Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-5598112-20160908020023/@comment-90.191.95.216-20160908110643

I'm going to try and rank the acts based on how much I think they can win, although I must say that it's pretty hard to predict the results and a LOT of it will be up to the performances themselves.

Anyways, predictions:

10. Laura Bretan - If her best performance on a pimp spot couldn't get her a better result than 5th then she has absolutely no chance here. It's funny to think how opera used to be the go-to "WOW" act on shows like these, it seemed like not not a minute went by without one winning a show SOMEWHERE (like Laura herself, in Romania), but people are over it now and I don't feel too bad for Laura considering her previous success.

9. Sofie Dossi - Well, she's done it...What seemed like an impossibility for acrobats for a LONG while has finally been achieved, she is in the finals. Just when I thought she had run out of tricks, she put a spin on things (pun intended) and she needs to do the same in the finals if she wants to get into the top 5, which I just don't see happening one way or the other, but good on her for getting this far and proving that it IS possible.

8. Viktor Kee - I've been consistently underestimating his chances by just NOT trusting the voters, but thankfully I've been proven wrong and i'm OVERJOYED he's here. As mentioned I think he has some tricks left in his back pocket, but he's REALLY going to struggle to get to the top 5 even with them. Still, I wish him the best and a juggler getting THIS far is already pretty miraculous.

7. Linkin' Bridge - They have a slight shot at making it to the top 5 if they absolutely knock it out of the park and finally learn who needs to sing which part, but 5th is the absolute highest I see them at.

6. Sal Valentinetti - He went back to the classics and the ladies swoon, but he's going to have to poison Brian's coffee with a MOUNTAIN of laxatives to have a chance of doing better than him, I still see a possibility of him sneaking into the top 5, but It all depends on how everyone else does.

5. Tape Face - He's smack dab in the middle, because it could go either way. Him being in danger last week and BARELY beating out Grace isn't the best of signs so he REALLY needs to bring his A game...but I just think he's too out there, too "weird" and "pointless" for a lot of people to win. But judging by the absolutely INSANE amount of views (his audition video is the SECOND most watched AGT video of ALL TIME now, only being beaten out by Kenichi) he's been getting and the 60k+ social media followers he's gained in just a few months, the guy has already won much more than most acts could even dream of. There are acts that people vote for and then forget in a months time and there are acts that develop a loyal cult following like Piff last year and I'm more than certain Tape Face belongs in the second group and will have a great future no matter what happens. Speaking of Piff, there are quite a few similarities between the two and their massive online fanbase and as we saw last year, it wasn't enough to save Piff after a disappointing performance so this will really all be up to Tape Face. I know at least one routine he could do that COULD get him all the way to the top 2, but it's probably too time consuming so I'm guessing we will instead be seeing some horses next time.

4. Brian Justin Crum - GASP, How DARE I place him this low when I thought for the longest wihile that he would be the one to beat? Well, part of me still thinks that...and then there's the other part that has seen his view count dwindle round after round as other acts only get stronger and bigger...and even his social media accounts aren't close to being as popular as most of the other contestants here. Now, I know views and followers mean jack in the end, but I don't know...I just feel like he isn't quite as popular as he could be and if he did end up winning it would certainly be the "dullest" choice. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to take anything away from his skill, but we like to rag on singers on the show and ask why they couldn't audition on the Voice instead...and while you could make a good case for all the other singers in the final as to why this is the best show for them (age limits, specific genres etc) there's really NO reason Brian couldn't audition somewhere else instead. Even seasons ago when singer after singer was winning, they all belonged to fairly niche genres (Blues, Jazz, Opera..) that are often underappreciated, but Brian is a pop singer...just a pop singer, by far the most ordinary, overdone, safe category in pretty much EVERY song contest out there and after AGT has worked SO hard to get away from it's past image as a contest favouriting only singers... will this really be the guy that ends up as the face of the season? the one who wins the title? I...I kind of hope not.

3. The Clairvoyants - Unless they completely screw up, I see them making the top 5 fairly easily and probably doing as good as Oz did last year. They probably won't win as even now I'm seeing people call them "creepy", but 3rd is where I predicted them ending up way back when the live shows began and I'm sticking to my guess.

2. Grace VanderWaal - By any conventional wisdom, Grace would be the easy choice to win the contest. She's been hyped to mars and back and has an absolutely MASSIVE following wherever you look...but there are 2 things that hold her back, 2 things that have proven to just NOT get enough voters no matter how hyped acts are...A. She's a kid and B. She's female. It would certainly be a more of a surprise if she DID win at this point, the last time anyone from those categories won was WAY back in season 1, ever since it's been an uphill battle and she seems almost destined for that second place like Jackie Evancho years ago, but who knows..."Miracles are possible"

1. Jon Dorenbos - I was thinking he might have this in the bag after the semi (he even has more views than Grace now) and with his good looks, attractive stage presence, nice sob story and exciting tricks he's looking all the more likely as our second Magician to win the show, even if I don't think he's quite earned it yet...Will certainly be interesting to see what he does if he DOES win...