AGT Fifth Judge: David Copperfield Helps Piff the Magic Dragon Make Statue of Liberty Disappear -- Again

Tonight, we start building our Season 15 “America’s Got Talent” finals with five of the eleven acts that hit the stage Tuesday night moving on to the big season finale in two weeks.

With our predictions after Tuesday night’s performance show, we had Dance Town Family in our Top 5, but we suspect Archie Williams will edge them out.

The rest of our top acts, though, we believe will advance. But did you agree and vote for Brandon Leake, Roberta Battaglia, Malik DOPE and Broken Roots enough to carry them through into the finals?

Before we could find out, we had to get through the requisite filler material. This week, that included “AGT” favorite -- and Vegas performer -- Piff the Magic Dragon (with David Copperfield), the inspirational Ndlovu Youth Choir, a look at Heidi Klum’s artistic prowess and a return for those audience twins that heckled the audition rounds like The Muppets’ Statler and Waldorf.

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 eighteen years analyzing and critiquing reality competition shows for various media publications. I’ve got this.

Honestly, it wasn’t bad. The show kicked off with a filler moment featuring Heidi painting, and it was a full-body performance art type of paint experience. A butterfly in the end, it had elements of modern art, street art and even a little Jackson Pollock. It would make a great charity auction piece, if not necessarily a new entry into the Louvre.

Alas, Piff’s return didn’t work as strongly on video as it might have in person. He’s a fun and campy character, but with camera tricks and CGI, this just came across as a badly produced amateur film. And it wasn’t quite funny enough to work without the magic.

The video isn’t available for some reason, but Ndlovu delivered more of what made them such fan favorites when they were live on the “AGT” stage. This is an unexpected benefit of this Covid format, because this choir is currently in Africa, so it’s possible they’d have not been able to appear without social distancing pushing “AGT” more into video -- that they then don’t make available online. Song rights issue?

We’re pretty sure the twins were brought to a sound stage to film their “AGT” watch party, but their reactions when the judges and Terry Crews slipped inside certainly seemed genuine. It was adorable watching their faces light up. They’re definitely true fans of the show and were fun to watch back when they could be a part of things.

Even though it’s the semi-finals, the Dunkin’ Save remains a ridiculous facet of this show. This means the fourth, fifth and sixth acts had to sweat it out through the whole show. Alan Silva, Archie Williams and Malik DOPE all three wound up in danger.

One of these acts survived thanks to America’s vote during the show, while the other two square off for the final spot, awarded by the judges. If Alan gets cut, our predictions for America’s Top 5 could remain intact. But we also know how beloved he is.

If inspirational stories and heart win the day, it would be bad news for Malik as his story just couldn’t touch those of Alan or Archie. Both are incredible stories of strength of character and perseverance through unfair hardship inflicted on them through no fault of their own.

Terry really threw us for a loop after revealing the Dunkin’ Save acts when he paired up Spyros Bros and Dance Town Family for the first spot. We had DTF in our Top 5 but didn’t really think America would vote them through. Did they, or did something even more unlikely happen?

Turns out it was the latter, as Terry pulled a fakeout and revealed that neither act advanced. That’s just cruel, man!

With no slots filled, Terry paired Broken Roots with Double Dragon. Now, we love both of these acts, but really feel that Broken Roots had the stronger week. But perhaps it’s another fakeout and both of them are advancing -- you know, to make up for his earlier cruelty.

Could it be? Alas, it wasn’t to be for the girls as Broken Roots continued their surprising journey to the finale.

When Terry paired Brandon Leake with Thomas Day, we knew Thomas’ return was going to be short-lived. He really had a great vocal, but lacked a real emotional connection. Brandon, meanwhile, is on another level.

This one was a no-brainer, as Brandon Leake is our favorite right now to win this whole thing. He manages to touch the audience every single time!

Finally, it was down to Shaquira McGrath and Roberta Battaglia. Both are powerhouse vocalists, but we feel Roberta has been more consistent overall in her journey and had a stronger night on Tuesday. Plus, kid singer -- we know how popular those have been historically on this show!

In the end, it was a quick change from near-tears to euphoria for Roberta Battaglia. And we’re not mad, either, as we predicted all three of these acts moving on.

When it came time for the Dunkin’ Save, we were really starting to sweat for Malik DOPE. He had the lowest percentage when we did see them earlier in the show. By those, it would be Alan advancing.

It looks like the numbers didn’t change much, as America threw their support behind Alan Silva, keeping his aerial dreams alive.

How could Malik compete with Archie and that incredible story. Sure, Archie wasn’t as strong last night but he’s a sentimental favorite from his first appearance, which quickly went viral.

There’s no way the judges could ignore Archie’s story and they didn’t (well, Heidi and Sofia didn’t). Percussion may be ready for the big stage, but this stage wasn’t ready for it as Archie Andrews finalized the first half of the finals.

“America’s Got Talent” moves into the semi-finals next Tuesday and Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.