America’s Got Talent: Breaking down Johnny Manuel, Eric Jones eliminations

What happened with Johnny Manuel, Eric Jones, and other acts on America’s Got Talent this week? While there were some eliminations that we saw coming, some others were a surprise. America threw us a few curve-balls, and we now have a finale that doesn’t include a few of the singers that we thought it would. For the most part, (we’d still say that with one exception) we do think that America did a good job with their votes last night.

As CarterMatt often likes to do at this point in the competition, let’s reflect on happened to these act to end up eliminated from the show right before they made it to the finale.

Yoli Mayor – She’s a talented singer who gave a good performance of James Arthur’s “Say You Won’t Let Go” on Tuesday’s show — unfortunately, she’s just a victim of performing right out of the gate (going first often does hurt you) and also being surrounded by a sea of singers.

Eric Jones – Given the success of magicians on the show over the years, losing him here was a bit of a surprise. Unfortunately, his exit was due to circumstance. Had Chase Goehring received the Dunkin’ Save, we think the judges would have chosen Eric over Evie Clair.

Billy & Emily England – Unfortunately, this sort of act never gets the respect it deserves. What they do is incredible, but its ceiling is almost always the semifinals. Viewers complain at this point that they’ve “seen it before,” even though they never say that about singers.

Johnny Manuel – We hate to say that it is him choosing to do an original song, but that may be the case here. Song choice is a real kicker on these shows, and he’s not known as a songwriter like Chase is. He took a huge risk, and unfortunately, it backfired.

Mike Yung – Probably the most surprising elimination given that Mike went last on the show, and that typically means a guaranteed spot in the next round. For him, though, we do think he chose a song for himself as opposed to one America would know and love, and that hurt him in a big way.

DaNell Daymon & Greater Works – They had a nice run, but choirs, (and crazy acts like Billy & Emily), never win. Hopefully, this just gives them a greater platform to do some other great gospel music elsewhere.

Who’s going to have the best career of this group? Probably Eric, just because magic acts often have the most opportunities since they have a show that can sustain well in Las Vegas or other venues. We could see something big for someone like Johnny or Mike, but it’s more of a gamble since the singing world is so unbelievably competitive.

Are you sad to see Johnny Manuel, Billy & Emily, or someone else go?

Let us know in the comments! If you did miss it last night, you can head over to the link here to read our full review of this past America’s Got Talent results show. (Photo: NBC.)