Former "AGT" contestants Tokio Myers and Piff the Magic Dragon return, but it's his canine sidekick Mr. Piffles who absolutely steals the show!
We were sweating these results more than any this past season on "America's Got Talent" because there was so much talent, we knew we wouldn't be on the same page as America.
Would they reward kid singers? Diversity? Acrobatic dance? Let's just say, things got crazy in a huge way when host Terry Crews pulled out our bottom three acts at the top of the show and said one of them was moving on to next week's finals.
'America's Got Talent' 5th Judge Semi-Finals: Queen Latifah Touched by Powerful Voices of Service
View StoryOnly 5 of the 11 acts that took the stage were going to advance, so already we were off to a terrible start. And it absolutely guaranteed that anything could happen. And anything did happen.
Fan-favorites were cut in devastating fashion as some of the night's best acts were forced to stand side by side, knowing only one of them would go on. Did your favorite make it? Did ours? You'll have to read on to find out.
But first, since this is an hour-long show, there's some filler to get through, including the hilarius return of Piff the Magic Dragon and the world's most impressive canine sidekick Mr. Piffles. Tokio Myers also returned, kicking off the show with an electrifying performance.
Who do I think I am? you ask. Well, I spent nearly a decade of my life sweating and bleeding to the music as a dancer. From a young boy learning a shuffle-ball-change to performing with the St. Louis Ballet Company, I experienced the ups and downs of one of the most difficult physically demanding sports on the planet. During this time, I was also a member of the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra, as well as a gymnast, writer and cartoonist. I had a lot more energy in my younger years. And I've spent the last sixteen years analyzing and critiquing reality competition shows for various media publications. I've got this.
'BH90210' Finale Recap: How Revival Ended Its First Season with Big Cliffhanger
View StoryFILLER
Tokio Myers & Stewart Copeland
Kicking off the show, it was fun to see Tokio back on the stage, but this performance lacked the excitement of most of his routines when he was a part of the competition. Perhaps it was being in accompaniment to Copeland, or the fact that the vocals were pre-recorded, making this little more than a glorified club remix, but it just wasn't as exciting a way to open the show as we've seen from Tokio in the past.
Photo Booth Pranks
This one turned out to be pretty funny, as Terry joined Howie, Gabrielle and Julianne in tormenting "AGT" fans in a photo booth by having them do absolutely ridiculous things. They got one poor woman to imitate all the judges, while another went "lower" until she was on the ground. It's remarkable how much people will follow instructions, no matter how ridiculous. And pretty damned entertaining, too.
Christina Milian 'Got Intel' on Ex Nick Cannon By Hacking His Phone for a Month Before Busting Him
View StoryPiff the Magic Dragon
As always, Piff brings incredible stage presence and humor to his performance, and we love how useless Mr. Piffles is as his dog sidekick. On top of that, the magic is always top-notch as well. In this case, he embedded Terry's watch into a cake he'd already presented and handed off to an audience member. But mostly, he just makes everything look so fun!
RESULTS
Dunkin' Save
As usual, the 4th, 5th and 6th place finishers were jumbled together and awarded extra torment as part of the Dunkin' Save. Tonight, that meant light artist Alex Dowis, singer Emanne Beasha and comedian Ryan Niemiller.
We had Alex out of our Top 5, but the other two were in the mix so we'll just have to see how America's insta-save vote mixes things up. It's hard to imagine Alex surviving against the other two from America or the judges, but stranger things have happened.
In the very early preliminary results, it looked like Ryan was off to a very start, followed by Emanne, with Alex trailing badly in third.
Caitlyn Jenner Jokes About Her 'Retired' Penis at Alec Baldwin Roast: 'It Made Kylie Jenner!'
View StoryTop 3
To kick off the crucial battle for the Top 3, Terry brought up V.Unbeatable Chris Kläfford and Dom Chambers, which is interesting if you recall how we ranked things last night. For us, these were the bottom three acts.
That said, we also said it was a night of incredible competition and that 9 of the 11 acts really should have a shot at advancing. Our ninth place finisher was the dance crew from India, and that's exactly who advanced as V.Unbeatable took the first slot into next week's finals.
Guess America really loves the idea of throwing kids around.
Next, it was time for Lukas & Falco, Marcin Patrzalek and Detroit Youth Choir to sweat it out for a few moments. Honestly, even though we put Marcin in our Top 5 and DYC just missing out, we totally figured America would put the kid singers through and they did not disappoint.
Detroit Youth Choir gave V.Unbeatable a run for their money in the sheer volume and excitement of their celebration as they advanced to the finale.
That left Luke Islam and Voices of Service to battle it out for the final spot. We had Luke in 5th and Voices in 1st, and there was no way America wasn't going to put through a group of military servicemen and -woman with true Voices of Service.
Sonja Morgan and Dorinda Medley Apologize for 'Offensive Comments' About Transgender Model
View StoryDunkin' Save Results
That left only the Dunkin' Save finalists to round out the Top 5. Did Ryan hang on and win America's vote? You bet he did. It looks like comedy lives on in "AGT" as Ryan Niemiller lives to laugha nother day.
That left Emanne and Alex to face the judges, and while it would seem Emanne should get the nod, they really did appreciate how unique Alex's act is. So what did they do?
Julianne and Gabrielle threw their support behind Emanne, while Howie wanted to pay tribute to the originality of Alex with a vote. But it wasn't quite enough, as Simon sent Emanne Beasha to join the other finalists moving on.
Kristin Cavallari Fires Social Media Staffer Who Reportedly Went Rogue with 9/11 Instagram Caption
View Story"America's Got Talent" Finalists
- Benicio Bryant (singer)
- Detroit Youth Choir (vocal group)
- Emanne Beasha (opera singer)
- Kodi Lee (singer/pianist)
- Light Balance Kids (light dance crew)
- Ndlovu Youth Choir (vocal group)
- Ryan Niemiller (comedian)
- Tyler Butler-Figueroa (violinist)
- V.Unbeatable (acrobat/dance crew)
- Voices of Service (vocal group)
Who do you think will win it all? Our money is on Kodi Lee ... or Voices of Service. It really is tough to predict this year!
"America's Got Talent" Season 14 concludes next Tuesday and Wedesday at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.
Got a story or a tip for us? Email TooFab editors at tips@toofab.com.