America's Got Talent: Quarterfinals Week 3

After two weeks of Olympics broadcasting on NBC, America's Got Talent has finally returned. For those who may have forgotten where the show left off two weeks ago, we had completed the first two out of three weeks of quarterfinals. This week is the third and final week of the quarterfinals. Over the next two weeks, all the acts that made it through this round will be performing once again the semifinals. So we still have a quite a bit ahead of us.


Like I said, this week was the third and final week of the quarterfinals. 12 acts battled it out on stage, each fighting for one of the 7 semifinal spots available. As usual, I will give my performance reviews and the actual results.



Week 3 Performances
This week was hands-down the toughest week of quarterfinals in terms of picking only 7 acts that I think should go through. We definitely saw the most amount of talent this week than we have the previous two weeks of the quarterfinals. So how about we dig deeper into these performances?

~ Vello Vaher: What a way to kick off the first week of AGT in three weeks: with the worst act of the night. Basically, he did his usual crazy-looking contortion with a pirate ship set. The problem with this is that it's pretty much the same exact thing as his last performances. The thing he does with his belly is original, but it really only wowed me the first time. Now it's just stuff I've already seen. Simon Cowell buzzed the act. Overall, I felt that this performance went nowhere and this is easily a throwaway act that we know is not going to go through.

~ Ronee Martin: I do think Ronee is one of the best singers in this competition. She sang Lean On Me by Bill Withers and it was just amazing. She really does have a beautiful voice. It's very soulful and I think it's amazing that she can sing like this at 62 years old. If I were to close my eyes and listen to her without actually knowing who she is, I would've never guessed that she's 62 years old. She's been waiting for this moment all her life and it's finally happening. I hope America votes for her because she is truly fantastic.

~ Kadan Bart Rockett: I find it very interesting when kids get into magic and stuff like that. For this performance, Kadan had the judges lock four handcuffs on his wrists where he then went into this little closed-off tent or something where he attempted to break free of them. While he was in there, his sister decided to get her revenge for when Kadan cut her in half in the auditions. She activated a conveyor with several chainsaws that stabbed into the closed-off area Kadan was in. It was revealed that he had disappeared and then came out of the tool box sitting right next to the judges the whole time handcuff free. I do think it's pretty cool what he can do, but I don't think it's something worthy of the semifinals. That being said, I don't know if he'll get the votes needed to move forward.

~ Linkin' Bridge: What I love about this group is how much they surprised us in the auditions. They look like some hip-hop group, but then surprise us with a capella. Their story is really touching as they come from a dangerous neighborhood where there's gunshots pretty much on a daily basis. As far as the performance goes, while I do think they are really talented, I did not think this was as good as their performance in the Judge Cuts and I worry about that. I mean, without a doubt they are still good. But the level of talent this week is so high that the 7 acts that do go through have to pretty much be flawless, which this wasn't. I have a feeling that they'll be one of the three acts up for the Dunkin' Save. I don't think this was enough to put them through immediately. But who knows? Maybe their story will convince people to give them votes. I'm still voting for them because I know they're really talented. But they really need to make sure they step it up.

~ Alla and Daniel Novikov: Now we see dance duos all the time. What we don't always see is a mother and son dance duo. Alla is 32 years old and I think Daniel is like 8 or 9. But man are they talented. Like they dance better than most couples. For this performance, they did their routine to Cake By The Ocean by DNCE. These two are undeniably amazing dancers. Like I want to be able to dance like them. A lot of people find it creepy. But I see absolutely nothing creepy about a boy that loves to dance with his mother. It's actually pretty sweet. Howie Mandel buzzed the act saying that it's the same moves each time, which I can kind of agree with. But with these two, it really doesn't get old in my opinion. Simon Cowell even buzzed towards Howie for buzzing these two. And as sick I am of this song, I think they revived it and gave it some life again. So don't be surprised if it is no longer in red on my next countdown post. Overall, I'm pretty sure they won't get voted through. But they are still insanely talented and I enjoyed this performance.

~ Blake Vogt: Competing against Kadan Bart Rockett, Blake is the second of two magicians this week. He's well-known for his Judge Cuts performance where he, using his mouth, attached the corner of the $1 bill to the $100 bill and the corner of the $100 bill to the $1 bill. I feel like this performance where there is a bunch of things going on, so I'm not going to try explaining it. Instead, you can just watch the video above. But as usual with magicians, I have no idea how he did it. But I can't really see this going through to the semifinals. With him and Kadan being the only two magicians this week, it's possible they'll both cancel each other out and neither of them will go through. But who knows? It's up to America and we can only wait to see what happens.

~ Edgar: The family band is back! I've loved these three ever since their audition. They each have such a unique and different voice, which is why it's hard for me to pick my favorite voice. But when all these different voices come together, it sounds so magical. Performance after performance they have just gotten better and better. After having seen the amount of talent that was taking place this week, I was extremely nervous about Edgar and how they'd do. But they did amazing, as usual. We're a little halfway into the show and they are the first act of the night to have gotten all four standing ovations from the judges. I just found this performance really heart-warming. I could watch it over and over again. I absolutely loved it. This was one of my favorite performances of the night and they are one of my favorite acts this season. I really hope America votes for them. I definitely want them in the semifinals and it'd be nice if they could make it into the finals too. They definitely have my votes.

~ Julia Scotti: This year is really not the year for comedy. Julia is one of the only two comedians remaining in this competition. One of the things I love about her is the way she's always yelling her jokes. I don't know why, but I just find that alone to be pretty funny. Like Simon Cowell said, she is very naughty. But that is why she is so funny! I love how she rambles on with jokes continuously coming. Overall, I really like her. But there are quite a few people that disagree, which is why it's likely that she won't go through OR she will be up for the Dunkin' Save, which I think is a more reasonable and accurate prediction. Like I said, she is one of the only two comedians left and I personally believe that Julia is better than Lori Mae Hernandez. If Lori got through, I think it'd be a reasonable choice for Julia to go through as well.

~ Brian Justin Crum: I was really annoyed when I realized that I had to wait two weeks due to the Olympics just to see this man perform again. I pretty much count down the days leading up to the night when he performs. His Judge Cuts performance of Creep by Radiohead is definitely one of the best performances I've ever seen. Basically that performance was about what it's like to be different and to feel like a creep and a weirdo. With him having been bullied for being overweight and gay, it was definitely an emotional performance that managed to make the audience feel what he's feeling. This performance he explained is a moving on from that. Once again with this performance of In The Air Tonight by Phil Collins, he managed to convey all the emotion he was feeling and made us feel the same way, which is one of the things I absolutely adore about him. And his voice is just incredible. I had nonstop chills from start to end. I loved everything about it. I thought this performance was the perfect follow-up to his previous performance. I am still all for the idea of Brian winning this entire show. I really think he has what it takes. This was hands-down my favorite performance of the night. America better vote for him or I will be pissed.

~ Malevo: Ah, it's George Lopez's golden buzzer act. These guys are another favorite of mine. I find their dance routine to be very cool and original. I've never seen anything like it and that's probably how they made it this far in the competition. Once again, I can't really describe what they do. But it was similar to what they did previously. If I'm being honest, I do think their Judge Cuts performance was slightly better. I thought this was a slight step down, but still really good and original. I do believe that their originality is enough to get them far in the competition. So I'm sure they'll easily get enough votes to move forward.

~ The Passing Zone: These guys are well-known for always including Howie Mandel in their act ever since the audition. Then in the Judge Cuts, they included Howie and Mel B in the act. Now in the quarterfinals, they included Howie, Mel B, and Heidi Klum. Basically they had the three judges in these big space outfits and had them hanging from the ceiling. From there, they pretty much just pushed or "juggled" them around. It was absolutely hilarious. Mel B was just screaming out of terror the whole time. I could not stop laughing. What I love about these guys is that they always come with something new. I never know what to expect from them. And they're really funny! A lot of people are noting that they were in Season 1 of AGT and made it to the finals. While I do think it's a little odd that they decided to return 10 years later, I don't really care too much because I really like them. They were one of my favorites this week and I hope America votes them through because I would love to see them include Simon Cowell in their next act.

~ Grace VanderWaal: People have been very impatiently awaiting this girl's next performance. Her audition consisted of singing an original while playing the ukulele. Because she was so unique and so different, Howie Mandel pressed his golden buzzer for Grace, which sent her straight to this round skipping the Judge Cuts. So her huge fanbase has been waiting quite a while for this performance. I have to say, I'm not as impressed as most people are. She definitely deserves credit for her writing skills as she does perform her own original music. I give her that. But I'm not a huge fan of her voice. It is different and it is unique, which is pretty much why she's gotten so much love. But I'm not really feeling it. It is a tough week in the singing category this week and I personally didn't think she brought enough to really wow me. That's just my opinion though. The only thing I really like about her is her originality. That's it. She's probably going to go through with how large her fanbase is. But me personally, I'm not a huge fan.



Week 3 Results
12 acts have performed, but only 7 acts will advance into the semifinals. America has voted and the results are in. Even Micheal Phelps joined us for this episode and pretty co-hosted with Nick Cannon the entire episode.

The acts that came in 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th place were announced first as the three acts in danger of elimination. However, one of them can be saved with the live Dunkin' Save. All throughout the episode, we had time to search "Dunkin' Save" on Google and select the one act out of the three that we want to save. The one that receives the most votes is to be announced later in the episode and will be put through to the semifinals. The three acts in no particular order are:

• Linkin' Bridge
• Malevo
• Ronee Martin

I was genuinely shocked about Malevo and Ronee landing themselves in this position. They both really well the previous night and I'm just surprised that they did not get enough votes to be put through right away. The results will be announced later. But first, five acts were put through immediately and four acts were eliminated. There were a couple of special performances/skits. So I'll review those first.

~ Recycled Percussion: I believe these guys were on Season 4 of AGT and they finished in 3^rd place. I'm not exactly sure how they got that far if all their performances were like this one. I did not really find it interesting at all. I found it quite boring. But then again, it was probably much easier to advance round after round back then. Overall, I found this to be a snooze fest.

~ Ranked Out: In this little skit, Simon Cowell ranked the other three judges 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd place in a number of different categories. I won't go through each one. But I did find the overall skit to be pretty funny. Overall, I liked it and I thought it was funny.


So now that those reviews are done, it's time to get to the actual results.

For the first result, Kadan Bart Rockett advanced to the semifinals and Alla and Daniel Novikov were eliminated. I was pretty shocked to see that Kadan advanced. I guess people really do like kid magicians. But I doubt he'll be good enough to make it into the finals. Next up, Grace VanderWaal and Brian Justin Crum were called up, pretty much giving everyone a heart attack with the idea that one could potentially be going home. Thankfully, they both went through. Everyone can now sigh in relief.

Next, Edgar were put through to the semifinals while Julia Scotti and Vello Vaher were eliminated. This is pretty good. My two favorites of the night have been put through. For the final result before the Dunkin' Save acts return to the stage, Blake Vogt made it through with The Passing Zone being eliminated (sucks that we won't see Simon involved in their next act). Looks like America did not want to give up on the magicians as they decided to put both of them through. But like Kadan, I doubt he'll have enough next round to get himself into the finals. With that, five acts have been put through. Now it's time to bring out the acts up for the Dunkin' Save.

Out of the three acts up on stage, America chose to save Malevo. Once again, how they landed in this position in the first place I will never understand. I can totally see them having their own show in Vegas. Now six acts have advanced to the semifinals. There's two acts still standing and one spot left. It is now up to the judges. The act that receives more votes from the judges earns the final spot in the semifinals. Just as a reminder, the two acts remaining are:

• Linkin' Bridge
• Ronee Martin

Judges' Choices:

• Mel B voted first and put her vote on Linkin' Bridge.
• Howie Mandel voted second and put his vote on Linkin' Bridge.
• Heidi Klum voted third and put her vote on Ronee Martin.
• Simon Cowell voted fourth and put his vote on Linkin' Bridge.

Because Linkin' Bridge received 3 votes from the judges, they have earned the final spot in the semifinals. As sad as I am that Ronee could not go through, I am happy for these guys as they have worked hard to get to where they are now.

My Top 5 Performances

1. Brian Justin Crum

2. Edgar

3. Ronee Martin

4. The Passing Zone

5. Malevo


So now that the quarterfinals are over, next week is the start of the semifinals. We have a total of 21 acts right now. I would assume that they'll have one wild card to bring an act back so that the two weeks of semifinals are divided evenly with 11 acts performing each week. Ronee Martin would be ideal as I do think she was robbed for not going through. But we'll have to wait and see who they decide to give another chance to. That is all I have for you guys and I will see you sometime this weekend with my countdown post.