TVSquad

(S02E08) I was looking forward to tonight's episode mostly to see for whom America would have voted last week. According to last week's TV Squad AGT poll, the five contestants from last week moving on to the Top 10 should be (in order of most votes to least): Cas Haley, Terry Fator, Boy Shakira/Britney (what?!), Second Story Guys, and The Fault Line. My own predictions were (in order of appearance): Second Story Guys, Southern Girl, Cas Haley, Terry Fator, The Fault Line. We disagree on one name. Did Boy Shakira/Britney make it to the Top 10? Will one of the favorites (Haley and Fator) not make it? The answers after the jump!

As usual, the announcer begins the show by introducing the judges and Jerry to the music of Carmina Burana's O, Fortuna. Then Jerry tells us that the Top 10 performs tonight, so I guess last week's performers were warned before hand that they made it to the next round so they could prepare.

The results are in. The Top 5 from last week is: Terry Fator, The Calypso Tumbler, Cas Haley, The Duttons, Jason Pritchett! Wow, that was unexpected as at least two of those performances were rather poor last week. Both you (the voters from last week's poll) and I got 2 our of 5 right. But we voted with our heart and not our brain (if we had taken into account state votes, etc., we would have made a few tweaks in our predictions). We must agree with Sharon that a few of those five acts shouldn't be in the Top 5. At least, Boy Shakira didn't make it! Thank you America for showing Kashif and Boy Shakira the door.

And the Top 10 performs! Jerry tells us that only 8 will make it to the next stage.

The Duttons: We learn that mom and dad make the final decision on song choice. I'm not sure they made the right one again tonight but it was better than last week. The lead singer was still not very good this week. When the family sang together, it was better as it hid those weaker voices. The Duttons are good musicians but not good singers. Since they made it to the Top 10 even with a bad performance last week, I guess that they have a huge following and may make it to next week even if they didn't do that well again tonight.

Robert Hatcher: Singing yet another song popularized by a woman with a powerful song. Will someone tell him he should refrain from singing Whitney Houston and Céline Dion's songs? I don't agree with the Hoff and Sharon that it was a good performance and a good song choice. The performance wasn't that good vocally because he was pitchy and, as Piers noted, he struggled with the high notes. He is not a bad singer but he makes bad song choice for his voice range. I'm pretty sure he will be back but I hope he sings something different next week. He needs to show us he can sing something else than ballads. I think he will move on.

The Calypso Tumblers: Last week, Piers asked them to do more tumbling and moves and they delivered. It was a more energetic and action-packed performance when compared to last week. The pacing, as Sharon said, was great. The song choice was well-chosen and the choreography was interesting. They will move on.

Jason Pritchett: Since he didn't perform well last week, I didn't expect much from him tonight. He followed Piers suggestion to go back to his guitar and choose a song that fits him best. I don't think his country-style voice fit this Ronan Keating song that well but it was much better than he did last week. Again this week, I thought he didn't own the song; it didn't sound romantic enough. Did he ever see the movie Nothing Hill in which the song was featured? If he had, I'm pretty sure he would have done better emotion-wise. I have to agree with Piers, Pritchett does have the goods but he needs to show us he can feel the song and be a performer. Since he has not performed well in the last two weeks, I would prefer not see him move on. But we never know where they votes will go.

Butterscotch: It's weird to see someone so well-dressed perform beat box! It was interesting to see her also sing with the band and have fun on stage. She showed us another side of herself as a performer. I agree with the judges that she gave a good performance and improved her act but that she needs to have a bit more stage presence. She should move on.

The Glamazons: The performance started weak as the two first singers weren't at their best vocally. Things picked up when they started to sing all together and the last two singers weren't bad at all. I didn't notice but as those two first singers always the weakest ones? If so, maybe they should sing second and twice as the beginning and end of a song is really important. Sharon is right that they do not have the best voices in the competition but thankfully their act is not solely the singing. Nonetheless, they gave a good performance overall. I'm hope that they move on because, as Piers said, they are fun and entertaining.

Cas Haley: Per my taste, I think he did better than last week. He was good vocally. Sadly, as it was the case in the previous weeks, his facial expressions and body movements aren't the best. He also needs to open his eyes and look at the audience at times. I know I'm repeating myself but he needs to work on it (although I'm not sure someone did tell him). Piers may be right that blues is not best style for Cas; however, Haley did try something different and he wasn't that bad at it at all. For sure, he will move on to the next round.

Terry Fator: Again tonight, Fator delivers the good. He performed "Unforgettable" in the way Natalie Cole did a few years back when using old footage of her father to sing a duet of the song. Fator included a few funny moments in his performance (like the puppet biting his ear). He will move on.

Julienne Irwin: The first note was a bit off but maybe it was the sound as it seemed the mic wasn't properly set at first. Her performance was not as good as two weeks ago. She was pitchy most of the song, especially in the higher and longer notes. It wasn't a bad song choice style-wise but it was bad because she couldn't sing it properly. At least, she showed emotions and owned the song. Piers' comments and suggestions were dead on. Personally, I'm not sure she should move on based on tonight's performance. But since she is the youngest and did good before, she may move on.

Sideswipe: Two weeks ago, I wasn't sure they would move on as I thought they couldn't offer us much more. Adding the kids to their act was a bad move because it's not their act anymore (even if they are their students). Couldn't they offer more with just the four of them? Add objects, obstacles, etc.? They didn't show us they could do more and better. I doubt they'll move on.

If I base my choices solely on tonight's performance, I would send Julienne and Sideswipe packing. Whom do you think should be sent home?