'America's Got Talent': Prince Poppycock's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' steals the show

Prince Poppycock steals the show on "America's Got Talent" first set of semi-finals.

1. Anna and Patryk, Paso Doble
The black and white cinematography for the start of their program was a nice touch for us at home. The routine is immensely fun, plus Gaga's "Paparazzi" works really well. I think this might be my fave Anna and Patryk so far. They really brought it for the semi-finals. Piers and Sharon echo my sentiments. Howie finally says something nice to them, so that's good.

2. Christina & Ali
Tonight the song is "When You Believe" from "Prince of Egypt" -- and I'm sorry, but it's pretty rough. The lower-end stuff is out of their reach and the harmonies are not great, though the younger one does get a nice big note. I happen to believe this act has only advanced because A) people feel bad for them and B) the entire state of Idaho is voting like mad. I'm sure they'll advance again, but I don't think they probably should (barring complete meltdowns by the rest of the acts). Sharon punks out on negativity, but luckily Howie is realistic about how they didn't really bring it and Piers says "it wasn't great." That's being charitable. He then does say that he can't buzz them because of their "big eyes." Oh, lord. It's not "America's Got Big-Eyed Orphan Homeless Kids" or whatever.

3. Antonio Restivo
There was a lot of fire to distract us from the fact that the trick wasn't thaaat great. First off, the trick took too long to get to the good stuff. Secondly, there was too much dancing around by the chicks. Ultimately, the trick was pretty good, but the lead-up was terrible and boring. That needs to be improved.

4. Future Funk
These two little cutie pies -- oh my goodness, is one of them "Baby Boogaloo"?!? This is too much cuteness, I can't take it. They would be immensely popular as part of the tour. And for their ages, they're good! Piers buzzes them, wow, really Piers? Piers invokes the "if this was called 'America's Got Cute Dancers,' they would win." You can't invoke that after just saying you can't buzz Christina & Ali because of their "big eyes." I"m not saying FF should necessarily advance, but they didn't need to be buzzed. 

The difference between me giving Future Funk a pass and Piers giving Christina & Ali a pass is that for their ages, Future Funk are pretty darn good, while Christina & Ali aren't. There are people the ages of either of those girls who can sing rings around them. So Piers can't give the sick girls a pass and not give it to the little kids.

5. Taylor Mathews
Carolina Liar's "Show Me What I'm Looking For" is the call for Mathews this week. It doesn't blow me away, but it's good. Solid vocal, but on a song that has about four notes. And the piano isn't awesome enough to raise the performance to another level. I think you see a guy like this 100 times during "Idol" auditions. Howie is 100% right when he says it was good, but "didn't wow us."

6. Connor Doran
The performance starts out just like any other. A single kite, then a double kite. How is he going to make this difference other than just changing the music? Predictably, Piers buzzes him. I'll confess to getting a little bored too, though it is a little unfair he only had four days to come up with a new routine. But it's also like -- is that all you do? Is that it? And then at the end, he weirdly holds up a jar. Hmm. Howie and Piers say that the music choice was weird.

7. Dan Sperry
I thought this guy was pretty awesome, so I am really excited to see what he's got up his sleeve now. Nick Cannon is helping out this week, oooh. It involves some naughty nurses putting Cannon's arm in a creepy vice-like thing, then detaching part of it, putting his autograph on it, reattaching it and then revealing that his autograph is there. Eh... that wasn't as good as the first time and the arm looked fake. Hmm. Piers agrees.

8. Kristina Young
I was not a fan of her Wild Card song, so lets hope she does better this time around.  So she does a slowed-down version of "Poker Face" while going all "Fabulous Baker Boys" on the piano with a little Sally Bowles thrown in there. Huh. Piers buzzes and so does Sharon. Yeah, this is pretty weak. Oh and then Howie buzzes and she has to stop. Ouch. Sharon tells her it was just wrong, Howie compares her to Bill Murray's Nick the Lounge Singer character from "SNL" and finally Piers just says it was a risk that didn't work, but not to give up.

9. ArcAttack
This is neat, but I think on television it loses a little in the translation. I bet it's much cooler live. Still, it's unique and creative and a little freaky. I think it should advance just because it, like Fighting Gravity, brings something different to the table. Howie echoes my sentiments that this act doesn't play on TV the way it plays live. Yeah.

10. Michael Grimm
Apparently MIchael got really sick this week, but he soldiers on tonight with "You Can Leave Your Hat On" by Joe Cocker and it's a great fit for his voice, plus I love that it's rock-ier and more upbeat than we've seen from him. He is one of the best singers in the competition, and he should go through.

11. AscenDance
Their routine this week is much more up-tempo, which I thought would cause it to lose the ethereal quality of the last one, but the physicality is so impressive that the act still works. There were some hard-core moves in it. Piers buzzes, which is pretty weak on his part. I'm enjoying this, even if I don't think it's quite as mesmerizing as last time. I find them 100 times more entertaining than Christina & Ali, yet Piers can't buzz the poor big-eyed girls. Lame.

12. Prince Poppycock
 "Bohemian Rhapsody" is the song tonight and -- holy balls, it's so good. Very rock opera, though I was sad not to hear any really high notes, like on the "Beelzebub has the devil put aside for me ... for me .. for MEEEEE," you know what I'm talking about. But the entire visual spectacle of it was awesome.  Sharon calls him the "male Lady Gaga," and while I'm not sure we can go that far yet, it was pretty amazing.

Who should advance? I believe 5 acts are advancing, and I think clearly Anna and Patryk, AscenDance, Michael Grimm, ArcAttack and Prince Poppycock are the strongest acts. Unfortunately, you know that Christina & Ali or Future Funk or Connor Doran is going to sneak in there.
 
Who do you think should advance?

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Photo credit: NBC