Read on for a rundown of who advanced and who is going home...
America's Got Talent Elimination Night
Elimination 1 - Music
When Nick Cannon called the first three acts, it was clear who was safe. In comparison to the other two, Shanice & Maurice were the only ones that the judges even gave positive feedback to with their live performance. Harkening back to how good one was in Vegas won't help a public that may have only tuned in this week.
The obvious point is that all these acts can't have an off week like American Idol contestants can because we see them once in the quarterfinals. Michael Nejad was compared to the vacuum cleaner he played. Nikki chose a very sleepy song. While Shanice & Maurice picked a song that was from Pearl Harbor, the message worked perfectly for a father/daughter team.
Out: Michael Nejad, Nikki Jensen
In: Shanice & Maurice
Elimination 2 - Dancers
The biggest issue I have with 787 Crew was that it is repetitive. If you ever watched ABDC, it used that breaking circle choreography then as well. It doesn't help that Puerto Rico has such a small voting block that they couldn't really support him. For me child acts tend to be wild cards. In Vegas, all the young singers trumped the Female Vocalist category including Nikki Jensen.
Lil Starr could have made it through on another week with a song that wasn't LMFAO but it also didn't help that she went fourth. If she went tenth, she could have been clumped with the talented end acts. That being said, The Scott Brothers are great at what they do and floating hat trick, while kind of easy (you twirl your fingers around a hat), showed the variety that they needed to advance.
Out: 787 Crew, Lil Starr
In: The Scott Brothers
Elimination 3 - Novelty
This one was a landslide for David Garibaldi & his CMYK's which gives me hope for an artist. I thought that Season 5's Maricar was innovative as she tried to paint underwater (or sexily paint Catwoman), but she lacked the dynamic of the stage that the CMYK's provide. There was nothing wrong necessarily about the Stunt Team, but the production camera shots didn't do them justice at all.
If The Scott Brothers chose only a background video (no fog, lasers, shooting smoke), then the stunt team should have focused on stunts. Jarrett & Raja's act was awful. If they stuck with a more music/magic hybrid instead of gay musical magic show they would have a shot. Instead they'll be a Tumblr animated gif and forgotten in the shuffle.
Out: Jarrett & Raja, American BMX Stunt Team
In: David Garibaldi & his CMYK's
Judge's Choice - Edon vs. Todd Oliver
I think there were only two other acts that didn't make it may have thrown votes away from Edon: The Distinguished Men of Brass and Lil Starr. Those two acts are at the moment the only two that should be in contention for wild card spots. Lil Starr could have stolen some of the children’s votes that Edon had and the Men of Brass suffered from poor production value.
Edon's voice will be a Pandora's Box with puberty emerging during the season. The soonest we'll see him is in August and by then his body could do its best to botch his chances. Todd Oliver on the other hand, had awful material but a cute concept for ventriloquism. Could he improve his jokes by August to be wild carded back in? Unless he hires a joke writer like the judges suggested, I don't think so.
Out: Distinguished Men of Brass
Todd Oliver's Votes: None
Edon's Votes: Howie, Howard, Sharon
