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A Vegas Venue, a Seattle Church, and the Royal Variety Performance – AGT Alumni Update

We may be trucking through the off-season, but there’s been lots of news in AGT Land so far this month!

First and foremost, America’s Got Talent Live in Las Vegas was a huge success! There were some great throwbacks to the summer show as well as some new material from Darci Lynne Farmer, Angelica Hale, Preacher Lawson, and Light Balance, including a few collaborative performances! (Photo credit to Angelica Hale on Instagram.)

Her run is Vegas may be over (for now!) but Darci Lynne isn’t slowing down – she recently announced a series of shows in her hometown of Oklahoma City. Darci Lynne: Homecoming will be onstage at The Criterion on December 16-17 2017, and tickets are selling fast!

Seattle-area AGT fans have an upcoming treat of their own. Gold Creek Community Church’s annual Gold Creek Christmas show has a special twist this year: several Season 12 contestants will be performing, including singers Evie Clair, Kechi, and Christian Guardino, dancer Merrick Hanna, and dog act Patrick & Ginger! There are three performances scheduled over December 15-16, and tickets can be purchased here.

In other Season 12 alumni news, last week Colin Cloud announced his involvement in this year’s Royal Variety Performance. If you’re unfamiliar with the tradition check out the link, but the show is an annual tradition in Britain and is known for featuring a, well, variety of different performers from comedians to sideshow acts to West End stage show casts. (So basically everything we hope to see in the AGT live shows instead of an abundance of karaoke-style pop singers.) And just to give you an idea how prestigious the RVP is, a performance slot is the grand prize for AGT‘s own sister program Britain’s Got Talent. This year’s winner and representative is musician Tokio Myers, and in addition to all of the BGT champs some other alumni from AGT have participated in previous year’s performances.

The 2017 RVP is set to tape later this month and will be televised in Britain and other Commonwealth nations in December and January, but those living in America and other countries will more than likely be able to catch clips of the performances when they are inevitably uploaded to YouTube. And since I’m expanding this blog to cover BGT in the spring (and need some filler content between now and then :P) I’m planning to review the show here on Pure AGT next month! (Photo credit to Colin Cloud on Instagram.)

Finally, I’ve mostly refrained from posting about this since one of our sister sites pretty much has it covered, but AGT Season 5 alumnus Lindsey Stirling not only recently released a brand new Chirstmas album entitled Warmer in the Winter, she was officially announced as a Dancing With the Stars finalist earlier this week! The two-night Finale airs on ABC Monday November 20 at 8/7c and Tuesday November 21 at I believe 9/8c. (And I believe Lindsey also has a new music video coming out on her YouTube channel very soon!) You can check out one of her dances from this past episode below, and I’ll see you again soon with more AGT updates.

November 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!

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!

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!

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!

Pure AGT Season 12 Live Show #5: Power Rankings

LAST SEMI-FINAL OF THE SEASON! I have to admit, even with how messy Season 12 has been, I’m actually pretty sad it’s almost over…but in the meantime, I’m going to try to get up a post on here every day from now until the Finale! I’m also considering covering Britain’s Got Talent on here next spring (I think?) as well as actually doing a write-up about the Christmas special if they do one this year. In addition to this, I want to include more stuff on here about AGT alumni and what they’re up to-there’s been a few I’ve heard a lot from since their time on the show-but I’m not sure how much interest there’d be for all that. None of this would be as frequent as what I’m doing now (until BGT starts).

But for now, I know you’re all here for the Power Rankings. This week is particularly hard to predict because there wasn’t one act that seemed to blow everyone out of the water, and very few really dropped the ball. Also, the show started an hour later than usual, and the late end time-especially we’re now into the school year and a lot of kids and parents are on stricter weeknight schedules-could have affected voting patterns. Also, based on last night alone there really doesn’t seem to be a frontrunner in this group, though I definitely think some will benefit from being one of the “stars” of their Quarter-Final.

1. Mandy Harvey: I think this is the first time all season I’ve put someone who performed in the middle of the show at the top of the Power Rankings, but she headlined her Quarter-Final and her spot in the running order this week was probably the best one she could have gotten; performing at the change of the hour meant she was likely the last act seen by people who tuned out at the usual time, but late enough in the show to still be well-remembered by the end for those sticking around the whole night. Her package might actually have been more of a selling point than the song itself, but it was still a very solid performance (loved the inclusion of sign language!) and just enough of a departure from her previous songs with the ukulele to be different without losing the essence that made people drawn to her in the first place.

2. Angelica Hale: Color me shocked that the judges actually criticized her a bit last night-I thought she was pretty much untouchable in that regard by this point-but this was still a nice way to end off the night. It’s going to be interesting to see what happens with Angelica since Celine also performed last night, and as I’ve mentioned are often compared very closely by fans of the show. I think Angelica still has a bit of an edge with her story and POSSIBLY the pimp spot (but again, we don’t know if that provided as much of a boost as it usually does). Either way, I don’t see her going home tonight because she’s definitely in the top 6 and there’s no way she’d lose a Dunkin’ Save unless Mandy was one of her opponents.

3. Light Balance: I suppose these guys are my best guess for the third automatic spot tonight, since pretty much everyone seems to like them (even if it’s debatable whether or not performing second last will actually help this week). Their main competition is Diavolo, and I doubt we’re getting both in the finals since it seems like voters-especially this late in the game-tend to be more emotionally attached to (and inclined to vote for) individual performers or pairs than larger groups. However, I still think one of the dance groups will make the Finale and I think LB has the clear edge because their appeal is more “universal” (more on that below).

4. In the Stairwell: This might be surprising since I just said groups tend to be disadvantaged on this show at this point (and I’ll probably do a write-up about that sometime between now and next week) but I think the main reason for this is because it’s much more difficult for the audience to connect to them in comparison to a solo performer. However, the constant reminders of ITS’s military service probably remedies this issue. While I could have done without the name-dropping of a national tragedy (I want them out tonight for that alone) the Armed Forces mean a lot to many people, especially in America. Even though I thought the performance itself was probably one of the weaker ones of the night, ITS filled a niche of the episode as the only singing group, and that + military background will probably be enough to get them into Dunkin’ Save territory. Keep in mind the order of this list is based on who I think got the most Tuesday night votes, so while I’m expecting to see them on the bubble, they’ll probably be the act to lose out since I get the feeling the majority of their voting base is not part of the online crowd.

5. Celine Tam: I was originally going to have Celine as an immediate elimination, but she seemed to take less heat from being on the same show as Angelica than I thought, and now I’m thinking there might even be room for both girls in next week’s Finale. Like Angelica, she got a pretty positive response from the judges, with only a few minor critiques. I have a feeling as long as Celine manages to stay above the abyss (AKA the bottom 5) she’ll probably get through to the Finals.

6. Colin Cloud: I’m gonna try not to get my hopes up, because he was in the Dunkin’ Save last round and had the historically worst running order spot a reality contestant can have last night, but…….HOLY S*** WAS THAT NOT THE BIGGEST STEP UP WE’VE SEEN THIS SEASON? Yes, as usual the trick was “exposed” 10 seconds after it aired, but the whole presentation of this was NEXT LEVEL. It started off slow, and once the “magic” part happened I thought it was just a re-hash of what Tom London did back in Judge Cuts, but the flashback footage put this performance over the top. I LOVED seeing the reactions to it, both from the judges and online. Colin stood out with this performance, especially as the sole non-singing/dancing act of the night, and I think it just might have been enough to get him into Dunkin’ Save territory again. Maybe. I mean, if Eric could go second last week and still end up there, so can Colin, right? Right? (Please!!!!!)

7. Kechi: After her whole segment I penciled her in for top 3, but then a funny thing happened. When I poked around the interwebs to get a feel of who people were liking (and not liking)…I barely saw Kechi’s name at all. And this is about someone who I believe has gotten the pimp spot for all three of her previous performances, and a decent one near the end last night. She might still wind up in the Dunkin’ Save or even top 3, but it seems she could possibly be a victim of the “Singer Massacre of the Semi-Finals” when a bunch of the singers who were madly hyped in the Quarters suddenly disappear the next round.

8. Diavolo: This was THE performance of the night for me, and cemented my belief that despite what Laverne Cox said back in Judge Cuts, this is the most “Vegas” act of the whole season. However, three things make me think they’re probably goners tonight. 1) Competition against Light Balance (which I already explained). 2) The West Coast airing of the episode suddenly cutting back to Pompeyo halfway through their performance (seriously, WTF? Not cool, technicians!). and 3) Their act just being kinda divisive overall. It was very abstract and circus-esque, which seemed to be strongly appealing for some viewers (myself included) and a total turn-off to others. I hate to say it, but I have a feeling they’re done tonight. 🙁

9. Merrick Hanna: I love Merrick, but last night’s performance seemed to emphasize gimmicks (the giant robot) and tricks (the “flying”) more than what we love him for best-awesome animation dancing. I have a feeling a lot of these additions were producer-driven, but that probably wouldn’t have swayed voters either way. Again, really sad to say it but I think we’re losing Merrick tonight as well. 🙁

10. Christian Guardino: I actually really love listening to Christian sing, and hope he has a long and successful career after this, but while he did have a package custom-designed to tug at the heartstrings, his song was pretty forgettable (remember what I said last week about having to have those “money notes” in order for the audience to remember you?). His running order also wasn’t that great, and I’ve hardly seen any buzz about him since the show, so I’d be very surprised to even see him in the Dunkin’ Save tonight.

11. Pompeyo Family Dogs: Semi-Final Wildcard acts are pretty much fodder no matter how you slice it, but even if they had been voted through last time I’d probably still rank them at the bottom this week…I love their creativity, but the dogs were pretty much unrecognizable and were off their game for at least half of the performance. Besides that, the tricks themselves were pretty much the same ones we’ve seen in their other acts. And to top it all off, they were coming off the heels of fan-favorite Sara & Hero’s amazing beach performance last week. I really hope the daughter doesn’t cry again when they get eliminated tonight. 🙁

September 13, 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!

Pure America’s Got Talent Season 12 Live Show #3: Power Rankings

Last Quarter-Final of Season 12! I have a lot going on with work this week and yesterday’s episode wasn’t all that interesting, so I’m gonna keep this short and to the point. Here’s who I think got the most to least votes last night, starting with…

1. Kechi: I’ve taken to omitting her last name since that’s how she seems to be branding herself (awesome that what is presumably her legal first name also works as a badass stage name). She got the “pimp spot” (aka the final performance of the show) has an especially emotional/inspiring backstory, and gave one of the few performances of the evening that was solid all the way through, so yeah; she’s not going anywhere this week, and I reckon she’ll be in the Finale in September.

2. Chase Goehring: Chase was a Golden Buzzer, delivered a solid (if not especially awe-inspiring) performance last night in a good running order position, and seems to have gained quite the fanbase over the course of the season. He’s another person who shouldn’t have any problem getting through tonight, and I think he has a decent chance at making it to the Finals (how big of one will depend on who else is in his episode next round, particularly if he’s up against Season 12’s other singing-songwriting superstar, Mandy Harvey).

3. Diavolo: The winners of the night for me; this was one of maybe two acts this episode that didn’t feel boring, stale, or pointless. I was captivated all the way through! They also had a good performance spot which will probably help them out. I really hope if they are in the Semis they get put in the episode Light Balance is not in; I fear that voters may not put two dance groups from one episode through and I think both easily deserve to be in the Finale.

4. Danell Daymon & Greater Works: This was the other act that fully held my attention and made me feel excited. I’m sort of on the fence as to whether they’ll be safe on in Dunkin’ Save territory (they did perform first, after all) but much like America loves veterans (a lot, as we found out two weeks ago), I have a feeling they also love choirs. And I really can’t see them in the Bottom 4 when I look at some of the other performances this week.

5. Angelina Green: Or “Angelica” if you ask Simon (even the judges are getting confused between all the singing acts now!) I toyed between Angelina and the act I ended up putting at #6 as to who would be the last one I’d call safe, because while both seem to have quite a few fans, neither were at their best yesterday. But I’m putting Angelina here because she was a Golden Buzzer and the singers have tended to fare better with votes than the variety this season.

6. Colin Cloud: For the whole week leading up to last night, NBC had a promo for the new episode with the tagline “90 seconds to change your life”. Now, clearly some acts were going to go over that timeframe (and I’m pretty sure the “90 seconds” thing was a rule for Judge Cuts, not the live shows) but the fact that they promoted that aspect so heavily for this particular episode is especially hilarious in hindsight after an EIGHT MINUTE ACT from Colin. Like, wow. Even some of the other contestants-who are usually very supportive of their competition-were commenting on the unfairness of that. And I think that might be what lands Colin in the Dunkin’ Save tonight, because it seems a lot of people on Facebook and Twitter were checking their watches during his segment. The idea was interesting, but perhaps a bit too complicated in execution for the AGT stage. I have a feeling we’re going to be seeing him in the Semi-Finals, though, so hopefully he has a better trick up his sleeve for next time.

7. Mike Yung: I think Mike gave a solid-if somewhat shouty-performance last night. However, he is an older singer, and they haven’t usually done very well on AGT. I think he was lucky to perform in the episode he did, because considering how many weak/unmemorable performances there were last night, I think he might have a chance to continue on from here.

8. Sara & Hero: I thought their performance was cute, and I liked the surprise addition of a second dog at the end! I feel like with her story and lesser competition, Sara and her canine companions will probably get more support than the Pompeyo crew did, just not sure how much or if it will be enough to keep them around for another go at it.

9. Oskar & Gaspar: I thought the technology was cool, but I didn’t see much of a response from people. Acts with videomapping have mostly gotten lukewarm responses on this show, and most of those involved movements from the “human canvases”, so I can’t imagine one with people standing still would do better.

10. Final Draft: When I have to Google an episode that aired less than 24 hours ago to remember they even performed, that might be a bad sign. I think the underwhelmingness of it all might have boiled down to song choice.

11. Junior & Emily: They performed in the second place “death slot”, but they did up their game a little to include a bit more than just spinning in their routine. Unfortunately, I don’t think it was enough to make them stand out in enough people’s minds and garner the support they needed to stay in the game.

12. Oscar Hernandez: I actually love him, but his running order slot coupled with the fact that Mel B just HAD to point out the forgotten choreography-even in a compliment-is probably not going to bode well for him.

August 30, 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 Shows Masterpost

For the rest of the season, this will be the page updated about upcoming show lineups and advancing/eliminated acts. Once the performance episode has aired, I’ll link each act’s performance here as well. I’ll still post things like Power Rankings and general commentary on the show separately, but when it comes to information about the competition schedule and results, this will now be your one-stop shop!

Quarter-Finals Week #1: August 15-16 2017
Angelica Hale
Aryton & Paige
Bello Nock (Wildcard)
Billy & Emily England
Christian Guardino (Dunkin’ Save)
Darci Lynne Farmer
In the Stairwell
Just Jerk (Lost Judges’ Choice Tiebreaker)
Preacher Lawson
Puddles Pity Party
The Singing Trump
Yoli Mayor (Won Judges’ Choice Tiebreaker via Viewer Votes)

Quarter-Finals Week #2: August 22-23 2017
Brobots & Mandroidz
Celine Tam
Demian Aditya
Eric Jones (Won Judges’ Choice Tiebreaker via Viewer Votes)
Evie Clair (Dunkin’ Save)
Johnny Manuel
Light Balance
Mandy Harvey
The Masqueraders (Lost Judges’ Choice Tiebreaker)
Merrick Hanna
Mirror Image
Pompeyo Family Dogs

Quarter-Finals Week #3: August 29-30 2017
Angelina Green (Lost Judges’ Choice)
Chase Goehring
Colin Cloud (Dunkin’ Save)
DaNell Daymon & Greater Works (Won Judges’ Choice)
Diavolo
Final Draft (Wildcard)
Junior & Emily
Kechi Okwuchi
Mike Yung
Oscar Hernandez
Oskar & Gaspar (Wildcard)
Sara & Hero

Semi-Finals Week #1: September 5-6 2017
Billy & Emily England
Chase Gohering (Won Judges’ Choice)
Danell Daymon & Greater Works
Darci Lynne Farmer
Eric Jones (Lost Judges’ Choice)
Evie Clair (Dunkin’ Save-first act in the show’s history to win the DS twice)
Johnny Manuel
Mike Yung
Preacher Lawson
Sara & Hero
Yoli Mayor

Semi-Finals Week #2: September 12-13 2017
Angelica Hale
Celine Tam
Christian Guardino
Colin Cloud (Lost Judges’ Choice)
Diavolo (Won Judges’ Choice)
In the Stairwell
Kechi Okwuchi (Dunkin’ Save)
Light Balance
Mandy Harvey
Merrick Hanna
Pompeyo Family Dogs (Semi-Finals Wildcard)

Finals: September 19-20 2017
Angelica Hale (Runner-Up)
Chase Goehring (Top 10)
Darci Lynne Farmer (WINNER)
Diavolo (Top 10)
Evie Clair (Top 10)
Kechi Okwuchi (Top 10)
Light Balance (Third Place)
Mandy Harvey (Fourth Place)
Preacher Lawson (Top 10)
Sara & Hero (Fifth Place)

August 12, 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 Judges Cuts 3 and 4: Power Rankings

It’s funny: while these last two groups for Judge Cuts were noticeably stronger than the first and second, I found myself disagreeing with quite a few of the choices and I actually think most of the acts that made it through aren’t as likely to make it to the end (potential Wildcards notwithstanding). I really wish we could trade some of these acts for the rejected ones but today I’m going to get right to it and save the ranting about the results and overall format of the auditions and Judge Cuts rounds for a few days from now. Remember, this list starts with who I THINK will get the farthest in the competition and goes down from there; I’ll share my opinions on each act of course but the order they’re in is reflective of how I’m predicting the general audience will react to them, not necessarily how much I’ve personally enjoyed them.

1. Diavolo: I didn’t understand Laverne’s comment about not seeing how they’d fit into the Vegas scene, because truth be told out of every act this season I think this is probably the one that is best suited to carry a full Vegas show. There are several strong dance groups this season, but Diavolo is the one I’m thinking will provide the most variety and is the most likely to keep the audience on their toes. I fear a lot of the other dance groups (and non-dance acts, come to think of it) are going to grow stale pretty quickly if they can’t step it up, but I don’t have that worry with Diavolo, which is why I think they have a good shot at the Finals.

2. Merrick Hanna: Okay…so…awkward moment there with that Golden Buzzer prediction, huh? (Seriously though, why did Seal press it in such an odd fashion for a fairly basic pop singer?) Anyway, despite not getting the coveted GB, I think Merrick is probably going to do well in the competition. He’s built up quite the following in his short time on AGT so far, and he seems to be someone a lot of people in the anti-singer brigade have really latched onto. I definitely think he’ll get past the Quarter-Finals but my concern is that his act might start to feel tired after that. His dancing mainly seems to be robotic-style, and there are only so many ways that can be kept fresh after several performances. I think the trick here is going to be heartstring-pulling (in his dancing, not his pre-performance packages). If he can keep telling stories like he did back in his audition, he might have a decent shot at the Finals.

3. Preacher Lawson: Being the only comedian left this season, Preacher essentially has an entire sub-market of the AGT audience all to himself right now. He’s also another performer the fans itching to support something other than vocal talents seem to have really taken to, not to mention the general viewing audience. There was a little backlash towards his Judge Cuts routine for ablest material, but even some of those detractors seemed more mixed than totally negative (they seemed to like that the person with a disability in question got a happy ending). Of course, most comedy is going to be somewhat controversial (and really, the backlash for Preacher was NOTHING compared to that of the political jokes from Lori Mae last season) but if Preacher can continue t deliver routines that will entertain more people than not, I could see him making it far.

4. Kechi Okwuchi: I’m kind of torn as to whether or not Kechi will make it all the way to the end. She has a pleasant voice, but what most people remember about her is her backstory. Now it is a powerful one, but we have so many this season that they may not be enough to take a person far. Also, someone on Reddit today pointed out that while AGT has more than its fair share of tragic backstories, it’s generally the people with the most memorable personalities that go far. Now, I’m absolutely positive that we’re going to have at least a couple people with sad backstories make it to the Finale, but the people that do are probably going to have more than that to fall back on. As I said, Kechi’s voice is great, but there are stronger in the competition, and she hasn’t really gotten to show a lot of personality so far. If she can show her fun side, I think she has a shot at making it to the end.

5. DaNell Daymon & Greater Works: I was originally going to put this group a little lower on the list, but then I remembered what happened when another singing group that I barely paid attention to that had an emotional backstory competed last season: they made the Finals. Greater Works seemed to strike a chord with a lot of people, so I’m not making the mistake of sleeping on them like I did Linkin’ Bridge.

6. Celine Tam: Celine is an interesting case because she’s someone I could see going very, very far…in another season. I think this live show group not only has the most singing acts we’ve ever had, but the most child singing acts we’ve ever had, and I’m already seeing people closely comparing some of them. Celine’s “counterpart” in this regard seems to be fellow 9-year-old Judge Cuts Golden Buzzer recipient singer (of presumably Asian heritage, no less) Angelica Hale. And I think those comparisons are exactly what is going to be her downfall in the competition, because most of the comparisons I’ve seen between the two have been in Angelica’s favor; people seem to prefer her =”powerhouse”-style voice over Celine’s more childlike one (which actually bothers me because those people probably don’t realize that the way Angelica sings is probably damaging to her still-developing vocal chords as such a young singer, but unfortunately that’s an issue that’s also been in previous seasons that I doubt is going to go away any time soon). It also won’t help that Angelica’s Quarter-Final is before Celine’s, so I’m sure when she inevitably passes through her first live show with flying colors that Celine will have some hard expectations to match when her turn comes. I still think she’ll probably make it to the Semi-Finals, but I’m doubting her chances at getting the last week at this point.

7. Johnny Manuel: As I mentioned in my last point, the amount of singers this season is probably going to become a roadblock for a lot of the acts that fall under that category. I presume it’s going to be like last season when most of them made it through the first round of live shows pretty easily but then saw a mass exodus in the Semi-Finals, with many early favorites not even making it to Dunkin’ Save territory. I was talking to some other AGT fans on twitter last night about the Golden Buzzer singers alone, and many of those people couldn’t even remember them all. While Johnny obviously wasn’t one of them since we’d just seen him receive his from Seal, I barely remembered him from the auditions until they reminded us of his backstory (and even then I didn’t remember what song he performed the first time). It seems like his story of his failed music career is pretty controversial within the AGT fandom, with some finding his presence in the competition unfair because of it, but if he’s going to compete I’m glad it’s out in the open and not hidden from the audience (Brian Justin Crum, anyone?). At this point, I feel like he might become somewhat forgettable like some of the other singers have seemed to, but I think he’ll probably make it to the Semi-Finals and miiiiiight have a shot at squeezing into the Finale.

8. Billy & Emily England: These two seem to be pretty polarizing in several ways. Some dislike the fact they’ve already competed on a Got Talent show, but again, I appreciate that the show is being open about that instead of sweeping it under the rug (Laura Bretan, anyone?). However, most of the people who don’t like them seem to find their performances and general demeanor overly sexual (I don’t find them or the act I’m about to mention to be that way, but I find it weird that these two are getting tons of accusations of incest and Junior and Emily aren’t). If I had to guess, I’d say they’re probably gone next week but if they can squeeze into the Dunkin’ Save zone I think they miiiiiiiight have a shot at the Judges’ Save depending on who’s there with them.

9. In the Stairwell: I was pleasantly surprised to see these guys make the live shows, but I think they’re most likely goners next week unless maybe they really play up the military angle. (American audiences do love their veterans!) Either way, they’ve already made it farther than I thought they would, so I’m going to enjoy them for however long they last!

10. Mike Yung: Mike is one of the singers I think a lot of people have kind of forgotten about. I actually enjoy his voice more than most others this season, but there seems to be a trend of older singers being eliminated early in the live shows, and I have a feeling this might be the case with Mike. I guess he could POSSIBLY make the Semi-Finals, but I HIGHLY doubt he’s going all the way to the Finale.

11. Pompeyo Family Dogs: I love these dogs and this family so much, but it’s clear a lot of others feel differently. Many people were disappointed by some of last night’s results, and this act took a lot of the heat from that. I would love to see them at least make it to the Semi-Finals, but that seems kind of unlikely right now.

12. Brobots & Mandriods: I really like these guys, and if they were on a season with less dance acts I think they could make it somewhat far. However, they’re going to up against giants like Diavolo and Light Balance and I don’t think they’re going to be able to grab viewers in the same way those acts might. From the looks of it, it seems likely that they’ll be in the same Quarter-Final as one of those two groups and I fear that might spell the end for our Brobots and Mandroidz.

13. Oscar Hernandez: Okay, I LOVE this guy, and he was one of the acts I thought really stepped up his game in the Judge Cuts. However, he’s another performer that took a lot of heat for the decisions made in his JC episode, and it doesn’t look like a lot of people have him as their favorite right now. I’d love if he could somehow make it to the Semi-Finals, but yeah, I’m doubting that’s actually going to happen.

14. Artyon & Paige: I think these two are great and would love to see them stick together as a duo for a long, long time. However, I was quite confused when they announced they’d advanced over some of the other acts last night, and it seems a heck of a lot of others agreed with me. Judging by who else is in their live show next week (which I’ll be talking more about in the next few days) I’d be shocked if they even made it to Dunkin’ Save territory.

What do you think of this group of live show acts and their chances to do well?

August 9, 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 Season 12 Judge Cuts 4: Who Received Seal’s Golden Buzzer? And who else might have made the cut?

Hey everyone! I was going to do Power Rankings for last week’s episode (I’ll still do them, just combined with tomorrow night’s acts) but something bigger came along, and that something is a bit of detective work from AGT fans! The rumor mill has been abuzz about who received the final Golden Buzzer of the season, but I think we may have cracked this case thanks to a promo for tomorrow’s episode on the AGT YouTube Channel. Check it out!

Did you see the clue? Play the video back and watch for the moment when Seal presses the Golden Buzzer. He does so in an interesting fashion…one that some might even describe as…robotic.

So what does this mean? Judging by this week’s lineup, it’s looking like dancer Merrick Hanna got the coveted final Golden Buzzer! If this theory is true, that would make seven singing acts and two dance acts as our Season 12 Golden Buzzers, which goes with the trends of the rest of the live shows lineup so far, which is set to be very singing and dancing-heavy.

If Merrick does indeed get the GB, there will still be six other spots to fill, and I’m pretty sure we can already mark down another one as “taken”! Each week of the show so far this season, an act’s performance has been featured on the AGT YouTube channel a few days before the episode it’s featured in airs on TV, and guess what? All of them have advanced to the next round! So, who was the lucky act this week? None other than the Pompeyo Family Dogs!

In terms of who else I think might move forward, I definitely see at least one if not both magicians in this group making the cut (I’m pretty sure Will Tsai is going to advance but I’m currently on the fence regarding Henry Richardson).  There are four other dance acts besides Merrick, and based on the sheer number of them I’d assume at least one would move on, but I’m looking at these acts and either don’t remember them or don’t think they have a good shot, and let’s not forget the Great Magician Massacre of last week’s episode. Could we see the dance acts suffer a similar fate this week?

Of course, because this is AGT, we’ll probably see at least one singing act move forward. My first thought was Kechi Okwuchi, but given that the judges seemed kind of lukewarm on her in the auditions I think there’s a chance she might not make it (possible Wildcard?). I’ve been hearing rumors about a stand-off between vocalists Johnny Manuel and the late Brandon Rogers, so I have a feeling one or both of them got sent through. Based on promo editing I’m guessing if only one moved on it was Johnny, but if Brandon did there will most likely be an extra Wildcard spot for the live shows (I know I talk about the Wildcards a lot but in the last week I have seen way more campaigning from acts and fans alike than ever before).

We also have two vocal groups: Gospel choir DaNell Daymon & Greater Works and all-male a capella group In the Stairwell. Based on the previous comments from the judges about those two acts, I’d wager Greater Works is the more likely of them to continue. The rest of the performances lined up for tomorrow’s episode mostly fall under the “variety” genre, and it’s hard to tell who might advance from that crop. Based on what we’ve seen so far, my personal favorites are scientist Nick Uhas and balancer-contortionist Maria Popazov, but I’m trying not to get my hopes up for them to go through.

Do you agree with the theory of Merrick getting Seal’s Golden Buzzer? And who do you want to see move forward tomorrow night?

August 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!