America’s Got Talent Recap: Live Quarterfinals 1 Results
NBC Reading Time: 3 minutes
Our first America’s Got Talent results show of the season has come and gone, and seven acts from last night’s quarter-finals group have advanced to the next round!
Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Await the Dunkin’ Save
The five acts who got the most votes last night automatically advanced to the semi-finals. In order of announcement, they were…
We Three
Vicki Barbolak
Amanda Mena
Courtney Hadwin
Shin Lim
None of these results came as a surprise; they were actually the top five in our power rankings going into tonight. I think most of them have a pretty good shot at making it to the finals; Courtney and Shin seems like locks, and Vicki and We Three have certain demographics cornered that none of the other acts do. The only one whose chances might not be looking that great is Amanda, especially if we end up seeing a lot of other singers move on to the next round.
See Ya Later, Alligator (and Rattlesnakes)
Conversely, the four acts who got the least amount of votes were automatically eliminated. They were…
The PAC Dance Team
Flau’jae
Human Fountains
Lord Nil
Again, none of these were very shocking cuts, but if I hadn’t looked around to take the temperature of the audience I’d probably be pretty surprised about Flau’jae. I really don’t know why the audience didn’t take to her, and it’s disappointing because she was one of the acts I was looking forward to see grow as an artist over the course of the season. (Possible semi-final wildcard, anyone?)
On The Bubble
The acts in sixth, seventh, and eighth place were up for the Dunkin’ Save via audience vote, and the two who didn’t win that faced the judges for the final spot. Angel City Chorale won the Dunkin’ Save, meaning the judges were forced to choose between Junior New System and Mochi.
The judges’ verdict is probably my least favorite part of any given results episode. First off, it’s very obviously set up for dramatic effect. They all hem and haw over the decision but I’m pretty sure that’s just for show and they choose during the commercial break, or maybe even rank the acts in order of who they’d save before the results show starts.
Also, more often than not the judges become “deadlocked” and it goes to the audience’s votes from the previous night. Again, this is clearly so they can milk the drama of it all. I don’t doubt that some of the ties are real but too many of the votes end this way that it can’t just be a coincidence.
And sometimes the rationalizations make are just so downright bizzare I don’t see how they aren’t staged. Like how this week Simon praised Mochi over Junior New System, straight-up saying the former was great while the latter was lacking this week, and then voted for Junior New System anyway. He was the last vote so he knew it was going to force a tie and go to the audience. And this wasn’t the first time we’d seen him pull this. This isn’t a dig at Junior New System – in fact, I wanted both them and Mochi to go through – but it was very frustrating to watch Mochi be eliminated in the way he was tonight.
I know things probably won’t change since ratings are through the roof but I wish AGT would just do away with the judges’ choice and add an “automatically through” slot because it’s insulting to the acts to be praised in comparison to another only to be cut in favor of the other act by the very people who said they were better.
A Victory Lap
Tonight wasn’t all tension and suspense, though. Season 11 champion Darci Lynne Farmer and her puppet Petunia returned for a fun performance you can watch below! Darci’s voice has noticeably matured and gotten even stronger than it was last season, and the whole segment was a real treat to witness!
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America’s Got Talent will return with the next round of quarterfinals Tuesday at 8/7c on NBC.
