Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-5598112-20170830223755/@comment-32868136-20170908055731

My thoughts on the first semi-finals RESULTS, 4 out of 5 of the contestants I thought were the most worth to move on made it. You can see my personal rankings here: http://agt.wikia.com/wiki/Thread:20789

I am sad to hear the news of Evie's father but as others mentioned I think her story is helping her gain votes. I dislike Evie as a contestant but not as a person. I really wanted Mike Yung to advance over her. I would have taken Johnny Manuel over her as well. Eric Jones I would say yes he should have made it to the finals if it weren't for an error in his performance. As for Chase, as someone who isn't a teenage girl I really appreciate Chase sharing his songwriting and singing. He isn't pulling a Miguel Dakota where he has a large band behind him that drowns him out.

It is great that the top 3 acts were all variety. Darci is a ventroliquist (this year's winner), Preacher Lawson is my favorite comedian, and Sara and Hero is another variety act that we don't see every year. I can see Darci and Preacher going big like the judges said. At first I thought Sara and Hero was a mediocre dog act but every round she has stepped it up and few acts are able to do that. Funny how the person comparing Sara and Hero to Sanjaya says he loves Big Barry (Howard Stern compared Big Barry to Sanjaya). Also I don't think Sara and Hero is really a kid's birthday act, as much as an act like this.  Sorry but that's my opinion.