S17.E21: Finale

[Mr. Sparkle]

This is it! 

The top 11 acts perform one last time from the Pasadena Civic Center for their chance to win $1 million and be named the most talented act in America.

Airs Tuesday, September 13th at 8:00 PM EDT.

[JohnK570]

The ventriloquist, Celia needs to go.  America wildcard (very wrong) what a waste of wildcard.  Also Avery Dixon we don't need another Kenny G.  Maybe in a band or orchestra but not as a main attraction.

Edited September 14, 2022 by JohnK570

[JohnK570]

Absolutely loved Metaphysic and Chapel Hart.  My top 2.

Edited September 14, 2022 by JohnK570

[Chit Chat]

I loved Kristi's act.  It was perfection!  This is the kind of act I like to see on AGT.  If I want to see individual singers do their thing, I'll go to programs specifically for that particular talent.  I'm also tired of the group dancers doing their in-sync thing.  Their acts all look alike to me.  I like original, unexpected talent on this show.  I also look at them as acts I would actually pay money in Vegas to see.  I think that Kristi has a lot of potential.  YMMV.

[ams1001]

• Kristy was good (though admittedly I was distracted so I didn't see it all).
• The real magic is family! 
• I thought Chapel Heart sounded totally off key ...also, sorry, but overtly "patriotic" songs don't do anything for me. Maybe they work on their target audience (which I most decidedly am not).
• Oh, stop crying.
• Mike E. Winfield...does he have any other material besides his wife and kids?
• A.I. Elvis...meh. The judges clearly see something in this act that I'm missing.
• Still would vote for Mayyas, if I voted.
• Saxophone...meh. (He was good; solo sax music just not my thing.)
• Celia...I wonder if the 'guy on the phone' is always "Manolo" or if she used that for AGT because it's Sophia's son's name.
• Sara James...wait, is she from Poland? (I barely understood a word of her song. It was almost over before I even figured out what it was. [To be fair, I'm not that familiar with the song, despite knowing it's been all over this summer because of Stranger Things, which I don't watch.])
• My attention span failed me again during the Korean magician's performance. Sorry.
• Drake Milligan...still not a country fan but he's certainly a good performer. I think he lost a couple buttons on his shirt, though.
• Glanced up during the judges' yammering and thought Weird Al Yankovic was in Drake's band for a second.
• My top three would be Mayyas, Kristy, and Drake.

[Chit Chat]

19 minutes ago, ams1001 said:

I thought Chapel Heart sounded totally off key .

Okay, so it wasn't just me who thought they were off key.  Good.  I don't need a hearing test.    That was unusual for them though. 

22 minutes ago, ams1001 said:

Mike E. Winfield...does he have any other material besides his wife and kids?

He's one of the original ones I was rooting for, but this performance didn't work for me.  I think he has the potential to be really good though. 

[White Dog]

I agree, my top three are The Mayyas, Kristy and Drake. I do think Kristy was simply amazing. Putting her at the top of the first hour did her no favours but she definitely deserves to be there.  Drake did his thing and brought the house down, but I still think there is a momentum to get the Mayyas a win. For me they are a mesmerizing act and it would be a first to see them win.  

[ams1001]

Just now, White Dog said:

I agree, my top three are The Mayyas, Kristy and Drake. I do think Kristy was simply amazing. Putting her at the top of the first hour did her no favours but she definitely deserves to be there.  Drake did his thing and brought the house down, but I still think there is a momentum to get the Mayyas a win. For me they are a mesmerizing act and it would be a first to see them win.  

I'd like to see someone other than a singer. And Drake already has a career. He even mentioned his album coming out.

[SharonC]

I tuned in expecting for Chapel Hart to blow me away (as they did the first two times) and win the whole thing.  Totally WRONG song choice for them.  Their first two songs showed off their vocals and what great performers they were...this song did nothing for them.  Blake and the young girl beat them, hands down, as far as the singing acts go.  Disappointing. Excellent decision by Blake to do the same song as his audition...I've been humming it every since!

[Vermicious Knid]

Out of the Mayyas' three performances I actually felt the other two were better. Not that it matters; I predict Mayyas win, Kristy second, Chapel Hart third. Metaphysic was frighteningly, fully HD real in full screen and they will be getting calls from governments and other shady characters. Comedian was terrible. French magician was just kind of there, Yu was better. I personally thought Celia was great and does very original routines for a ventriloquist. Her hallmark is obviously going to be forgoing puppets altogether. She just has the bad luck to be on a season with a few other outstanding acts. I think Sara is going to be snapped up with a recording contract but probably in Europe. I wonder how she finds anyone in Poland that does black hair. Drake is just another cookie cutter, generic male country singer. Zzzzzz.

I fully expect Kenny G to get trotted out to duet with Avery tomorrow :). He did participate in that American Song Contest. Mayyas should perform with Shakira but she probably isn't available. Although she has collaborated with the Peas quite a bit lately. I assume Darius Rucker is showing up for Chapel Hart since they did a song together.

[Frisky Wig]

The Mayyas are incredible, I voted for them again this week, but I thought tonight was their weakest performance so far. 
 

I give Celia credit for doing a different (non puppet) ventriloquist act but her performances don’t do anything for me. 
 

Metaphysic is cool but I can’t help but think how awful it would be if this technology fell into the wrong hands. Also, I don’t think their AI Heidi looked that much like Heidi Klum. 

[Neet]

Kristy Sellars - It was in poor taste to have such a seedy performance open the show at barely 8 PM, and even more so for Kristy to dedicate this to her daughter's teenage years, which will hopefully be less traumatic than her mother's. I act like the moral police until a stripper is twerking against my nostrils, then it's just a bit of harmless fun. Anyway, this was another one of those acts (like every LED dancing group) that has the same pretentious "messages" like 'follow ur dreams' and other such lessons you can learn from a children's cartoon. Ironically, her act is reliant on animation, too. Like a circumsized man, I felt nothing here.

Nicolas Ribs - The old bat over at MJ's Big Blog (where I paste everyone's name from) loves to spell his last name in all caps for some reason, though I guess it's helpful to emphasize to all Americans that bones really do lie underneath their blobs of a stomach. Nicolas continues to rely on his magic whiteboard and this was pretty much the same as last time, so it was just alright. I sense he doesn't think he did very well, considering how Nick had to give himself his own flowers mid-performance.

Chapel Hart - It's refreshing to have some patriotism displayed without the need for a superpower to first lie to its people. Being prideful about where you're from and not what identity you are despite the new terms likely not existing a year ago feels like a bygone era. The vocals were pretty awful, not helped by the tears at the end. If Dolly Parton were going to make an appearance in the next 24 hours, she's probably cancelling those plans.

Mike E. Winfield - Most of his jokes were good, aside from that one at the end where he said his newborn baby came from the mall or something, since I don't know what he meant. He'd benefit from much longer sets, so here's praying the collective attention span lasts long enough for Mike to be filmed doing something else. "Laughter is the best medicine" says the country that eats Vicodin by the handful, so he's quite unlikely to win.

Metaphysic - Unsurprisingly, there needed to be great distance put between their performance and the other Elvis impersonator. I'm sure the real one would've agreed to be there if not for the audience's confusion about where he's been for 50 years. (aside from under their noses) Just having a medley of Elvis songs for two minutes had my hand twitching and ready to open 40 new internet tabs out of boredom, so it makes sense to add some other faces into it. Still, the Simon face has been played out too much and Sofia/Heidi added nothing, proving that women are still unfunny even when men are in charge.

Mayyas - For how much they complain about being under the cruel thumb of their country, several of the girls have septum piercings and tattoos, so it's bemusing that the desire to wreck one's appearance knows no cultural boundary. I watched this a second time and confirmed my original boredom. Not sure what to say; they're good, yet I don't feel entertained at all.

Avery Dixon - Doing the song "Ain't Nobody" with those double negatives makes it hard to know if he has self esteem or not. His journey has been so linked to the story of getting bullied, he'd have been better off if tonight's show had a whodunit mystery of Avery getting pushed down the stairs by a random assailant and then coming out to perform while fully bandaged for maximum sympathy. It was alright, but I can't see him placing very high.

Celia Munoz - Her summoning a ghost looked a lot like black magic, to the point where I thought Mervant would start rapping along. She has a few backbones of her act: the phone call voice, eating/drinking while throwing her voice, and opera singing. Any story or premise is a background for those things to be done, and I thought this one was pretty convoluted. She ended up making it work, though.

Sara James - She just had fried chicken for the first time and loved it, so this is a soft warning that when she becomes fully Americanized and balloons to 300 pounds, it really needs to be all about her voice. Hearing the name Kate Bush already confirmed this song was from the '80s, unlike the more modern name of Kate Landing Strip. Anyway, her style of performance reminded me of Billie Eilish, which isn't necessarily a good thing. Song choice was still well done, which, go figure that an enjoyable song will be pleasant to hear be covered.

Yu Hojin - Just like Nicolas, he's unable to step away from his magic table. His table is so gimmicked, it makes sense for him to dedicate the performance to British Simon, who wouldn't question why somebody is completely enshrouded in darkness during summer. He was better than Nicolas tonight, and the Statue of Liberty ending was a nice touch.

Drake Milligan - I was a little confused seeing "DRAKE" on the LED panel for so long while none of the performance included rapping about impregnating strippers in a fake Jamaican accent. He couldn't be bothered to play a new song, probably because the record label he's transparent about getting backed by wants him to promote the single. Kudos for having a lyric about getting drunk while a video of cars on the road plays, though it wasn't very realistic considering the driver wasn't going 300 mph through a school zone. Upon a second play, the song was decent and I'll have to give Drake's album a try to extend my conscious thoughts about him for another half day after the show concludes.

"Never watch AGT again? Sounds like something I'd do! 🎵"

Edited September 16, 2022 by Neet
song is from the '80s, not '70s

[InternetToughGuy]

Damn, it feels like I got nothing to say, probably because my attachment to which person who isn't me winning a million dollars is extremely low - either that or shitting on people who are more talented and better looking than me stopped being fun when I realized how pathetic I am.

///

Kristy Sellars - With her dancing in front of rapidly changing screens of flashing noise, this act just may hold the youth's attention span for 30 seconds. The opening act curses anyone who gets it, so all this will get is her giving fake applause at the news of receiving 7th place. There could've been text flashing across the screen describing in detail the physical exertion required to perform this and I still would've been fixated on imagining what the sweaty poles taste like.

Nicolas Ribs - I don't know if his name is an allusion to him being a starving artist, which would make him more American, since 99% of the nation's creative people have no idea that they are starving because their crap isn't worth paying for, though Americans have a very different idea of what starving means. Anyways, even though I stared at the TV with full attention while my Game Boy was locked in a Houdini-esque box, I barely had any idea what was going on. He opened the act by saying more English than the typical Texan hears in a month. He ends the act by saying the real magic is family, which I'm sure he believes so long as his daughter is one of the few people who didn't have to wait until age 40 to move out. I haven't even touched 30 yet and upon getting up at 6pm, my parents force me outside to spend all night in the yard like a dog who pissed on the rug.

Chapel Hart - It's a little annoying that it's evident the thought process of "Hmm...now that we're getting more exposure, perhaps I should take my health more seriously" never crossed the main singer's mind, even though the stained track pants I have on are more symbolic of my commitment to staying away from the gym, so who am I to judge (unless on my fake Facebook account). The vocal quality was really bad for most of it and the subject material seemed to suggest the song had been stuck in creative hell since before they were born, as the only thing Americans can be proud of is how a country with no money can keep going another day.

Mike E. Winfield - Most of the material was funny, especially the ongoing joke in the background of him being seriously involved with an older woman, I kept having to pause the show to let out noises of hysterics mixed with condolences. He had a remark about the mall, which I legitimately didn't understand, possibly because the only thing to do at the mall is walk from the food court and count the number of vacancies until you get to the Ross store that is one bad weekend away from closing.

Metaphysic - I was prepared to be underwhelmed at the "big name" they were teasing, since on shows like The Masked Singer, the hosts lose their mind over someone whose album peaked at 196 for a lone week in 2002. Anyways, I guess underwhelmed is what I felt, since modern sightings of Elvis filled to the gills with adrenochrome are common among the communities of paranoid men who went bald in middle school. Since the camera didn't show the guy standing in for Elvis, you had no idea how much the camera was doing, although you'd have to go back to the beginning of his career for the camera to only add 10 pounds.

Mayyas - It felt like I was actually in Lebanon with how in heat this performance made me. Even being a fan of Kpop where most of the groups consist of 20+ nameless performers, it seems like they keep adding new members, especially since their performances from other shows in 2019 have a completely different roster. Perhaps the troupe leader has realized that the girls are disposable after their 2-3 year shelf life expires - I can only imagine how he'd treat me after learning my presence in his country would be dependent on sucking up the nation's tax dollars while contributing nothing. The performance wasn't as good as the others, probably because only having a week isn't enough time to practice synchronizing 80 moving parts of a leaf, but nonetheless their genre still makes such a thing disappointing.

Avery Dixon - Having heard the news that the NAACP are demanding Avery and Mike be made co-winners, it feels like this performance is more of a victory lap than having to prove something (OK, angry Twitter accounts are not a reliable source). While not knowing much about music, I can say Dix did a great blow job (a rare time I'm giggling) and this would be a much more worthy Vegas show than someone paying $500 to watch a no name sing covers. Avery playing something that looks like it's made of solid gold when the economy is on the verge of collapse is also a bold move.

Celia Munoz - It's hard to believe there could be an act consisting of opera music and forgotten souls that isn't Forte, but here we are. She's one of the more likeable acts, possibly because a lot of the competition is just flat out annoying like usual. The spirit making the apple levitate and then her biting into it of her own volition makes the typical American unsure of whether to categorize this as a horror film or self harm. Obviously not much to say other than it was good.

Sara James - Having read about this performance earlier, I had been anxiously awaiting a sight of Kate's bush, despite knowing me misreading the description was far more likely than the network teasing an FCC violation in advance. As far as covers go, it was alright. It's odd a song so old could still resonate today, especially when its title describes physical movement not taking place in a car. I don't know who would pay several hundred dollars to see this in person, especially me, since 5 minutes in and I'd be waiting for an adult to help secure my Playstation Portable to my face like an oxygen mask.

Yu Hojin - With how popular it is, the average person probably does think Korean GDP is 95% Kpop, which is why a magician being from there seems a bit odd, although kudos to him for finding a career that doesn't have a dozen members fighting over the remaining 10% of money that the abusive manager forgot to steal. His trick was a definite downgrade from before, as it seemed like everything was happening on the light-free table - a scene reminiscent of what the earth looked like at night before the moon was installed in the 1950s. Overall boring.

Drake Milligan - Due to the collective attention span being in the toilet, 90% of the viewing audience probably thought this was his first time on the show, so a repeat performance of a song didn't hurt him at all. The screen behind him showing cars trying to ram each other off the road reminded me of how me and my adult nephew behave during midterms (relatively civil), since we save our full blown brainwashed behavior for the real election. The acoustic guitar is never audible in the mix, so I never understand what the point is, especially since Drake is so far away from the audience, unlike The Wiggles, he doesn't have to keep his hands busy to avoid accusations (that is actually why they pose with their hands in photos). His last name being Mill-again suggests he won money in a previous season, which was my main paranoid complaint in my routine Tuesday night harassing phone call to a clueless NBC receptionist.

///

It's depressing that this is the last performance, even though another dozen episodes of this show has only made me hate it more, while simultaneously praying it gets another spinoff season in Winter.

[Mr. Sparkle]

Alright, let's do this! I will preface to the 6 people who read this that I was tired and in a bad mood last night. I fell asleep a few times, which may or may not be a reflection on the talent. 

• Kristy Sellars - I like her and her act, but I think she didn't benefit from performing last week and the act lost some of its impact. 
• Nicholas Ribs - interesting magic, but no charisma. 
• Chapel Hart - I don't know if it was them or the soundman, but like everyone else said, the vocals sounded weak and off. I hated the song, too. 
• Mike E. Winfield - I like him and think he's funny. I could see him having a sitcom or being on SNL. I don't see him winning this. 
• Metaphysic - you either like them or you don't, and I don't. I think they're creepy. The "devil in disguise" part with Simon was funny, but then they repeated it.
• Mayyas - same as Kristy, the impact was lessened by them being on last week. Still pretty good at what they do. 
• Avery Dixon - bad Kenny G impression. Seems like a nice young man. 
• Celia Munoz - honestly, I started dozing off during her act, which was not her fault. I want to go rewatch it, because I think she's talented and unique. 
• Sara James - amazing talent and poise for a 14 year old. I missed the whole Kate Bush thing this summer because I don't watch Stranger Things, but she brought it. 
• Yu Hojin - definitely the better magician, but this wasn't his best performance. 
• Drake Milligan - clearly a professional, polished act.  This was just exposure for him. 

Top tier - Mayyas, Sara James, Drake

Maybe tier - Kristy, Chapel Hart, Metaphysic, Celia, Yu

Unlikely - Nicholas Ribs, Mike E., Avery

[sharifa70]

Whoo boy. I like Chapel Hart but they were waaaaay off key last night. I had to fast-forward most of their performance because I couldn’t take it.

I agree with other posters who thought the Mayyas performed better in their other two appearances. I mean, they still looked amazing but after being absolutely wowed the other two times, my reaction to last night’s performance was “it’s great but the audience is definitely overreacting.”

Ventriloquists freak me out. Celia Munoz does not. I’m happy she got a second chance and agree with Simon that this performance was so much better than her Grease tribute a couple of weeks ago.

I thought both magicians were pretty average. Good-average, but they both telegraph their tricks too much. And Yu Hojin’s table was so dark I kept not watching his hands because I was trying to see what the dim light was hiding.

Mike E. Winfield made me laugh a few times, which is more than most of the comedians do.

Sara’s rendition of “Running Up that Hill” slowed down an already slow song. I actually do watch Stranger Things, but then I’m old enough to have been in high school the first time the song made it big, and I just don’t feel like Sara brought anything new to it. I recognize that she’s talented; I just don’t think it was a great song choice.

Drake. You know, I am pulling for the Mayyas in spite of their “oh, that looked nice” performance but will not be at all surprised if Ameriker votes for him. 

[CruiseDiva]

I'm not a follower of AGT, but what's with all the performers from other countries? The most talented AMERICAN on AGT is definitely Drake.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

Act placement last night was fascinating.  Drake was definitely set up to win.  His upbeat song and his showmanship also ensured the show would end with a lot of energy.  

I could not believe my ears, literally, as Chapel Hart butchered their own song.  It was not even a difficult tune!  Simon was right, the choruses were great.  It really is sad to see an act fall apart on such a stage.  I wish them well.

I don't understand Yu's routine, save the Statue of Liberty.  It seemed the same old, same old computer table deal.  zzzzzzzzz 

I have to admit, Metaphysic's opening image of Elvis was breathtaking.  I actually do like the new technique/art form.  Re-imagining some of the greats is very cool.  Yes, it is fraught with issues.  But, I'd love to see, for example, a new (and FUNNY) Johnny Carson routine.  The performance last night was limited and necessarily pedestrian.  No excitement at all.  The depictions of the jidges was great.  I would not mind at all if this act won.

It was entirely fitting that the comedian bombed. 

I sure hope Dolly makes an appearance tonight.  

[ams1001]

3 hours ago, CruiseDiva said:

I'm not a follower of AGT, but what's with all the performers from other countries? The most talented AMERICAN on AGT is definitely Drake.

"Got Talent" is basically a franchise. There are versions in a number of countries (69, according to Wikipedia) and (just going by comments I've seen in various places) a lot of acts seem to make the rounds.

[PBnJay]

I was flipping between this and a show "on another channel" and figured I'd catch everyone on the weekend rerun. But OMG, I did see and unfortunately HEAR Chapel Hart. Holy cats, my ears were hurting. They SUCKED big time. It wasn't even the acoustics of the auditorium, they were just flat flat. I hope that puts us out of our misery of having to hear them again. That was truly some ear torture last night.

I did flip back to see the Elvis impersonator at the end. I thought yeah, Vegas has a spot for him what with all the Elvis love there and all. He could perform Elvis weddings when he's not playing a gig.

Edited September 14, 2022 by PBnJay

[ams1001]

1 minute ago, PBnJay said:

I was flipping between this and a show "on another channel" and figured I'd catch everyone on the weekend rerun. But OMG, I did see and unfortunately HEAR Chapel Hart. Holy cats, my ears were hurting. They SUCKED big time. It wasn't even the acoustics of the auditorium, they were just flat flat. I hope that puts us out of our misery of having to hear them again. That was truly some ear torture last night.

Simon said if that was their audition he would have stopped them (🙄) and had them sing a cappella so he could hear the lyric better. Then he commented that they were a "little off"... If they had sounded like that at the audition I don't believe for a second he wouldn't have buzzed them 30 seconds in.

[Mr. Sparkle]

Just now, ams1001 said:

Simon said if that was their audition he would have stopped them (🙄) and had them sing a cappella so he could hear the lyric better. Then he commented that they were a "little off"... If they had sounded like that at the audition I don't believe for a second he wouldn't have buzzed them 30 seconds in.

Pretty much the same thing happened to that J-Pop band last week, and they were buzzed. I do think the sound team had something to do with it, but they were off. 

[rr2911]

1 hour ago, CruiseDiva said:

I'm not a follower of AGT, but what's with all the performers from other countries? The most talented AMERICAN on AGT is definitely Drake.

Because the name of the show is "America's Got Talent" not "Americans Got Talent"

The apostrophe before an s means possession.   For example, " Are you going to Sandra's party?"  Sandra is the host of the party.  Same thing here.  Got Talent is the parent company of these contests and there are many around the world.  America is the "host" of this contest right now, thus America's Got Talent.  This contest is "open" to everyone around the world.  There have been Americans competing in other Got Talent contesta around the world.

[Vermicious Knid]

Also, apostrophes do not belong in plurals. If you have more than one cat you have two cats, not two cat's.

Just a major, major pet peeve of mine.

[CruiseDiva]

35 minutes ago, rr2911 said:

Because the name of the show is "America's Got Talent" not "Americans Got Talent"

The apostrophe before an s means possession.   For example, " Are you going to Sandra's party?"  Sandra is the host of the party.  Same thing here.  Got Talent is the parent company of these contests and there are many around the world.  America is the "host" of this contest right now, thus America's Got Talent.  This contest is "open" to everyone around the world.  There have been Americans competing in other Got Talent contesta around the world.

Thank you for explaining. This is the first time I've watched AGT and didn't understand the format.