Ten-year-old opera phenom Jackie Evancho? Sure thing. Resurgent magician Michael Grasso? Of course. But when performance troupe Fighting Gravity stood across from stunt cyclist Jeremy VanSchoonhoven on the America's Got Talent stage, it was anyone's guess how the votes would fall.
Turns out that both acts made it through – and now, after a semifinal performance night Tuesday that judge Piers Morgan described as "better than anyone that we've ever had," the top 10 is set.
Of course, results night, which featured acrobatics from the Cirque du Soleil performers in La Reve and a hot number from solo star Jason Derulo, couldn't proceed without some drama. On the Fighting Gravity v. VanSchoonhoven match-up, "It was so wrong, what they did," says judge Sharon Osbourne, "because when I saw them both together on stage I thought, 'This is not right!' It's naughty to do that!"
The final 10 are:
Evancho, Michael Grasso, Fighting Gravity, VanSchoonhoven, dance crew Studio One Young Beast Society, ballroom dancers Anna and Patryk, and singers Prince Poppycock, Michael Grimm, Taylor Mathews and sisters Christina and Ali.
"I get excited about the young ," host Nick Cannon says, "and there's a lot of young in the top 10. This is the best group of talent I've ever seen."
It was Osbourne who cast the final vote of the night that put Studio One Young Beast Society through and left singer Alice Tan Ridley out of the finals. "It's terribly hard," Osbourne says, "to break somebody's dream when they are that close to a $1 million. It's a terrible thing to do to anybody but I felt that I made the right decision for me."
The experience was still worth it for Gabourey Sidibe's mom. "I tried out for the show when they first started," says Ridley, "and then I tried out again and made it this far. I didn't expect to get this far but it was pretty good. I enjoyed myself and hope to go on to more exciting things!"
Osbourne doesn't doubt it.
"So many get to see these artists now," she says. "Haspop, I know, has had so many inquiries for him to go and do other things. It's not that bad because they have the opportunity to show America their talents."
And the judges have the opportunity to show their pedigree. From the judge's table, Howie Mandel sported a desk plaque with his name and "Cultural Ignoramous" underneath it. He made it in the morning before the show. "I got crowned by Piers," he says. "I got the title Tuesday, so I didn't have much time.” – Cynthia Wang
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