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.
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.
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