Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-5598112-20160721043355/@comment-25150955-20160803023332

Time for performance rankings! Tonight was a much bigger mixed bag than last week's if I'm being honest, since there weren't as many "wows" as last week, but there weren't any truly "bad" acts tonight, either.

12. '''Ryan Stock & AmberLynn Look, it sucks that they got injured...even though I kinda expected it to happen at one point. But even without the injury, I feel like they can only go so far with this type of act. It's the exact reason why people generally don't vote for these types of acts. It's gonna be tough for them.

11. '''FLIP This felt like a glorified version of DM Nation's live show performance, and I feel like I'm drawing some comparisons here; both are all-female dance groups from District Mao, both performed first in their respective live shows, and both managed to be forgettable even without being in the "forgettable" spot of the live shows. Seriously, I don't even remember the songs they danced to.

10. '''Sos and Victoria Petrosyan Like how I feared with my previous predictions before the show, they basically did the same shit as the last two times, all to an unbearable song. Not to mention, thanks to their mistake, we know how it's done now...or at least I do, considering I paid REALLY good attention during their performance to catch how they did it. And it doesn't help that they managed to screw up even while performing in the pimp spot (LAST.).

9. '''Kadie Lynn Roberson This is a tough one. I'm not denying Kadie Lynn's talent, believe me. But, like the Judges Cuts performance, it was a bit pitchy, almost sort of lost on the stage of Dolby Theatre. I don't doubt she'll land in the Dunkin' Save Spots at least, but she needs to improve her craft if she does move through. I really hope she doesn't move through, considering that'll mean an actually extremely talented act will go home tonight.

8. '''Sal Valentinetti I was a bit disappointed by Sal's performance, not because of the voice, but because of a TERRIBLE song choice. It's hard to screw up "Story Of My Life" if you do it right, and he didn't do it right. He sounded alright, but he chose a One Direction song to do in a jazzy way. And that's going to be his untimely downfall sooner or later, whether it's now, or if he goes through and makes that mistake again.

7. '''Moya Angela Moya had a pretty good performance, not something we haven't seen before, and if it's good enough to send her through, I'd be okay with it. Ronee will not top her next quarterfinal show, I'm saying that right now. People prefer young over old, anyways.

6. '''ThroWings While I agree that they've basically done the same thing over and over, which may hurt their chances, I do hope America puts them through. If they do, though, they need to remember to do something new...like, Paul Zerdin-semifinals new, not Sandou Russian Bar Trio-semifinals new.

5. '''Calysta Bevier For such a singer-savvy night, Calysta was probably the only one with a clear-cut chance of going through to the next round. Her voice has definitely improved since her previous performance, which I wasn't a huge fan of compared to the other GBs during the auditions. She's guaranteed to get in the Top 5, I know it.

4. '''Viktor Kee Even though he may or may not have dropped a ball at some point (I think he did? I'm not sure), this was still an amazing performance. He's so graceful, mesmerizing, and the fact that he combines three or four different art styles and snowballs (hue hue) it all into one art style (juggling) is amazing.

On a side note, this may technically be the Year of the Magician again (no, Stern, Season 10 was the year of COMEDY. Not magic.), the juggling acts seems to be pretty spectacular this year, with Kee, The Passing Zone, and even the cut acts who classified as jugglers were great (Cody Carter, Bob & Trish)

3. '''Sofie Dossi That silk thing was quite a surprise, honestly, and the entire performance was probably her best to date; even if she kind of did something similar to Deadly Games where she did the same thing, but with added fire/a blindfold. America will vote for her, I hope.

2. '''The Clairvoyants These last two acts can be mashed up into any order, really, because both were absolutely flawless. First off, Amalie is a fucking witch. There is no other explanation. No, really! I was a bit skeptical at first, but any remaining skepticism I had during the Judges Cuts? COMPLETELY VANISHED. I mean, who else would predict Spicy Chocolate? How are these people blowing my minds THREE TIMES IN A ROW??

1. '''Steven Brundage Brundage being brought back was the season's best decision, and it was very clear by the end of his act just how important it is that he is back. His tricks were absolutely amazing, and I'm sure that he, Jon Dorenbos, and The Clairvoyants (and maybe Blake Vogt?) are all probably students at Hogwarts. Because there is NO WAY to figure any of this shit out.

So, who's in and who's out? If it were up to me, the clear-cut advancers are Steven Brundage, The Clairvoyants, Sofie Dossi, Calysta Bevier, and Viktor Kee. The other two spots? Well, I'd give them to Moya Angela and ThroWings, but, knowing America, they'll probably replace one of them with either Ryan Stock (for the pity vote. hey, it happened to Uzeyer last year.) or Kadie Lynn. Hell, Sos & Victoria may make it through for all I care. It's a pretty big toss-up, and I'll only be happy if those last two spots are the acrobat duo and the only other female singer that DIDN'T disappoint tonight.

Thoughts?