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First it was Letterman, now Craigy Ferg is tackling serious topics at length. Daily News: Former late-night host Craig Ferguson wants to know life's secrets Promo for the Youtube mini series:

I'm meh about Liam winning this week but in response to a fan Yan tweeted that Liam handsdown made the best showstopper. I'm glad Yan made a point to design a Franklin and Crick pie. Rosalind Franklin's someone my bio textbook never talked about. I also laughed when she really wanted to assure everyone that the signature wasn't reflective of her pie making abilities. Steven owes her thanks for the assist. This far into the season and my heart's not really into the competition part of it. Steven's not bugging me as much and I sympathize a little with his nerves. I can relate to Yan's geekiness though I think she needs some decaf. I'd like to get a better sense of Sophie, who is so guarded in the tent but has such a kickass job. I thought the "Life of Pie" pun was painful but it was funny to see Prue interact with Sandi and Noel. And poor Sandi - she really was upset at Julia leaving. Sweet! I envy you. I don't know if I've ever had an old school pasteis but the Cantonese take on it does look awfully similar in look and ingredients.

I've been thinking a lot about how much Petty's music helped people after September 11th. I Won't Back Down became the anthem of resilience so many of us needed. America: A Tribute to Heroes performance

In the preview it looked like pasteis de nata (aka dan ta, aka egg tarts) for the technical. I'm guessing the contestants get very little time to make their own pastry dough. Eating-wise, I prefer puff pastry over shortcrust for these.

The harmonies with Mandy certainly weren't lip synched. Keep in mind that Shania's in her 50s now and she's had medical and anxiety issues that led to her losing her voice not long ago. It'd be tough for her to project as much as she used to over that disproportionately loud backing track. (Shouldn't a theatre named Dolby have excellent acoustics?) It's been years but didn't that old Behind the Music episode talk about how her voice is affected by her chronic anxiety? Briefly, since I'm getting a bit off topic here, I suspect Sara's TV story was relatively true to life: Sara has documented a few of the 6,000 mile road trips on her youtube account - the road warrior part of her making a living seems real enough. Hopefully she gets to sleep in hotel beds with the dogs more than bunking in the car. While they're great for bragging, a Stupid Pet trick and a clip on Ellen do not equal financial windfalls. Or recognition by the general public. Hopefully that trick training app brings in some cash. On one of the official Instagram accounts she photographed two dog crates - that clip of Hero in the window was probably just for AGT.

At the moment NBC is only confirming the appearances of Darci, Angelica, Preacher and Light Balance. I'm not sure about Mandy but it looks like the Super Collies have an existing teaching gig. Too bad for the Vegas audience - it would have been fun for Darci and the other AGT contestants to do something with Hero for the show.

It'll be interesting to see what direction she decides to go in after this. The tween has already been a competitive gymnast, done the pageant circuit and studied singing. I wouldn't be surprised if Darci found something else to be passionate about in her teen years to compliment or supplant her ventriloquism. Thanks - I checked the most recent participant rules and I saw that disclaimer about the present cash value of the annuity.

Is a one time lump sum a option for the winner? I hadn't heard that before. ESPN and the USTA spent two weeks promoting her album during the US Open - the new music and dancer randomness does grow on a person. I blame the sound mixers for this perpetual issue. I don't know if the singers sound great in the theater but their performances should be calibrated for TV, where they aren't drowned out by the backup singers, musicians or cheesy backing tracks. The singers who choose simpler arrangements, like Mandy, can actually be heard. This issue is not limited to AGT - Simon used to talk about how differently Idol performances came across after he watched them back on tape.

Especially since she proclaimed it the best cake she's ever had in her life. On Twitter Yan compared the technical to the Kobayashi Maru scenario. Heh.

What a Wonderful World can lend itself to a mix of emotions but with her grief and already haunting voice, this unintentionally became a dark dirge that wouldn't be out of place on a soundtrack for a war movie. In a different context I'd be okay with her voice but because Evie doesn't enunciate, even iconic song lyrics become indecipherable. I agree that Mandy didn't do enough to beat Darci but hopefully AGT viewers will support her fantastic jazz work going forward. The genre could use more name stars. Weirdly, I think she would have done better covering Grace's single. The producers did give Light Balance the marquee spot so a Darci win might not be inevitable. I do love how polished she is for just a few years of performing. And yes, she's got great wit. Simon, Chase is not going to become an Ed Sheeran lite clone - he gives off a creepy, emotionally stunted vibe that prevents people from flocking to him like they have with WGWAGs on Idol. Plus Chase is vocally more like Jason Mraz, who "talk sings" much more effectively. I do still love The Super Collies. If they weren't going to go with a superhero storyline to acknowledge the names of the three dogs, I kind of wish the producers would have encouraged Sara to do a freestyle dance with minimal production. I saw a clip of just Sara and Hero doing that and it was utterly charming. Great rhythm, interaction and the transition between moves was natural, unforced. I found the screenshot that someone in Atlanta posted to complain about missing Preacher's set.

Piff, the self-proclaimed "GLOAT" of AGT, has been working on a TV special with Penn Jillette playing his dad. Penn sounds really psyched for his own dragon costume. Excerpt from Penn's Sunday School (August 2017? 6 min) Vegas News, 9/13: Penn Jillette Joins Piff the Magic Dragon on Stage at Flamingo Las Vegas

I'd love to see her too. Someone assisting Sara posted a pic of Loki and Marvel at what appears to be an AGT rehearsal stage. I don't know if it'll happen though. Sara trained with Navy SEALs to rappel with Hero for the quarterfinals but the sequence didn't make it into the live show. Per CelticBlackCat, edited to fix acronym. Thank you for the friendly correction.

I don't remember specifics, but Prue spoke very warmly of his baking ability when she appeared on the season opener of Extra Slice. I don't know that he'll necessarily make it far but I thought her compliments implied that she got to see at least a few weeks of baking.

There's nice info in that article too about the designers that they're adding. It feels like I haven't seen John Gidding or Sabrina Soto on TV in awhile. People magazine is calling Brett Tutor the new "hunky Trading Spaces carpenter."

Nitpicking here, Drogo, but you're asking for two different things. Vote for my favorite act or tell you who's my pick to win.

Phew. I was a bit worried for Mandy since her performance currently has less than half the Youtube views of Angelica and Celine. The jazz singer offers both finely honed technique and emotional tenor - it'll be interesting to see if she goes with more original material next week. She instagrammed a clip of her learning Grace's single so I wouldn't be surprised by a duet during the results show. I'm ambivalent at best towards the rest of this week's finalists and would be totally okay with a final three grouping of Mandy, Darci and The Super Collies.

Entertainment Weekly says that these folks are all returning: Doug, Carter, Frank, Genevieve, Hildi, Laurie, Ty, and Vern. They also posted a video clip of the designers and carpenters. Hopefully it's just the home video production values, but Doug is looking gaunt.

If it weren't for Prue, I think Paul might have still given him star baker. He did do that whole jokey thing with he and Steve switching places while judging the showstopper. Paul generally seems to be showing more of a sense of humor without Sue in the tent. Less uptight. Sandi isn't in the show as much as I'd like but kudos to her, Noel or whoever came up with that Prue Paul's Drag Race joke before the technical. That led to the twitter managers for both shows to pun at each other. It scared me a little when Noel demonstrated his old timey, "well-bred" voice during the show open.

I think Howie was essentially pointing out that 17 other quarterfinalists have gotten two or even three weeks to prepare for their semifinal performances. Like The Super Collies, Mike Yung, Greater Works and Chase Goehring also had quick turnarounds from their quarterfinals last week but presumably had already performed their songs often. They were not creating a new performance from scratch. Edited to add: Sorry, saber5055, I didn't mean to jump on your post there - I was typing and failed to open the pop-up notice that someone had added their reply.

With the orange and almond, these aren't typical. But yeah, I've never gotten why people like the taste. Someone on Reddit compared the flavor to a manila folder and while I haven't partaken in any office supplies lately, that sounds about right to me. The regional Japanese cookie that Californians based them on likely tastes better, with miso and sesame in the batter. In the sixth season, He does seem to be channeling Mary Berry's bomber jackets. I missed the piping arms and found a clear screenshot: I agree that Steven and Sophie have been been strong so far. I haven't warmed up to Steven, though, for some reason. Some other quick thoughts: I felt for Chris when the judges spat out his fortune cookies - if it was obviously raw, why did they taste them to begin with? I'm glad Chris got to at least really impress Sandi with his chocolate. It's very interesting that the first two weeks have seen the departure of two avid bread bakers. Yay for everyone who helped Tom get his signature on the plate. "That’s Scotland leaving England." Heh. I'm still getting used to Noel's voiceovers. I'm continually surprised that he can enunciate and wouldn't be out of place on NPR or BBC Radio.

The new season officially starts the first week of October. Eater.com: Edited to add: I found a description of the first episode, Two-Mato:

TVGuide.co.uk: Some nitpicks before the episode: Someone has tried the technical biscuit before as their showstopper. In the teaser at the end of episode one, Sandi's voiceover calls Paul's challenge an oriental technical - another example of Brits & Americans being divided by a common language. Love Productions should consider how effing awful that word is for GBBO's global audience. While the technical has its roots in a regional Japanese cookie, it really is an example of Californian entrepreneurs deploying self-exoticization in their marketing.

Chanel Four has been posting official clips on YouTube. There is one of three showstoppers, but alas, not the 'cake'wich. There is another one that compiles some of the jokes. As expected, I liked the combo of Sandi with Noel, especially when they strayed from the cheesier, planned lines. Sue's been grating on my nerves in recent seasons and I can't complain about having some new energy in the tent. I expected him to tone down his usual surrealist observations, but I didn't anticipate that Noel would be solid at voiceovers. The showstoppers were impressive, especially for week one. Besides the banana ramen, sandwich and watermelon I was impressed by that iced champagne. I'm ambivalent about Prue. The voice and strong glasses will take some time to take in but I do like that she has some energy in her contestant interactions. Other quick thoughts: It made me chuckle that someone from Siberia would complain about the weather in West Sussex. Are zucchini (courgette) cakes unusual in the UK?

A brief review from Good Housekeeping UK, also positive. So yes, it sounds like Love Productions isn't straying too far from what's worked in the past and Noel's been impressing critics. It's too bad LP hasn't been as successful at implementing that same formula in the US, but along with many other issues, they are never going to be able to wrangle contestant travel over three months. Those cakes are very 'instagrammy,' with the rainbow colors. I was amused how one contestant just casually mentioned in her official bio that she blacksmiths as a hobby. Can an appearance on Forged in Fire be far behind? Richard Burr's wife and GBBO superfan Sarah tracked down a bunch of the twitter accounts here .

A trailer with first episode clips, rather than creepy claymation marching towards their demise. Edited to add: I've noticed that contestant photos have started to circulate. The New Statesman published a non-serious analysis of their potential performance, based on tweets and instagrams.