‘America’s Got Talent’ rankings: Where Grace VanderWaal, Jon Dorenbos, Tape Face stand entering finale
“America’s Got Talent” fans, we’re getting ready to drop the curtain. Tuesday’s performance-show finale is right around the corner, and after spending the past few days spotlighting all of the finalists and their strengths / weaknesses (click on the link here to see many of those), we’re here to finally present one last edition of our rankings.
While talent level is still an integral part of our criteria for these, note that we’re also still considering a couple of other things: Voting history so far on this season, and then also voting history for some past finales. Audiences’ tastes often don’t change that much one year to the next.
10. Sofie Dossi – This is no indictment on her talent, given that we do find her rather exceptional at what she does. We’re just looking at the precedent of past winners on the show, and there have never been any acrobats / contortionists to take it home. She’s done a tremendous job, but will likely fall short of the prize.
9. Viktor Kee – The same goes for Viktor as a juggler. We do think it is possible that one of the two of them sneaks their way into the top five, but that is probably their ceiling when there are acts with a better voting record so far this season.
8. Linkin’ Bridge – We love these guys, and it was great seeing them get through this past time without needing a Save. However, the fact that they needed help once before gives us pause, since one song that doesn’t completely connect could spell trouble.
7. Sal Valentinetti – Sal showed with “That’s Life” that with a better song choice for this show’s demo, he has a good shot of getting votes. Unfortunately and like Linkin’ Bridge, the past voting history is a little bit of a reason to be nervous for him.
6. Laura Bretan – On paper, she should be a winner favorite. However, the fact that she needed a little extra help despite performing at the end of two consecutive live shows proved that her overall voting block may be a little smaller than previously projected.
5. Tape Face – He may be a personal favorite just like Linkin’ Bridge, but needed the Dunkin’ Save has us concerned. The one reason we’re giving him an edge over some of the other acts with a history of needing saves is simply a matter of originality. Being the only act left with a huge comedic element should help him.
4. The Clairvoyants – We easily can see really any of the remaining acts winning the show, and at this point it was about splitting hairs. We do think that these two are tremendous, but their main weakness may just be the nature of their act. There are always going to be cynical people who doubt it.
3. Brian Justin Crum – Male singers have won this show so many times before, and on the basis of that alone plus an incredible voice, you do have to think that Brian has a reasonably good shot of taking the title of winner home.
2. Jon Dorenbos – If you are wanting to see someone who is a wild card as much as anyone, it’s Jon. He’s got a huge NFL fan following already, an emotional story, and we know that viewers love magic acts these days and with many other magicians gone (at least other than The Clairvoyants), this should could end with great news for him.
1. Grace VanderWaal – We’re still sticking by Grace as our winner pick, given she is the person we first pegged for it all the way back in her first audition. Viewers love singers, but we think that even more than that, they love ambitious young people who want to be more than just a singer. This perfectly describes Grace at the moment.
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