America's Got Talent revealed its first four seventh-season semifinalist acts during Tuesday night's live broadcast of the NBC reality competition series.
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America's Got Talent host Nick Cannon also revealed that 787 Crew, a dance group from San Juan, Puerto Rico; American BMX Stunt Team, a BMX stunt team from Durham, NC; Distinguished Men of Brass, a brass band from Tampa, FL; Jarrett and Raja, comedy illusionists from Las Vegas, NV; Lil Starr, a tap dancer from Chino, CA; Michael Nejad, a musician from San Jose, CA; and Nikki Jensen, a singer and guitarist from Sydney, Australia, had received the seven lowest home viewer vote totals.
The announcements then left America's Got Talent judges Howie Mandel, Sharon Osbourne and Howard Stern with the task of deciding which of the two acts that had received the fourth and fifth highest vote totals -- Edon, a 12-year-old singer from Chicago, IL, or Todd Oliver, a ventriloquist and dog act from Branson, MO -- should become the fourth act to advance to the semifinals.
"This is no fun. you know, I'm sitting on Twitter -- I'm asking them, I've asked the judges -- [and] you know, people have so many different opinions," Howie said. "Todd Oliver, you are unique, in the sense that I've never seen ventriloquism done with dogs. It's unique. I don't know if the material was there but that doesn't mean it couldn't be there, it doesn't mean you couldn't hire a writer, it doesn't mean it couldn't be even more fabulous, and I think people seem to be attracted to what you did."
"Edon, I think what you did -- as you said, you're an undiscovered talent who is much more soulful than his years. But I have to go with what I said on the Today show this morning -- for me, Edon is the chosen!"
Howard then revealed that he was also voting for Edon -- rendering Sharon's vote moot.
"I'm not surprised we're in this position, that dog act is one of the most original things I've seen. And you want to know something -- you son of a gun, because I wish you had invested a thousand dollars and gotten yourself a joke writer who would have written you topical humor. But you are darn good and you got a good idea. Edon is a child prodigy. He's a child though, and I wish he was actually in this contest five years from now when he's really going to mature. You know, he can sometimes get that high range and Justin Bieber-ish," Howard said.
"Darn it, I want to say Todd Oliver, but you know what Edon, I called it last night. I knew America was probably going to go for you, I'm going to give it to you. Todd, you did a good job, nothing to be ashamed of man!"
Afterward, Sharon told Nick she would have voted to make Edon's selection unanimous.
"Absolutely, without a shadow of doubt in my mind, I would have voted for Edon!" she said.
America's Got Talent's next episode will air Monday, July 9 and feature the season's next group of 12 quarterfinalists performing for the chance to advance to the semifinals.
About The Author: Steven Rogers
