Americas Got Talent Semifinals- Landon Swank

FOR BRITISH VEIWERS, THIS ARTICLE MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

WHAT DID LANDON DO?

Upping the danger level even further, Landon performed a high-stakes mentalism routine. In it, there were four boxes with explosives attached, each rigged to a controller. From inside one of the boxes, he told the judges to choose a controller each and use it to blow up the corresponding box.  The did, leaving one box untouched. Landon jumped out of that one, safe and sound. To prove that there was no rigging, and that the whole thing was genuine, Landon used the remaining controller to blow up the box he had been in.Again, while the concept was familiar, the presentation was excellent, and, just like last time, the suspense was really milked. Earlier in the competition, Frank Miles performed a trick with a similar theme, but Landon's was much better

WHAT DID THE JUDGES SAY?

All three judges gave Landon a standing ovation. Howie said that he was concerned because "We came close to killing you", but felt that the performance was "amazing". Piers said that Landon was a "dark horse" and said that the trick was "Dangerous" and "Exciting". Sharon, who had accidently buzzed Landon during the buildup, admitted her mistake had been due to nerves, but praised Landon's "A+" presentation. She also added that she felt Landon was "Pacing himself" excellently (Compare this trick with the mirror one he did in his quarterfinal round), as opposed to doing the big ones early (A pitfall that has cost magicians like Kevin James and Shimshi before).

WHAT WAS THE COMPETITION LIKE?

It's hard to predict, as, just like with the wildcard round, no one was perfect. Apart from Landon, only Anna Graceman, who sang "Home sweet home", and the Smage brothers, who got their whole family to help them, got praise from all three judges. The Shilouettes, Landau Eugene Murphy Jr., Snap Boogie and Fatally Unique all got mixed reviews, with one judge or another stating that they had been better in previous rounds. The Knetic King and Professor Splash did well, but I doubt that they can hold an hour-long show. Meanwhile, three acts each recieved an X (From Piers, natch): Steven Retchless, who was a bit boring compared to other acts, Summerwind Skippers, who made mistakes and were not as exciting as last time, and Gymkana, who had one member doing chair balancing which was weaker than Zuma Zuma's last week, and the rest doing repetitive flips, cumilating in a performer botching a jump through a flaming hoop and only narrowly avoiding injury. Their problems sum up the judges complaints about the bulk of the acts

WHAT ARE LANDON'S CHANCES LIKE?

Landon has a moderate to high chance of advancing, given the judges praise of him, and the weak quality of most of the competition.