America’s Got Talent finale review: Michael Ketterer, Duo Transcend, more perform

Tonight, America’s Got Talent is bringing you the first night of the finale! There are ten acts performing across the two hours. There is no more room to advance; only one is going to win the show and the grand prize that goes along with it.

On paper, we do know this: We love this lineup tonight. It’s one of the most-diverse groups that we’ve ever seen at the end of the season where you’ve got a little bit of everything from magic to singing to acrobatics to comedy. There are a few acts we, per our rankings, we think could actually win. Let’s just find out now if we’ll still feel that way at the end of the night.

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As always, at the end of the show the acts will be ranked in order from our least-favorite to favorite performance.

10. Daniel Emmet – While it wasn’t traditional opera, Daniel did turn Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect” into something that sounded a lot like it — this was his best performance that we’ve seen from him so far. It showed that he really can deliver the drama and the power necessarily for this style of music. He’s not winning, but he did rather well for himself tonight.

9. Glennis Grace – For what Glennis did, she was outstanding; yet, we still cannot help but feel like she’s done a fairly similar song every time in an enormous ballad and we’re not sure where she even fits in this industry today. She’s very good, but as for what the future holds for her, we’re not entirely sure.

8. Vicki Barbolak – Not every joke landed, and we’re not even going to pretend that this was the first time we’ve heard about someone make a male version of Hooters. (Some already exist.) Yet, we do think that Vicki sells her performances well, she’s got a great sense of humor about herself, and we think that she has great sitcom potential still. (We also did some digging about her father — read more!)

7. Brian King Joseph – The bummer is that Brian kicked off the show and that often means that you have no chance of winning. We do think that this was as excellent take on “Heartless” that was full of intensity and excitement — the only criticism we can offer here is that this is such an angry and intense song and we may have adopted more of that personality than his typical smiley self … but we can’t be too mad since Brian’s smile is infectious.

6. Duo Transcend – It’s so hard to compare what they do to almost anyone else this season, mostly because it’s really just comparing one awesome performer to the next. Yet, we do think that what they brought to the table tonight was absolutely excellent and unique. While they probably aren’t winning, we do think they are going to get many opportunities out of this.

5. Michael Ketterer – Michael concluded the show tonight and delivered something that was very much emotional and catered perfectly to his fan base. We do wish that we saw more variety to his songs this season, but this played perfectly into what people want to see from him as a performer.

4. Samuel J. Comroe – We loved Samuel’s routine tonight, mostly because we think that he nailed the material, it all completely worked, and he was able to really build it over the course of the night. He found a way to really bring a new perspective to Tourette Syndrome and, shockingly, educate in the process.

3. Courtney Hadwin – Courtney’s voice remains the star of the show here, mostly because she does something that is so unique and different than any other singing act we’ve seen over the years. While we didn’t love the song choice, we understand why she’s a winner candidate and she deserves to be there.

2. Zurcaroh – It feels like every time we see this act we forget how awesome they are. This was extraordinary — seriously. This was beautiful, exciting, and it really sent the auditorium into complete chaos. This was almost a great look at everything that they’ve done all season long.

1. Shin Lim – Magic. Beautiful. Stunning. Different. There are not enough words. We were slightly worried that he was going to set his hands on fire at the start but this just got better and better and better as the act went along. The amount of training that goes into something like this is really beyond comprehension.

Who are you rooting for on America’s Got Talent at this point? Share now in the comments!

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