’ Save territory.

8. Billy & Emily England: They were actually one of my favorite parts of the episode-I could tell they made a strong effort to show us some tricks we hadn’t seen before-but it seems many viewers have grown tired of the spinning in circles thing, even with the new stuff. Having been top 5 after their last performance they might make it into Dunkin’ Save territory, but I think their only hope of moving forward is the Judges’ Save, if they even get that chance.

9. Eric Jones: Eric without a doubt improved over his previous performance, but I think his “casual” delivery is really going to hurt him this time. The trick was great, but he faded into the woodwork because of his lack of stage presence compared to most of the other acts in this group.

10. Danell Daymon & Greater Works: I liked this performance, but I’m looking around Facebook and Twitter and it doesn’t seem like a lot of people agree with me….

11. Yoli Mayor: There seems to be a trend with singing performances on reality shows. Those who go for the high notes and belting get over-the-top praise, and those who go for something in the lower register are deemed lesser performers or are just plain forgotten about. I think the latter type of song is more suited to Yoli’s voice, but it’s not what the viewers for these kinds of shows tend to remember. She managed to hang on by a thread in the Quarter-Finals, but I don’t see her having that luck tonight.

September 6, 2017 I Written By

I'm obssessed with the entertainment industry, especially offbeat and nerdy things as well as those that involve live performance. The only thing I love more than geeking out over the things that entertain me is sharing in my excitement with others who share the same passions. America may have talent, but Canada has an up-and-coming blogger who is ready to take the internet by storm!

Pure AGT Season 12: Who Will Be the Top 10?

We FINALLY know the scheduled acts for the next two weeks, but there’s barely any time before the first Semi-Final show starts so I’m not going to get to do as deep of an analysis as I was hoping. 🙁 But I’ll still quickly predict a top 10 (aka the Finalists!):

Week #1 – September 5-6 2017
Top 3: Darci Lynne Farmer, Chase Goehring, Johnny Manuel
Bottom 5: Yoli Mayor, Eric Jones, Billy & Emily England, Mike Yung, Danell Daymon & Greater Works
Dunkin’ Save: Preacher Lawson
Judges’ Choice: Sara & Hero if it’s a majority/Evie Clair if it’s split and they go to the viewers

Week #2 – September 12-13 2017
Top 3: Angelica Hale, Mandy Harvey, Diavolo
Bottom 5: In the Stairwell, Colin Cloud, Celine Tam, Light Balance, WILDCARD
Dunkin’ Save: Kechi
Judges’ Choice: Between Christian Guardino/Merrick Hanna and they tie so Christian goes through with more audience votes

September 5, 2017 I Written By

I'm obssessed with the entertainment industry, especially offbeat and nerdy things as well as those that involve live performance. The only thing I love more than geeking out over the things that entertain me is sharing in my excitement with others who share the same passions. America may have talent, but Canada has an up-and-coming blogger who is ready to take the internet by storm!

America’s Got Talent Semi-Finals Show #1 Line-Up FINALLY Confirmed!

It’s been a bit of a crazy week in the AGT world, with several acts getting switched around from one Semi-Finals episode to the other, some with very short notice. Fortunately, a promo announcing the acts up for tonight’s episode came out today to clear things up. Check it out, and thanks to the original uploader for posting!

I Written By

I'm obssessed with the entertainment industry, especially offbeat and nerdy things as well as those that involve live performance. The only thing I love more than geeking out over the things that entertain me is sharing in my excitement with others who share the same passions. America may have talent, but Canada has an up-and-coming blogger who is ready to take the internet by storm!

An AGT Alum on Dancing With the Stars?

I was planning for my next post to be an analysis of who will make the Finals since the line-up for each Semi-Final had been revealed…or so I thought. They showed a preview for next week at the end of Wednesday’s results show, but since then one act has revealed they were switched from the first week to the second, and two others who I was under the impression were performing on the September 12th episode are actually going to be on the 5th. I’ve updated the Masterpost several time this past week and I know I’m not done yet; there are currently 12 acts “confirmed” to be performing this coming week, and only 9 (10 including the currently unknown Wildcard) for Week #2. If we end up having the confirmed line-up for both shows before Tuesday night’s episode I’d still like to get that post done, but if not, I’ll still have the usual Power Rankings up before the Wednesday shows on the 6th and 13th.

In the meantime, some interesting and exciting news came out a couple days ago. AGT Season 5 contestant Lindsey Stirling has been leaked as one of the celebrities set to compete on ABC’s Dancing With the Stars this fall. Lindsey finished in the Quarter-Finals of her season, but has gone on to become one of AGT‘s most successful alumni, making quite a name for herself in the music world.

For more info on Lindsey’s participation in the show, including her partner and potential dance ability, check out our sister site Pure DWTS. (Also please let me know if you’d like to see more “alumni updates” posts, because I think I’d like to keep blogging during the hiatus between the end of this season and the start of Britain’s Got Talent next year, which I’d also like to start covering on here!)

September 2, 2017 I Written By

I'm obssessed with the entertainment industry, especially offbeat and nerdy things as well as those that involve live performance. The only thing I love more than geeking out over the things that entertain me is sharing in my excitement with others who share the same passions. America may have talent, but Canada has an up-and-coming blogger who is ready to take the internet by storm!