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America’s Got Talent Season 12 Champion Crowned, Vegas Show Line-Up Announced, and an Interesting Observation…

A huge CONGRATULATIONS to the newly-crowned America’s Got Talent Season 12 champion, Darci Lynne Farmer! Check out the Access Hollywood interviews from last night and this morning below! (Love how Terry Fator pops in to congratulate Darci!)

Darci will be headlining this year’s AGT Live! On Stage show in Las Vegas this November 3-4. The pre-sale for tickets is happening now with the code TALENT. Darci will be joined in the show by Season 12 runner-up Angelica Hale, third place finisher Light Balance, and top 10 finalist Preacher Lawson.

Can’t make it to Vegas? Tomorrow I’ll be doing a roundup of other upcoming performances from some of the Season 12 contestants, in addition to a countdown of what I thought were the very best performances of the season. But for now, something has come to my attention I think might make for some interesting discussion. Right after the Season 11 finale last year, Sophie (who you may remember from the livestream we did together last week) posted the following theory on Reddit:

Now, ventriloquism – let alone singing ventriloquism – is not the most common talent. Yes, it’s the second-most common winner category on AGT, but we haven’t had nearly as many ventriloquists on the show as, say, singers or magicians. I think the rarity of it might be the reason people tend to latch onto the ventriloquist acts on AGT, since it’s one of those skills we don’t see many other places in mainstream entertainment. Still, Sophie correctly predicting such a niche act winning Season 12 (before auditions for the season even started) makes me wonder if this “10 year cycle” theory may prove to be true. Let’s look at the winners from Seasons 3-10 to see what might be in store for the next eight years! (And yes, at this rate I do think the show has a good chance of sticking around for that long. Ratings were UP this season; that almost never happens in television these days!)

Season 3: Neal E. Boyd (Pop Opera Singer)
Season 4: Kevin Skinner (Country Singer)
Season 5: Michael Grimm (Singer-Guitarist)
Season 6: Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. (Jazz Singer)
Season 7: Olate Dogs (Dog Act)
Season 8: Kenichi Ebina (Dancing Mime)
Season 9: Mat Franco (Magician)
Season 10: Paul Zerdin (Ventriloquist)

If the pattern continues, it looks like we’re in for a few more years of singers winning, which I’ve kind of been expecting anyway, since so many people are itching to sing for Simon and possibly get signed by SYCO. I think as long as he’s on the judging panel, there will continue to be a lot of singing acts who audition for AGT. At least it’s looking like they’ll come from different genres for the most part. 😛

After that we’d have a dog/animal act win, which would also make sense; Sara & Hero were one of the biggest underdog acts (hehe) going into the live shows this season and they made it all the way to 5th place. And then we’d have a really unique and “out there” winner, followed by another magic act (I seriously can’t believe we’ve only had one win the show so far) and then a fourth ventriloquist champ (I guess by that time the cries of “ventriloquists always win!” will have died down).

Of course, this is all speculation, but it’s kind of an eerie coincidence Season 12 played out just like Sophie said it would! What sort of acts do you think we’ll be getting on AGT in the coming years, and which types do you think the audience might get behind to win?

September 21, 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 America’s Got Talent Season 12 Live Show #6 ( THE FINALS!!!): Power Rankings

For this special Finale edition of the Power Rankings, I’m going to go backwards, beginning with the act I think is LEAST likely to win, and going up (down?) from there.

10. Sara & Hero: Going into last night’s show I knew there was no way they’d win, but they had an outside shot at cracking top 5 as long as they continued their upward trajectory. Alas, that didn’t happen, as there were a lot of mistakes and recycled tricks (that jumping bit at the end was amazing though, and I did like the inclusion of Loki and Marvel). All in all, this performance was pretty basic compared to what we’ve seen them do in previous live shows. And personal preference, but with the name “The Super Collies”, I was kind of disappointed we never got a superhero-themed act from them.

9. Kechi: This was one of the segments that followed my “advice” (only not really because I wrote it long after they’d had everything prepared for the segment) and involved family of the people lost in the plane crash. The way the package was set up felt very strange, as if Kechi was the “Chosen One” to fulfill some sort of prophecy. I wish we could have just seen her as a human being who went through something instead of some spiritual entity. As for her song, I barely remember it, but considering there seems to be a clear top 4 and uncertainty about the other acts she – and everyone else above her – could very well wind up in 5th place.

8. Chase Goehring: More than most of the other Finalists, I think Chase truly put in the effort to give the audience what they were looking for and showed his growth as an artist last night. He finally sang about something other than how he’s a “nice guy” and girls should go out with him, and while the lyrics were still pretty generic I got the sense they were at least genuine. He also took the rapping to a whole new level! It seems pretty unlikely he’ll make the top 5 with his running order spot and having been on the bubble last round, but it’s nice to see someone improve their craft over the season.

7. Diavolo: If I had my choice of who would get that last spot in the top 5, it would definitely be Diavolo. This – like all their performances – was a true masterpiece. I like how they mixed some familiar and new elements to create a  tribute of sorts to their time on the AGT. If anyone from Season 12 deserves a Vegas show, it’s certainly them. However, this show isn’t really about finding a “Vegas” act anymore, and while I’m seeing more support for them than I did last week, I’m still not sure it’s going to be enough to get them to the top 5.

6. Evie Clair: I really have to hand it to AGT – they may be messy at times, but when it comes to handling serous issues like the one they were handed last night, they come through. (I was shocked they didn’t directly mention her father’s passing until the judge comments, but I think that was probably the best way to handle things so she could perform at her best. The package was tasteful, thankfully, and the performance…well, it was still bland, but it was better than most of her other AGT performances. I know I said I was concerned she’d have an outside chance of winning tonight but those fears have been washed away, though I do think the sympathy voters still have a chance of helping her squeeze into the top 5.

5. Preacher Lawson: Preacher’s final performance was polarizing, and he knew it. It’s been a running joke on his social media that he knows he’s going to lose to Darci and has accepted it, so I think he just decided to pick one of his personal favorite routines and go all out with the zaniness for this last episode. Leading up to last night’s Finals, I was seriously thinking he’d be in the top 5, but now I’m kind of up in the air about it. Like I’ve been saying, it seems the top 4 are so far ahead of everyone else in support that trying to guess who the last spot in the top 5 is going to is a bit of a crapshoot. In the end, I put Preacher here because I think he has the most passionate supporters out of the likely bottom 6.

4. Mandy Harvey: I was thinking Angelica would be the Brian Justin Crum of the seaon and place lower than generally anticipated, but I fear Mandy may end up in this position since last night was pretty underwhelming compared to her amazing Semi-Finals showing. This one just felt like a re-tread of her Quarter-Finals performance, both content-wise and aesthetically. I think if she had done this one last week and “Release Me” for the Finale she might have been one of the last two standing, but this performance may have knocked her down a few pegs, especially being sandwiched between two of the most impressive acts of the night.

3. Light Balance: This was probably the only act that gave us their best performance of the season last night, and I think peaking at the right time is going to help them. Getting the Finale week pimp spot – which I was sure was going to Darci with a small outside chance of Evie/Mandy – leads me to believe they’re getting a lot of audience support; before last night I was thinking they’d get 5th place at best and now I’m anticipating a top 3 finish for them. And while I know a lot of people who read this blog want Light Balance to win, keep in mind that a group act whose Golden Buzzer moment got glossed over and whose Quarter-Finals performance almost didn’t happen placing this high is a huge accomplishment.

2. Angelica Hale: Her performance of “Symphony” was a step up from last week, but still not nearly as strong as “Clarity” from the first live show. But I know a lot of people LOVED it and she’s been a frontrunner all season so I still think she’s likely to be one of the top finishers tonight. I think all the seasons with 10-act Finales had the show-opener finish in the top 5 without winning, and I’d be surprised if Angelica didn’t continue that tradition, but I’m not entirely sure where she’ll end up. The runner-up spot seems to be the most logical place to put her, since she’s probably the most likely to win if Darci doesn’t take it, but as I said before, I’ve started getting some Brian Justin Crum vibes from her in the recent weeks, so she could finish a little lower.

1. Darci Lynne Farmer: After last season I thought there was no way we would have a front-runner as obvious as Grace VanderWaal ever again, but here we are at the end of the very next season and Darci’s victory is arguably somehow even more inevitable. I think that might be because she’s the “perfect storm” of an act most viewers can agree on; she’s a young performer with a great voice which gives The Voice viewers something to tide them over until the new season starts up, but her act also incorporates puppetry and strong elements of comedy to appeal to the variety-loving crowd who still tune in to AGT to see Vegas-style acts do their thing. She also got a Golden Buzzer, which was obviously a major factor in her hype and popularity. Darci may not have one of those emotional backstories AGT has become notorious for, but when you think about it, even though many people with those stories have gotten far in the competition, the majority of the winners don’t have one. At the end of the day, talent (usually) tops all else, and I’m sure this will be proven once again when Darci is announced as the Season 12 champion tonight.

September 20, 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!

How to Win America’s Got Talent Season 12

So I may have stolen this idea from dwtsfun on tumblr….. 😛 Even though there are a few clear frontrunners in this group of Finalists, we have seen some upsets on this show before, so even some of the biggest long-shots might still have the ability to pull it out. (Probably not, but it’s technically possible. :P) So this post is going to be the advice I would give to each of the 10 acts we have left in order to give them the best possible chance at winning.

Darci Lynne Farmer: Darci has been the odds-on favorite to win all season, but that means she has even more pressure than the others to deliver. In order to stay ahead of the pack, she’ll have to do something to really put herself over the top. So far, she’s proven she can do a variety of voices, as well as sing and do comedy while switching “characters” on a dime. For this last performance, I think she should add another element to things like she has each time. I would think either two puppets (or maybe a two-headed puppet if that’s physically impossible…LOL) or something extremely impressive for a ventriloquist to do. I know she can sing opera and yodel with her mouth closed, so probably one of those. But whatever it is, it’ll have to be EPICLY impressive.

Mandy Harvey: Like Darci, she has followed an upward path throughout the season, with each performance being more polished than the one before, and each song feeling distinct enough to feel like something new while still fitting in with her “brand”. Last week she even signed the lyrics. I think in order to win, Mandy will have to do something even more powerful than that. I’m thinking something dedicated to the Deaf community, but not sure what that could be (and as a member of that circle, she’d probably have a better idea than I would!).

Light Balance: Being a group will probably give them somewhat of a disadvantage, but they made it this far without ever being in danger, so maybe they have more dedicated fans than I thought! In order to have a shot at the title, they’ll need to go bigger. Adding more characters/lights to really fill the stage or telling an epic story would definitely help their final act be a step up from their previous ones. My favorite thing they’ve done all season is still that transition into the Wolfman segment in the Quarter-Finals, so if they can pull out more tricks like that tonight I think they’ll really wow the viewers.

Chase Goehring: In comparison to Mandy, who’s songs are memorable and distinct from one other, most of Chase’s pieces so far have sounded the same to me. The only one that’s stood out was “Acapella”, which I think was the very first one he did. That song had a lot of rapping in it, and I know that’s something the audience has been waiting for more of from him, so let’s hope we get more of it tonight! Apparently, he’s written a brand new song specifically for tonight’s show, so hopefully he’s listened to the feedback from the judges and his fans and pulls out something special that stands out as his best performance of the season.

Sara & Hero: Definitely the most improved act of the season BY FAR and I have no doubt they’re going to be at their very best tonight. They’ve become an unexpected crowd favorite, so if they add in new tricks like they have been and do another fun storyline I’m sure people will love this last performance. My one note for them would be to polish things up a little more; there were a few times last week when tricks went wrong (though they recovered exceptionally well) and I’m not sure that’s going to go over so well on a night with such prestige as the Finals.

Evie Clair: I’m going to preface this one by saying I don’t want her to actually do this,  but this post is about how to win the show and unfortunately I think this is the only way she’ll have a shot. She needs to play up her father’s death as much as possible. Talk about him in the package, shed some tears, dedicate the song to him the whole shebang. Like I’ve said before, I truly hope this isn’t exploited by the show and that she can use this an a method of catharsis and a source of positivity in her life, but to be honest I think it’s the only scenario that might lead to her pulling out the win.

Kechi: My “advice” to her would be the same as Evie: crank the backstory up to an 11. Dedicate the song to the lives lost in the plane crash, involve their families in some way if you can, you know the drill. That’s pretty much the only way she’ll have a shot at winning.

Angelica Hale: Again, I hate this “advice” because it’s really not healthy for her, but this is about how to win, not how to please Julia the Pure AGT blogger. Angelica’s best path to victory would involve choosing a powerhouse “diva” anthem with as much belting as possible (I warned you this wouldn’t be healthy for a 10-year-old). It’d preferably be a big emotional number, since she has to compete with the mother of all inspirational backstories. (And who’s would that be? That’s up to you, reader. :P)

Diavolo: I’m really not sure what advice I’d give to them, since their performance last week was one of the best things I’ve seen all season and they still ended up in the Judges’ Save. I suppose I’d suggest doing another big, multi-layered spectacle, but this time have the theme be emotionally resonant or just easier for the audience to understand. I really don’t like how the acts have to play down to the lowest common denominator sometimes (and I do think the reason some really good acts have gone home or been in danger was because the general audience just “didn’t get it” which is a real shame).

Preacher Lawson: This last one is just going to be something I personally want to see from him, because I doubt he can win. (Though to be honest, I doubt most of these acts have a real shot at this point.) What I really want to see Preacher do is get up there and roast AGT. Maybe not to the level you’d see on, say, Reddit, but I think it’d be really fun for him to tease the judges like he did Tyra last week, or make fun of the abundance of singing acts. 😛

What do YOU think the acts need to do in order to win Season 12 of America’s Got Talent?

September 19, 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!

AGT Season 12 Finale Guest Performers and Ellen Show Roundup

Hooray! We finally have a press release for tomorrow night’s show! Guest performers include Kelly Clarkson, Shania Twain, Derek Hough, James Arthur, Kevin Nealon, Terry Fator, and Jeff Dunham.

Usually they have the celebrities perform with the acts. I think it’s a no-brainer that Terry and Jeff will probably be doing something with Darci. I think Kelly will probably perform with Angelica, James with Chase, and maybe Kevin with Preacher. Maybe Shania or one of the other singers will provide musical accompaniment for one of the dance groups. I really don’t know where Derek Hough is going to fit into all this but I’m excited to find out! Maybe he can dance with Sara & Hero? 😛

We’ve also had an abundance of AGT-related appearances on Ellen in the past couple weeks. First, Heidi was on with Billy & Emily, then Celine sang on the show after her elimination, and this week Grace showed up! Check out the clips below:

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!

PureAGT Season 8 Finale – SPOILERS!!! Who Won???

Jee-zass…almost an hour and a half into the show before we get a single result??? And I have to wonder just what the producers were on when they decided it would be a good idea to have Hoda & Kathie Lee be a part of Collins’ trick…oy vey.  On a good day, I find those women irritating – on a crap day like today, I think I’d rather fellate a hot curling iron than listen to them cackle.  😯 And for the love of god, reality tv shows, enough with that silly ass Icona Pop song!!! Read more..

September 18, 2013 I Written By

Ultrasound specialist by day, entertainment blogger by night - with some amateur dancer, hair & makeup enthusiast, crazy cat lady, recreational chef, and Donnie Wahlberg/Norman Reedus fangirl peppered in to make things interesting ;-) Check out some of my other work over at puredwts.com!

PureAGT Season 8 – Finale Power Rankings

So I daresay last night’s performance show changed my mind about who I think is going to win – and when I
called in my votes for the particular act I think deserves to win, I got a busy signal for at least 30 minutes after the show wrapped…so I’ve got my fingers crossed 😉 I’m gonna do things in reverse order tonight, just to keep things interesting…

6.) Cami Bradley – Really and truly, if we’re going off of performance alone, it should be Jimmy at the bottom of the board – but something tells me the country nuts are going to get him to at least 5th place.  I wouldn’t say Cami did badly last night, per se – I just think she wasn’t as memorable as she possibly could have been.  Loved that she repeated “Believe”, which I think is the strongest performance we saw from her all season; not wild about “I Wanna Hold Your Hand”, though, as I found it rather sing-songy – and I think Cami does best with songs that are a bit more heartfelt and poignant.  Overall, she’s been my biggest surprise of the season – would never have guessed from the brief snippet we saw of her audition that she would be a finalist this season.  Glad we got to see her journey on the show 🙂

5.) Jimmy Rose – Probably the weakest performer of last night – his repeat song was decent, but I’m completely drawing a blank on his 2nd performance…seriously, I can’t remember anything about it.  Likely because it wasn’t terribly different than any of the other performances we’ve seen from him all season long.  Seems like the judges have also soured a bit on Jimmy, as I can’t remember them offering up any of their usual over-the-top praise – they might have said “it was good!” but I don’t recall them gushing.  Not much else to add about Jimmy – I think he’s a good guy, but if I’m being honest, he should have never made it to the finale…he’s just not vocally at the same level as some of the others we’ve seen.

4.) Collins Key – I know people seem to love this kid, but really? He has basically performed the same trick several times, just with the set-up and props changed slightly.  I will give him props for his “repeat” trick (which really wasn’t), since he almost got Mel & Heidi to make out on national television; but the delivery did still seem a little clumsy to me, and I’m not sure that I really bought his 2nd trick – the three individuals he “had never met before” seemed to be trying just a little too hard to act surprised when he predicted what they were wearing and what sign they’d be holding.  Like the girl from the date trick, I think they were plants, picked out far ahead of time and told to act surprised.  Sorry, but the luster has just worn off the rose for me where Collins is concerned – I think he needs to broaden his repertoire of tricks before he can really be a contender.  That said – I think his legion of teenage fans will probably pull him to at least 4th place (maybe 3rd, if enough people have jumped off the Forte bandwagon).

3.) Forte – Prior to last night, I thought these guys had the win in the bag – now I’m not sure they can even manage 3rd place.  I just think Forte has the unfortunate problem of not being a very diverse act: they sing opera, and that’s about it.  Each performance kinda starts to sound the same after the 3rd or 4th time – and that’s unfortunately what happened last night.  Yes, they’re fantastic singers – but they kind of bore me now. Neither of their performances last night really struck a chord with me – all I really remember was all of the lights during their repeat performance, and that’s more of a credit to the set designer than anyone else.  Great guys, but I’m just not feeling the “$1 million dollar Vegas show” vibe from them anymore.

1/2.) TIE: Kenichi Ebina & Taylor Williamson – Kenichi may have been the most consistent all season, but he kinda choked last night – his “repeat” performance didn’t awe me like it did the first time, and his new performance seemed to lack a whole lot of dance – a lot of time was wasted trying to interact with the other characters.  I still think he stands a good chance of winning, but he’s got some stiff competition in Taylor – really the only finalist to knock both of his performances out of the park last night, while everyone else hit some snags.  I think the advantage Taylor has over Kenichi is that he peaked at the right time – he’s just gotten better and better each week we’ve seen him, and it all culminated last night.  The fact that Howard even tweeted “I think Taylor might win this whole thing” after last night’s show is telling to me, because Howard has been pretty spot-on with his predictions thus far.  So I guess my pick for the winner comes down to two choices: the season-long favorite (Kenichi) vs. the dark horse (Taylor).  I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hoping it was the latter 😉

So who is your pick to win it all? And who did you vote for last night?

I Written By

Ultrasound specialist by day, entertainment blogger by night - with some amateur dancer, hair & makeup enthusiast, crazy cat lady, recreational chef, and Donnie Wahlberg/Norman Reedus fangirl peppered in to make things interesting ;-) Check out some of my other work over at puredwts.com!

PureAGT Season 8 – Finale Live Discussion Post/”Matt Chat”

Since it was such a hit last week with me & the two Matts (hence the nickname), I’ve resurrected the live discussion post – so join us, won’t you? 🙂 Come chat about the show as it goes on, and see what other readers have to say.  Who did well? Who did bad? Who surprised you??? Won’t you join us? We don’t bite…hard 😉

September 17, 2013 I Written By

Ultrasound specialist by day, entertainment blogger by night - with some amateur dancer, hair & makeup enthusiast, crazy cat lady, recreational chef, and Donnie Wahlberg/Norman Reedus fangirl peppered in to make things interesting ;-) Check out some of my other work over at puredwts.com!

PureAGT Season 8 – Top 12 Live Discussion Post

You don’t have to wait until I post my power rankings in order to discuss the show – go ahead and do it here, live 🙂 Tell us what you think – which acts performed well tonight? Which acts stunk? Which acts surprised you the most? Who do you think is going through to the finale?  TELL US!!! 😀

September 10, 2013 I Written By

Ultrasound specialist by day, entertainment blogger by night - with some amateur dancer, hair & makeup enthusiast, crazy cat lady, recreational chef, and Donnie Wahlberg/Norman Reedus fangirl peppered in to make things interesting ;-) Check out some of my other work over at puredwts.com!