‘America’s Got Talent’ review: Jon Dorenbos, Grace VanderWaal, Tape Face perform in finale

Tonight, the “America’s Got Talent” final performance show is here, and of course we are going to break down every single part of it! There are hopefully going to be some great performances in here that, above all else, work to create some confusion as to who the winner is. More than anything, we’re just hoping that the winner is not obvious and clear-cut come before the results show even airs tomorrow night.

Sal Valentinetti – One thing we do know is that producers are stacking the odds against Sal. While we don’t have the data to back it up, we think that going first on a performance show is the second or third-worst spot to be placed in. (To us, actually going second or third is a kiss of death since nobody remembers you.) As for Sal’s performance, great vocal, and we’re super-thrilled that he went with “Mack the Knife” rather than “Feeling Good” or some other standard that has been done a million or so times already.

Sofie Dossi – While we have no idea as to whether or not this is going to be a winning act, kudos to Sofie for going all out here and delivering everything that she possibly could and then some. Whether it be the stylistic choices to the danger do the skill required here, we really don’t think she could have done any better to show everything that she brings to the table.

Linkin’ Bridge – Like last week’s “7 Years,” we don’t necessarily think that this was perfect vocally, but there was such a powerful emotional undercurrent in it that we couldn’t help but want to stand up and cheer for them. These guys just make us feel, and they’re definitely amazing at what they do.

Laura Bretan – Laura’s talent is amazing, and without a doubt in our mind she could sing opera with any orchestra in the country. For us, we’re just getting a little frustrated with hearing the same exact song time and time again every time an opera singer is on a show.

The Clairvoyants – We’re not going to lie: These two may have just won themselves the show, though we do admit that there are many acts still to come. How they tied this back to other past performances was brilliant, and the bit with the water-tank was incredibly inspired. This may be one of the best finale performances that we’ve seen over the course of the entire show’s history.

Brian Justin Crum – Is Brian a phenomenal performer? Yes, but our concern after this “Man in the Mirror” was that it was another very big, dramatic ballad. It’s the sort of thing that we knew Brian could do already. This would be the same thing as Sofie pulling out the bow-and-arrow stunt again; while good, we’ve already seen this side of him before.

Tape Face – This is one of those acts that has no business being anywhere near as funny as it is, but then he comes out time and time again and proves himself to be amazingly funny. Tape Face is without a doubt one of the weirdest acts to ever grace this show, but at the same time he may be one of our personal favorites. This was a step up from what we saw last time, and we were really excited to see him click with this crowd.

Viktor Kee – Howie Mandel called this an “eruption of talent,” which sounds a little odd so we’d rather not think about it that way. With that being said, we do think that this was Viktor’s best and most-varied performance. We like how he makes everything about more than just catching all of the balls, since let’s be honest: That puts so much more pressure on perfection. He’s not perfect, but what he manages to be is the most emotional juggler we’ve ever seen. Great stuff.

Jon Dorenbos – We do think that there are flashier magicians on this show; technically, what The Clairvoyants did earlier was more impressive visually. Yet, Jon is to magic what Linkin’ Bridge is to music in that there is something so emotional about what he does that it is completely magnetizing. You just can’t look away from it, and more importantly you don’t want to. He’s got a powerful story that makes it all the easier to root for him to win.

Grace VanderWaal – We’re not altogether surprised that Grace is getting the final performance spot on the night, mostly because we’ve certainly known her so far this season to be a fantastic performer. Was she the best of the entire show, though? We honestly don’t think it matters much. While she has a great chance at winning, she’s going to get a record deal and her future beyond this show is likely going to be set.