‘AGT’ Semi-Finals Week 1 Results Recap
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Last night, we saw the first 11 semi-finalists of America’s Got Talent Season 13 lay it all on the stage, but only five were able to advance to the finals during tonight’s results show.
The Top 3
The semi-finals is where we really start to see who is killing it in the votes. Only the top three acts with the highest amount of votes automatically move forward to the finals. This week, those acts were…
Shin Lim
Michael Ketterer
Zurcaroh
All three of these results were pretty much a given, given their obvious popularity among the AGT audience. Shin Lim is the world’s best card magician, so he’s very captivating to watch. Michael Ketterer can sing well and his story of adopting his kids has clearly been an inspiration to so many people. And as far as I’m concerned, Zurcaroh should already be headlining their own show. I think all three of these acts have a great chance to place in the top 5 of the season overall when we get to the finale in a couple of weeks.
The Bottom 5
This is where it gets tough. In the semi-finals, the five acts with the least amount of votes are automatically eliminated. That’s nearly half the performances in an episode, so the pressure is on for the contestants. This week’s bottom 5 acts were…
Us The Duo
Makayla Phillips
Amanda Mena
Junior New System
Front Pictures
Makayla Phillips, Junior New System, and Front Pictures were the three acts who were “on the bubble” (aka up for the “saves”) in the quarter-finals who went on to compete in this episode wound up with this fate, which isn’t surprising since they were up against eight acts who were among the highest-voted acts of their episode last round. But being a top act one week you compete doesn’t guarantee you’ll be one the next time you do, as we saw tonight with Us The Duo and Amanda Mena.
On The Bubble
Like in the quarter-finals, three acts competed for two chances to be saved, but here in the semi-finals it’s the acts who came in 4th, 5th, and 6th instead of 6th, 7th, and 8th. Tonight they were…
Duo Transcend
Samuel J. Comroe
Voices Of Hope Children’s Choir
In what was likely the biggest Dunkin’ Save landslide of the season, Samuel J. Comroe won the live audience vote (he had about 60% of it based on the brief glimpses the show gave us of the running total). I think a lot of people were really gunning for a comedian to make it to the finals, and now we have one!
That left the fate of Duo Transcend and Voices Of Hope in the hands of the judges. As is typical for these judges, Howie and Mel picked the variety act (Duo Transcend) while Heidi and Simon went for the singers (Voices Of Hope). This left the results in the hands of the audience, and based on the previous night’s votes, Duo Transcend became the last act of the night to advance to the finals!
I have to say, the way the judges’ save played out this week increased my suspicions the judges – at least Simon – are aware of how the audience is voting. Simon voting last and going up to stand with Voices Of Hope made me feel like he knew Duo Transcend would advance at that point and wanted to be there to comfort the kids when they got eliminated. I even think it’s possible the tie was set up so they could let the kids down as easily as possible. While I’m not a fan of the fake theatrics that tend to go down during the judges’ choice vote, I can understand why they may have wanted to do it the way they did tonight. Most of the child acts have their families to comfort them, but I’m not sure all the family members of the Voices Of Hope singers were in the audience and it must be a tough weight for just the choir director to carry.
And with that, we now know who half of America’s Got Talent Season 13 finalists are! I have to say, it was great to see so many variety acts do so well and get rewarded for it this week. I know it’s typical for singers to dominate until the semi-finals and then leave in droves, but it’s frustrating we have to wait that long for the acts that make this show what it is to get their due in such a big way.
America’s Got Talent returns for more semi-finals next week at 8/7c on NBC.
