Americas Got Talent 11 Semifinals - Semifinal Two: Kadan Bart Rockett (& Brooklyn), Steven Brundage and The Clairvoyants

(For British Viewers, the Following May Contain Spoilers)

Last week saw the Second and last of the America's Got Talent Semifinals, with eleven acts competing for the last five places in the Grand Final. Among these competitors were three magic acts - 10 Year-Old Illusionist Kadan Bart Rockett, Rubix Cube Magician Steven Brundage and Mentalist Duo The Clairvoyants. Its an AGT tradition that the second Semifinal is much more impressive than the first, and that was certainly true this time, meaning that our magic acts had to put on the best possible performance in order to stand out from the crowd and advance to the Grand Final.

How Did Kadan Bart Rockett (& Brooklyn) Do?

When introducing Kadan Bart Rockett and his younger sister/assistant Brooklyn, AGT host Nick Cannon pointed out they were "the youngest contestants left in the competition." As they were up against some incredibly talented adult magicians, Kadan and Brooklyn had to work together to provide a performance spectacular enough to measure up to their more experienced rivals.

Fortunately, Kadan Bart and Brooklyn have never lacked ambition, and their Semifinal performance was their most lavish yet. With schoolchildren all over America going back to school, Kadan used his routine to introduce the audience to his fifth-grade class, which consisted of eleven other pupils. Kadan and Brooklyn showed everyone a photo of the class, and instructed Simon and Heidi to choose one of the pupils in the photo, with Simon deciding whether that pupil was from the top row or the bottom row, and Heidi choosing one of the pupils from this chosen row. Kadan Bart and Brooklyn marked the selected pupil, who was called Rebecca, by putting a Gold Sticker over her head in the photo. Kadan Bart and Brooklyn then held a sheet high in the air, and dropped it to reveal that they had made Rebecca appear, with a Gold Sticker on her head to match the one she had been given in the photo.

After this, Brooklyn pointed out that the rest of the class would be jealous if only Rebecca got to appear on stage, so Kadan set up a cardboard replica of a small school. He soon made all rest of Rebecca's classmates appear, with all eleven children walking out of the door of the small school one at a time to get onto the stage and be greeted by Kadan Bart and Brooklyn. One Kadan Bart had made all eleven of his classmates appear, the cardboard school opened up to reveal that Kadan Bart's teacher, Miss McGillicutty, was inside the box as well, sitting at her desk.

Overall, this was a fun performance. I liked the school theme, and enjoyed both of the tricks performed during the routine, even if they were pretty easy to figure out. Though Kadan Bart already made large numbers of people appear in his Judges Cuts performance, this routine was more elaborate, and therefore more impressive. However, the routine also highlighted many of Kadan Bart's major flaws. His dialogue with Brooklyn felt a bit cheesy and flat at points, but the biggest problem with the routine was the poor quality of the replica school. There were a number of instances when the walls of the school threatened to fall down before they were supposed to, forcing Brooklyn to rush over to hold them in place. Ultimately, in spite of these problems, the routine remained fun to watch. Kadan Bart and Brooklyn have always seemed a bit amateurish, but this gives their act a lot of charm, and the fact that they're able to provide large-scale illusions at such a young age is something to admire.

The judges had plenty of positive comments for Kadan Bart and Brooklyn. Howie praised the concept behind Kadan Bart's act, as it involved "magic that makes us feel like a kind, done by kids". Mel B said that it "wasn't the slickest of performances", but praised the way that Kadan Bart and Brooklyn persevered and provided an impressive trick in spite of their poor-quality props. Heidi said that the duo deserved an "A+" for their performance, and Simon praised their showmanship. It was inevitable that Kadan Bart Rockett and Brooklyn would to gain enough votes to make it through to the Grand Final. Given the high quality of their competitors, the duo seemed a bit amateurish and out of place. However, their Semifinal performance was good enough to send them out on a high, and I think that Kadan Bart and Brooklyn have the potential to be great magicians in the future.

How Did Steven Brundage Do?

Going into this Semifinal, Steven Brundage was probably the magician to beat. Unique, creative and benefitting from a giant online fanbase, he seemed like a guaranteed finalist. However, his Semifinal routine proved to be a disappointment.

For the Semifinals, Steven tried to do the two things he needed to do to impress the viewers by making his act bigger and demonstrating that it did not just revolve around changing the configurations of a Rubix Cube. In his pre-performance intro, Steven promised that he would provide "the biggest trick that's ever been attempted with Rubix Cubes". His routine involved over 204 Rubix Cubes stacked into a giant tower. After pointing out that there were more ways to arrange the various cubes in the tower than "atoms in the known universe", Brundage put more Rubix Cubes into the tower, but left gaps which would be filled by four cubes. After this set-up, Steven went to the Judges Table and performed some of his signature Close-Up tricks with a single Rubix Cube. He went to Simon and magically solved a mixed-up Rubix Cube in front of him. After this Steven placed a mixed-up Rubix Cube in one hand which he put behind his back. When the cube was thrown to Howie, it had magically solved itself.

After this, it was time for the main trick to start. Steven went to Nick, and showed him a Deck of Cards with the names of celebrities on their faces. Nick was instructed to choose a card and keep his selection a secret. The four judges were each given a Rubix Cube, and told to mix it up as they wished. Nick was told to stop the Judges one at a time in any order he wished, and when he had stopped a judge, Steven would take their Rubix Cube (with tongs, to prevent him using Sleight-of-Hand) and transfer it to a tray. Steven took Mel B's cube first, then Simon's, then Heidi's and finally Howie's. Once he was in possession of all four cubes, Steven went to the giant tower, where he pointed out the four holes, and told Nick to choose which hole each cube would be placed in. After the four Rubix Cubes had been placed in the four holes, completing the Rubix Cube tower, Nick was asked to name the celebrity whose name was on his chosen card. After Nick revealed that the celebrity he had chosen was Brad Pitt, Steven turned the tower around to reveal that the spots on the back of all the Cubes combined to form a portrait of Nick's chosen celebrity.

Overall, I thought that this was one of Steven's weakest performances on AGT. I liked the idea behind it, but I thought that this was one routine which needed to finish strongly, and the conclusion here was anticlimactic. The idea of having randomly combined Rubix Cubes form the face of a celebrity is an interesting one, but the Judges did not have much control over the tower of cubes. They were only able to mix up four cubes out of over 200, and for all we know, the four cubes did not have a substantial effect on the look of the portrait. This makes the climax seem a lot less impressive, as it appeared that Steven had too much control over the formation of the Rubix Cubes. I also disliked the fact we never got a good look at the finished portrait. Steven's portrait was only shown from a distance, meaning that we couldn't see whether Brad Pitt's key features, such as his unshaven face, were depicted convincingly, Even though Steven was only working with six colours, it should have been made a lot easier to recognise that he was depicting Brad Pitt. Therefore, Steven's Semifinal performance was not up to the high standard he needed, especially at such a critical stage of the competition.

The judges generally enjoyed Steven's performance. Heidi complimented Steven's "enthusiasm" and creativity. Simon said he "made the boring fascinating", and was "the most improved contestant we've seen on this show so far". Howie called Steven's act "amazing", but claimed that the portrait looked more like him than Brad Pitt (Although currently bald, Howie had a lot of hair in his youth), inadvertently highlighting the poor quality of Steven's Rubix Cube Portrait. In spite of the favourable comments he received, Steven's underwhelming performance cost him dearly. He failed to receive enough votes to advance automatically, and had to face the Judges Choice at the end of the results show. Both Mel B and Simon believed that Steven Brundage should be the last act to be put through to the Grand FInal, but Heidi and Howie voted for juggler Viktor Kee. As Viktor Kee received more votes from the public, he gained the last place in the Grand Final, eliminating Steven. It would have been really nice to see Steven Brundage make it through to the Grand Final, and I think he had the potential to recover from his disappointing Semifinal performance, but ultimately, I think that the ten finalists we have are very strong and generally deserved to make it through.

How Did The Clairvoyants Do?

The Clairvoyants have distinguished themselves from previous AGT mentalists such as Eric Dittelman and Oz Pearlman through their old-fashioned approach. Whereas their predecessors focused on being energetic and modern, The Clairvoyants aim to invoke memories of iconic mentalist couples such as The Zancigs and The Piddingtons. For their Semifinal performance, they chose to draw on this history with a routine aimed at recalling a time when Clairvoyants were valued for their ability to explore people's "most intimate thoughts". 

The Clairvoyants began their performance by asking Howie to think of a question he always wanted to ask Simon, before secretly writing it a sheet of paper. Mel B was instructed to write down the initials of a person who was special to her, and Heidi was asked to think of a place where she received a kiss. Like Howie, Mel B and Heidi secretly wrote their answers on a sheet of paper. When the three judges had finished, they folded their sheets of paper so that The Clairvoyants couldn't see them.

After this set-up, The Clairvoyants performed a smaller mentalism trick using Simon as a volunteer. Amelie brought Simon on stage and asked him to imagine he was walking down the streets of London having achieved a significant life goal. Simon was then asked to imagine that he was looking at Big Ben, and the hands on the clocktower were set to a time of his choice, Simon was then instructed to name his chosen time (7:04), and when he did this, Thommy showed him a paper bag, and revealed that it contained a small, old-fashioned clock which had been set at exactly 7:04 before the routine began.

When this trick had been performed, it was time to get the other three judges involved in the act again. Howie, Mel B and Heidi were asked to join The Clairvoyants on stage, taking their folded pieces of paper with them, and sit around a table with Simon. Thommy then took Howie's sheet of paper and opened it. Even though she was too far away to read it, Amelie correctly guessed Howie's chosen question - he had asked Simon for a raise. Next, Heidi was asked to give Thommy her sheet of paper, but he didn't read it. Instead, he held one of Heidi's hands, with Amelie holding the other, and Amelie correctly identified Heidi's chosen location as an Airplane. After this, Thommy took Mel B's sheet of paper, and used a candle to burn the folded edge. Thommy then put his hand over a nearby flame, and as he did so, Amelie correctly identified that Mel B's chosen person had the initials I.B and was her grandmother. However, The Clairvoyants weren't finished yet. Mel B was given a pendant which Amelie had worn around her neck throughout the routine, and told to hold it and reveal her grandmother's first name - Iris. When Mel B had done this, she was instructed to open the Pendant. It turned out to contain a folded sheet of paper with a correct prediction Iris' name written on it.

With this performance, The Clairvoyants firmly established that they are one of the best magic acts competing in this season of AGT. In their audition and Judges Cuts performance, The Clairvoyants focused almost entirely on object-based mentalism. This was very impressive, but it was hard to tell whether The Clairvoyants had the ability to maintain the novelty of their act across multiple performances or an hour-long show. In the Quarter Finals, The Clairvoyants proved that they were were creative and versatile enough to stand out, but their Semifinal performance was their best to date. Thommy and Amelie's mentalism is always hard to figure out, but when they're reading thoughts instead of identifying objects, it's even more impressive. In addition, their showmanship was excellent. The Clairvoyants really succeeded in replicating the look and feel of old-fashioned clairvoyants whilst allowing their act to see modern and engaging. Overall, they provided one of the best performances of the night, and marked themselves out as major Dark Horses. 

The judges had nothing but compliments for The Clairvoyants. Howie called the performance "my favourite moment of the night". Mel B was amazed that the duo correctly identified her Grandmother. Heidi said that "I don't think we need a clairvoyant" to figure out that they duo would get through, and Simon likened their act to "a ghost movie", praising the "delicious creepy show" they put on. Given the quality of their performance, and the praise they received from the judges, it was no surprise that The Clairvoyants received enough votes to advance automatically to the final. I am really looking forward to seeing them at the Grand Final, and I think that their next performance has the potential to be incredible. I'm not sure that The Clairvoyants can win, but I think they may be able to do better than Jon Dorenbos and thus become the most successful magicians in this season of AGT. 

Who Else Made It Through?

In addition to The Clairvoyants, the following four acts made it through to the Grand Final. They were:

• Pop/Rock Singer Brian Justin Crum
• Vocal Quartet Linkin' Bridge
• Teenage Contortionist/Acrobat Sofie Dossi
• Juggler Viktor Kee

I wish them all the best of luck in the Grand Final. 

Americas Got Talent 11 Semifinals - Semifinal One: Blake Vogt and Jon Dorenbos

(For British Viewers, the Following May Contain Spoilers)

Last week, the Americas Got Talent Semifinals began, with 11 acts competing for the first five places in the Grand Final. This means that it will be harder to get through, and the high standards at this stage will mean that some excellent acts will be eliminated.

Among the 11 acts competing in the first Semifinal were two magicians: Blake Vogt and Jon Dorenbos. Given that both of them specialise in Close-Up Magic and Mentalism, the competition between the two would be especially intense.

How Did Blake Vogt Do?

After theming his previous performance around birds, Blake Vogt made flight into a central part of his Semifinal routine. He began by showing the audience a balcony to the left of the stage, where his fiancee Nikki (who he introduced us to in his pre-performance video) was seated. After this, Blake talked about how he and Nikki would often engage in a "nerdy debate" about the two most common" superpowers, flight and invisibility, before promising that he would demonstrate both of these. Blake's first trick was a card trick. He asked Simon to choose a card, before tearing off a corner and giving the remainder of the chosen card (the Ten of Clubs) back to Simon. Blake then made his quarter of the card vanish from inside his bare hands, claiming that it had become invisible, before making this invisible piece "fly" through the air and "land" inside an empty box of cards lying on the Judges Table. Heidi was asked to open the box, and revealed a piece of a card inside. This piece turned out to be the missing piece of Simon's chosen card.

After this trick, Blake promised to do something much more spectacular, and demonstrate invisibility and flight himself. He revealed a Scissor Lift and climbed onto it. He then turned it on, lifting himself high into the air. After this, Blake claimed that he could only make his body invisible, and not his clothes. He covered himself with a sheet and took off various items of clothes whilst hiding beneath it. Blake then removed the sheet to reveal that he was now dressed in a head-to-toe "camouflage" bodysuit, which resembled the brick wall in the background (However, the camouflage was not too convincing). After this comedic demonstration of invisibility, Blake promised to demonstrate the power of flight. He covered himself with the sheet a second time, and after a few seconds, it fell away to reveal that Blake had vanished from the Scissor Lift. Almost immediately afterwards, Blake reappeared inside Nikki's balcony, still wearing his camouflage suit.

Overall, this was probably Blake's best performance to date. After so many Close-Up tricks and mentalism routines, it was interesting to see him tackle a Grand Illusion as well, and this was performed competently. I also liked the superhero theme, which made Blake seem a bit more unique. In addition, Blake's showmanship was far better than it had been in his previous two performances, possibly because the grander scale of the routine suited his energetic personality well. However, whilst this routine was fun, I don't think it changed my belief that Blake is the weakest of the five magicians who made the Semifinals. This is the stage where magicians have to provide their most unique and/or spectacular tricks, and whilst Blake's tricks were performed well, they were inferior those provided by fellow magicians such as The Clairvoyants or Steven Brundage.

The judges generally gave Blake positive comments, with the exception of Heidi. She claimed that "I don't think bigger necessarily is always better" and argued that the card trick at the beginning was more impressive than the main illusion. However, Simon said told Blake that "this performance may have just changed your life". Howie said that he agreed with Simon more, and felt that the climactic trick was "spectacular". Finally, Mel B said that Blake left her "bewildered". Ultimately, Blake's early performance slot and the incredibly high standard of competition meant that he did not receive enough votes to make it through to the Grand Final. However, he did pretty well in this series, and went out on a high note.

How Did Jon Dorenbos Do?

In addition to his skills as a magician, Jon Dorenbos has been defined by his status as a professional American Football player for teams such as the Philadelphia Eagles. For his Semifinal performance, Jon provided a routine which centered around his experience in the NFL.

In addition to incorporating American Football into his performance, Jon also used an American theme. He began by walking on stage to the James Brown anthem "Living in America", then introduced the judges and audience to three props. The first of these was a giant map of America at the back of the stage, the second was a Treasure Chest which his grandparents had given him as a child, and the third was a Journal which Jon had also used during his childhood (It was used in "intense therapy" to help Jon cope with the traumatic events which defined his childhood, which I won't mention on this blog). Jon told Howie to look after the journal, before turning his attention to the Giant Map.

Jon then took an American football ball of a bucket near the Judges Table, and demonstrated his skills as a "Long Snapper", throwing the ball at the Giant Map backwards, and between his legs. The four judges were then given an American Football ball each, and told to aim at the giant map, either throwing their ball, or "snapping" it as Jon had done. The footballs had magnets, which allowed them to stick to the giant board when they landed on it. This would be used to allow each judge to randomly select a state from the giant map, as they would be given the state nearest to the spot where their ball landed (each state was marked with a number between 1 and 50). The Judges lined up and tried to show their American football skills. Simon hit a spot on the map between Alaska and Hawaii, and chose to select Alaska as his chosen state. Heidi successfully pulled off a "Snap", hitting the area representing Wyoming. Mel B and Howie both threw their footballs, with Mel B hitting the area representing Texas and Howie hitting the area representing Oklahoma. The states randomly chosen by the judges were marked with magnets (showing the faces of the judges who chose them), and Jon took note of the numbers corresponding to each of the chosen states.

After this, Jon brought Howie on stage, and told him to remove a key attached to the back of the journal, which was used to open the treasure chest, which contained a number of coins. Howie was instructed to bring the coins to the Judges Table, where Jon revealed that the numbers corresponding to the four chosen states added up to 167. Jon claimed that the total value of the coins would be $1.67, thus correctly predicting the combined total of the states, but the coins turned out to be four Quarters, two Nickels, and a Penny, which added up to $1.11. Jon stated that Quarters had the names of states engraved on them, and it was revealed that three of the quarters had the names and symbols of three of the chosen states (Alaska, Oklahoma and Texas). The fourth Quarter didn't, but Jon had something even more impressive to reveal. He told Mel B to open his journal, and she found a small paper map folded up inside, This was opened to reveal a smaller copy of the giant map, with four stickers of the judges in the exact same place as the magnets on the giant map, providing four correct predictions of the states which the judges chose.

Overall, this was an enjoyable, if rather long routine. I liked the manner in which Jon's American Football skills were incorporated into his performance. The patriotic theme was also effective, probably inspired by Simon's claim in the previous round that Jon was "a real American hero". I also liked the greater level of spectacle, as Jon made full use of the stage for the first time after three Close-Up routines. As usual, Jon's showmanship was excellent, and his routine was hard to figure out. However, the main problem with the routine was the use of the judges. The judges are not the most reliable volunteers, as they can often struggle to follow complex instructions. Whilst they had no trouble throwing the footballs (apart from Simon, who initially missed the map completely and required a second throw to choose a state), Howie took a while to open the treasure chest. Worse still, Howie and Mel B proved hopeless at understanding American coins (which is what happens when you have an American talent show without a single American judge). When they had to count the coins from the chest, they had no idea what they were worth, initally accepting Jon's claims that they added up to $1.67 without examining them properly. When it was time to read the names of the states on the backs of the four quarters, Howie had trouble doing this, forcing Jon to reveal the state on the back of the last quarter (Hawaii) before Howie could have a proper look at it. I appreciate Jon's desire to have a more elaborate routine with a greater number of reveals, but the two fake errors (the value of the coins not totalling $1.67 and the fourth quarter not having "Wyoming" engraved on the back) had little impact, because Howie and Mel B's mistakes slowed the routine down. Overall, there were enough positives to prevent this routine from seeming too boring, but it was still Jon's weakest performance on AGT to date.

However, the Judges were full of compliments for Jon's performance. Howie called the routine "amazing". Mel B said that it made her "speechless". Heidi called Jon's performance his "best touchdown yet" and Simon was even more effusive in his praise, saying that the routine was "the most incredible thing I've ever seen on one of these shows". Jon has always seemed like an act who can get plenty of votes even if he provides a subpar performance, so it was no surprise that he gained enough votes to advance automatically to the Grand Final, which will be held next week. I look forward to seeing Jon's performance in the Grand Final, and I believe that he has the potential to do really well.


Who Else Made It Through?

In addition to Jon Dorenbos, the following four acts made it through to the Grand Final. They Were:

• Child Singer/Songwriter Grace VanderWaal
• Teenage Opera Singer Laura Bretan
• Jazz/Swing Singer Sal Valentinetti
• Mime/Physical Comedian Tape Face

I wish them all the best of luck in the Grand Final.