Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-36491208-20190822072014/@comment-28819562-20190828023311

Quick rankings based on my immediate opinions after the show

12th: Berrywam [X] - Might be an unpopular opinion, especially ranking them last, but I found them to just be bad tonight. The mixing was horrible, I get their a beatbox group but if you're going to include lyric vocals into your act I want to be able to hear them. And the choice of fusing "O Fortuna" and "Old Town Road" did not mesh well at all imo.

11th: Gonzo - Yeah he's the joke act and is in no way going through. But honestly I probably would've liked his performance more and even ranked him higher if he wasn't so low energy this time, since that's what made him stand out in the first place.

10th: Matthew Richardson - I'm so sad he didn't live up to the hype, and I'll give him 100% kudos for the difficulty of the routine in water. But the entire presentation just seemed more fit in a Magic Mike style strip club then the Vegas stage and it really cheapened the act for me.

9th: Benicio Bryant - Honestly, up until this point him and Emanne were neck on neck in my eyes for having the most raw talent of the kid singers this season. But this performance was underwhelming. I was baffled when he wrote his song to be generic dance pop, a genre which is nowhere near his wheelhouse from what we've seen so far. That on top of honestly not the best written song makes me nervous for his chances.

8th: Detroit Youth Choir - I'll give them one thing, they definitely improved from their audition. And they are good, but I still feel like their best is at the level of a really good high school performance and not a Vegas stage. Especially when comparing them to Ndlovu, there isn't really much unique about em. I actually gave Benicio more votes then them for this reason, but on raw talent tonight I would rank them higher.

7th: MacKenzie - Was it his best performance, no. And like others that could boil down to his song choice. But overall I still think his talent sold the show enough to bump him above other acts.

6th: Lukas & Falco - I was worried for them going into tonight, and they could still easily get beaten out but I think they gave themselves a good showing. I really liked the theme they went with and both their personalities just sold it for me.

5th: Jackie Fabulous - Similar to MacKenzie, this wasn't her best set but I still think she's strong enough at her worst to rank this high. Her comedy, particularly tonight tends to have a very niche audience. For that reason she could limit herself very quickly. But her personality still sells the jokes even if their ones that don't resonate with me, and that is a good thing in comedy.

4th: Eric Chien - So unpopular opinion, I was never the biggest Shin Lim fan last season. He was good but he was hit or miss for me cuz his presentation tended to seem lackluster. That's where I think Eric shines as he is able to keep me engaged much better. I do agree though I think going forward he needs to elevate his tricks a bit more.

3rd: Dom - Dom took the lesson of elevating his act to match the stage and it showed well. While the trick itself is kinda easy to figure out, he added enough personal touches (interracting with the screen, Simon being completely lost) to keep it both entertaining, engaging, and have a good climax to end on.

2nd: Emanne Beasha - I initially wrote her off as just another pretty young girl opera singer, but she's slowly been growing on me and tonight was her at her finest. I'm really glad she didn't pick a generic opera song that many have already done on the show, and I think she's on the right track to potentially being in the finals if she plays her cards right.

1st: Marcin - I get the critique of the background production, but idk every time he plays I'm just lost in ths music. Not only the what he's playing but realizing how he's doing what he does and the difficulty behind it makes him a front runner in my eyes.

Predictions

Top 5 - Dom, Marcin, Eric, Jackie, Emanne

Middle 3 - Lukas & Falco, MacKenzie, DYC/Benicio

Bottom 4 - Gonzo, Berrywam, Matthew, DYC/Benicio

I would hope Benicio gets through over DYC, but I could honestly see any combination of Lukas & Falco, MacKenzie, DYC or Benicio making up the last two spots.