"America's Got Talent" - August 24, 2011 - Did America and the judges get it right?

• Almost, but not quite! (55%, 11 Votes)
• Yes, absolutely! (25%, 5 Votes)
• Not even close! (20%, 4 Votes)
• Who cares? Bring on "The X Factor" already! (0%, 0 Votes)

Total Voters: 20

 Loading ...

The first round of the semi-finals occurred last night, and I found my five favorites, plus one alternate, to move on to the Top 10. I think I’m good for my picks tonight, but anything can happen with America’s votes as well as the judges’ pick.

As a reminder, my picks are Lys Agnes, Miami All Stars, Team iLuminate, Matt Wilhelm, and Zuma Zuma. Beth Ann Robinson is my alternate pick, though I really can’t say I would be okay with any of my other picks not making it in order for her to go through. If push came to shove, I would have to say that Matt Wilhelm is the bottom of my pick list, so he would be the one to not make it in order for her to go through.

I’ll be blogging the results live after the jump.

Going through to the Top 10: Team iLuminate, Poplyfe, Lys Agnes, Miami All Stars, and West Springfield Dance Team.

Nick Cannon takes the stage, wearing some sort of polka-dot suit with what looks to be a plastic lapel. It’s a really crazy look, one that should cause Piers Morgan to razz him about it for the entire show. And Piers wastes no time referring to the 101 dalmations.

Sandou Trio Russian Bar, Zuma Zuma, Matt Wilhelm, and Team iLuminate are the first group to take the stage. Russian Bar is clearly out, based on their horrific performance last night. But that leaves three of my picks all fighting for what may be only one spot to move forward on. I’m really hoping that Nick sends two acts through, but that still means one of my picks will be going home. Team iLuminate should have this in the bag.

The first act going through to the Top 10 is Team iLuminate. No surprise. What is a surprise, however, is Nick sending the rest of the acts away. Crap.

My forehead vein is throbbing now.

So, four acts have already taken the stage. That leaves eight acts and four spots, three of which America voted for and one of which the judges will pick, based on who came in fifth and sixth in the voting. So unless Nick has just needlessly caused my forehead vein to throb for no reason, that means each of the next match-ups will just be between two acts. And most of the remaining acts I didn’t care about.

Demi Lovato takes the stage to sing her hit single, “Skyscraper.” I’ve never been overly impressed with Ms. Lovato. She has an okay voice, but has, when I’ve seen her sing in the past, oversang things. And she’s doing it again tonight. But it’s also clear that it’s been ages since I last saw her, because without the introduction, I wouldn’t have recognized her. But the overacting singing movements are clearly there.

Next to the stage is Poplyfe and Lys Agnes. While the audience seemed to really like Poplyfe last night, I felt they weren’t in sync with each other. Lys Agnes, however, sleighed it on stage last night. She has an amazing voice and I would love to see her make the Top 10.

Nick tells us that this is the closest result they’ve ever had on the show, with just one-tenth separating the votes. I’m not sure how that could be, since the judges get to pick between the fifth and sixth place votes. Or maybe I’m wrong about that.

Well, Nick pulls a fast one on us by telling us that they both make the Top 10. While I felt Zuma Zuma and Matt Wilhelm better deserved to go through, I can live with Poplyfe because I know they have talent. Hopefully they will take the next two weeks and improve.

Melissa Villasenor, Miami All Stars, and Kevin Collis take the stage next. Since there is only one America’s spot vote left, it should be a slam dunk for Miami All Stars. Melissa simply wasn’t funny enough last night, and Kevin was all over the place with the key, which was a huge disappointment for me because he has a tremendous voice.

The fourth and final act being sent through to the Top 10 by America is………. *insert long pause to scan all the members of the Miami All Stars*………… Miami All Stars.

So all five of my picks have been accounted for so far. America sent three of them to the Top 10, but sent two of them home. I will forgive America for this oversight only if Beth Ann Robinson was either the fifth or sixth highest vote getter last night.

As we come back from another long commercial break, Nick is standing up in the high risers, which means that Prince Poppycock is about to take the stage. Poppycock made it all the way to fourth place last season, and was the sole reason I quit watching last year. The moment he made it to the semi-finals, I was done. I simply followed the rest of the season on YouTube and through Wikipedia. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go rinse my eyes out with some Listerine. Then I need to floss them. Then I need to simply poke my eyes out.

We come back from commercial to see Nick backstage with Daniel Joseph Baker, West Springfield Dance Team, and Beth Ann Robinson. But we’re going to have to wait to find out any more results, as the New Boyz take the stage. And they then give us a performance worthy of a failed audition reel. This is horrific. The back-up singers are off-key and out-of-sync, and the New Boyz themselves are even more off-key and out-of-sync. And their lyrics get beeped. Complete rubbish.

While I rinse my ears out with Listerine now, Beth Ann Robinson, Daniel Joseph Baker, and West Springfield Dance Team take the stage. Beth Ann had the best performance of the three acts last night, by far. Daniel continued faking his way through. And I have no clue what the Dance Team were doing.

One of the three acts will be going home right now. And that honor belongs to Beth Ann Robinson.

Wait, what????????????????????????????????????????

NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!

One of my two least favorite acts will be going through. I never thought this would come out of my mouth, but I hope it’s the West Springfield Design Team.

We are back. The judges have decided. I wonder if they can feel my heated stares through the TV screen.

Howie votes for the West Springfield Dance Team.

Piers votes for the West Springfield Dance Team.

Thank goodness.

That means it doesn’t matter who Sharon votes for.

So there you have it. The first five acts have made it through to the Top 10. Are you happy with who went through? Or are you, like Rickey from Rickey.org, extremely disappointed?

Vote in the poll at the top of the blog entry. And leave your thoughts in the comments below.

And speaking of Rickey, join him and me tonight at 11 PM ET / 10 PM CT for the Idol Radio Show.