The 16th season of America’s Got Talent is drawing closer to a close and Tuesday night saw the first semifinal feature 11 acts do what they could to earn America’s votes for a spot in the finals.
Tuesday night saw singers, magic acts, and harsh criticism from the judges as the acts stepped up their game with everything on the line.
Here’s a recap of all 11 performances as well as my prediction for who will make it though.
Peter Rosalita
The young 9-year-old singer kicked off the night with a beautiful rendition of Mariah Carey’s “Without You”. It is hard to believe for someone at this young age to have the range that he does. He showed his professionalism when he could not hear the track and asked to restart the song.
He blew the roof off the Dolby Theatre and truly set the tone for the rest of the night. Of all the child singers on AGT over the years, Peter is one of the best.
Michael Winslow
The man of a thousand voices was up next. In his video package, he admitted he was nervous about being back on the stage for the first time in decades. For his semifinal performance, he attempted to make as many sounds as he could in two minutes. He had the judges pick the category and he did the sound.
This felt more like Michael was auditioning for producers who may have been watching the show rather than trying to earn a spot in the finals.
Beyond Belief Dance Company
The girl dance group from Texas got eliminated in the quarterfinals but the judges decided to bring them back for one more shot. They danced to Meghan Trainor’s “Me Too” and it was better than their previous performance.
However, it felt more school talent show than the AGT stage for me. There is a reason they were voted out in the quarterfinals and the harsh truth is they are just not good enough.
Aidan Bryant
The 16-year-old aerialist turned up the first Vegas-worthy performance of the night. He did a truly mind-blowing and heart-stopping aerial act that left the audience and judges holding their breath.
Aidan truly stepped up his game and proved why he deserves a spot in the finals. He may have punched his ticket there on Tuesday.
Tory Vagasy
The party princess turned singer was next up. She put together a beautiful rendition of “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” from the Lion King movie. She gave her best performance of the season at the right time.
However, judge Howie Mandel shot her down by saying he believes she’s a good singer but not for America’s Got Talent. Harsh.
World Taekwondo Demonstration Team
This next act truly brought it all and they are my personal pick to be in the final two. WTDT did their usual kicking the boards and did truly amazing tricks, this time they added a blindfold to their act, adding in another danger element.
However, I feel watching this in Vegas show would get boring if they just consistently hit boards all the time.
Madilyn Bailey
The YouTuber was up next and performed “Red Ribbon”, a song she wrote following the death of her grandmother. The song was her best performance by a mile but it was not enough to impress Howie.
“I responded to you. I’m incredibly disappointed,” he said. “I responded to you in your audition, when you sang those mean tweets. I thought that was quirky, funny, inventive. And now, I don’t think this was anything, to be honest with you.”
Will Madilyn make it into the next round? We’ll see if her fans can rally behind her.
Dustin Tavella
The father and magician was next up and I was left disappointed by his performance. He performed a pretty basic trick but took longer telling a story about his wife inspiring him.
I think he’ll likely make it through based on his story alone.
Korean Soul
The group followed and honestly, they are about 30 years too late to be a part of the boy band craze. They performed their own rendition of “You Say” and while it was good, it was not impressive.
The guys are likely to have their run end in the semifinals.
Gina Brillon
The comedian was the penultimate act of the night and put together a hilarious set about children being brutally honest. She made me laugh and I feel is a lock for the finals.
Jimmie Herrod
The final act of the night belonged to Sofia’s Golden Buzzer, singer Jimmie Herrod. He sang a haunting rendition of “Glitter In The Air” and blew the roof off the Dolby Theatre.
I thought at the beginning of the night that World Taekwondo would win but Jimmie has a solid shot to threaten them for the top spot.
Who will advance into the finals? Find out when America’s Got Talent continues on Wednesday night at 8/7c on NBC.
