Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-5598112-20170830223755/@comment-25150955-20170906020146

TheFoxyRiolu wrote: TheFoxyRiolu's LIVE Semifinals Week 1 Performance Rankings Someone should pay me for writing this shit.

1. Darci Lynne Yeah, we're gonna get the comparisons between her and Terry Fator. But sweet lord, it is IMPOSSIBLE not to love Darci's personality, her characters, and her abilities in music, ventriloquism, and even including comedy before. She genuinely made me laugh out loud with the joke about The Singing Trump. She's probably gonna win, which, honestly? I'll take it.

2. Preacher Lawson Every moment Preacher is onstage, I feel nothing but joy. His set was lively and fun and, newly noticed, sassy, and it's something that I can't help but enjoy everytime he performs. It wasn't rushed, it wasn't overly animated, it was a perfect balance of a good pace and nonetheless lively actions. He deserves to be in the finalists.

3. Eric Jones While it is true that Eric's performance moved at the pace of a very, very tired snail, it was probably his best trick yet. It was a presentation of close-up magic that actually worked on the big stage, and his showmanship certainly improved with his stage presence. Can a magician crack the Finals this year? We'll have to wait and see.

4. Johnny Manuel Johnny Manuel is the best singer in the competition. That being said, every bit of criticism mentioned tonight is true: he peaked too early, oversang/shouted at certain moments, and it didn't feel like a journey this time around. I still admire him a LOT as a singer and he is a powerful voice, but it was a flawed one.

5. Chase Goehring This wasn't exactly his best performance, and I think it had to do with an overly repetitive (albeit catchy) original tune. I dunno, he was better last time. He still makes the Top 3, no doubt, but I wanted a little more from this performance.

6. Mike Yung This was a weird way to close the show, because the accompaniment sounded intimate and pretty, but it doesn't match Mike's raspy, powerful voice. It was technically much better than his Quarterfinals performance, but I preferred his previous song choice. I dunno, it was good, but not good enough for the pimp spot.

7. Billy & Emily England Just before the performance ended, I was halfway finished writing a "they did the exact same" paragraph. Then, he freaking CHUCKS HER OFF THE PLATFORM? This actually gave me a gosh darn heart attack just watching, and the scare was a nice touch. Still, the rest of the performance wasn't all too special. They could slip through, which means more variety, but who knows? Danger acts never do THAT well in this show, so who knows.

8. Evie Clair Though she's a victim of being more of a backstory figure than an actual talent (she's still talented, of course), Evie officially gets the honor of "Most Improved" this season: she started as a weak and a personal least favorite out of the Quarterfinalists, but she's proved herself slowly to be a strong voice. That said, with a massive amount of musical competition, she'll have a tough time going through.

9. Sara and Hero (and Loki) Sara and Hero bring a new creative freshness that animal acts have never brought into the limelight, not even Olate Dogs. Their problem is a lack of interesting tricks: they're getting better, but it's not super impressive. I wouldn't mind seeing them in the Finals out of sheer likability, but anything goes.

10. DaNell Daymon & Greater Works Choirs are something I fail to get excited for nowadays, and this performance flat-out failed to impress me. It was just another chorus rendition of a well-known song. With just a little less energy than last time. Meh.

11. Yoli Mayor Yoli's best performance was when she channeled her inner powerhouse during the Judge Cuts, as her "Love On The Brain" was amazing and made me feel she deserved to be in the lives. This week, she fell into the same trap as she did in the quarterfinals, only this time stripping the performance down didn't do her any favors. Howie said, "You couldn't have done anymore.", which is typically a bad sign at this point in the competition. The performance wasn't even bad, just a weak open: I hate putting her in last on these rankings, but someone had to go here.