America’s Got Talent: Episode 28 Review

Ready for round two of the 'America's Got Talent' semi-finals? Of course you are. We still need to figure out who'll be making it into the finals, which means these next few acts better step it up if they even want to be considered by America to be worthy.

First up to try and snag their spot in the finals is All That, the all-male clogging group that we're still surprised to see in the running. Thankfully we're not the only people who think so since a couple of the judges are a bit confused as to why they're still there. They expect to blow us away with their act, but how? They try to dazzle us by having half of their group dance with their feet literally on fire then shortly after engulfed in water. Howie says that they're very one-dimensional, which is true.

Hooray, we're very happy to say that Sebastien "El Charro De Oro" makes us happy. Last time he blew away audiences with his English/Spanish version of the famous song "New York, New York." The kid has a spectacular set of singing pipes, and we think it's adorable he calls himself the "Mexican Superman" when he puts on his mariachi outfit. He brings out a great performance which granted doesn't boast his vocal range like previous songs but we still like it just the same. If viewers at home like Sebastien as much as the 'America's Got Talent' audience does, he'll be set for the finals.

The Magic of Puck, one of the YouTube/Snapple acts that hopes to step it up with his latest performance. He makes him write his name on the handkerchief which he brings over to the stage, continuing on with making his own assistant levitate, disappear then reappear in a box with the handkerchief still tied around her wrist. The judges really like it but the whole thing is just so simple, so overdone that we're not entirely convinced that he deserves a seat in the finals.

Remember Clint Carvalho & His Extreme Parrots? Well he was the first contestant to amaze audiences in the last round with his parrot who flew from an extreme distance just to get to his master. What else can this cute little bird do other than be adorable. He can dance, deliver the mail, go through some hoops and give Clint a little bit of soda as a reward. That was too adorable to not love, but the judges aren't too convinced that this is a Las Vegas-looking act. After seeing some of the shows out there we'd politely disagree but we'll see what America decides in the next couple of days.

Every once in awhile we feel sad for the way certain people are portrayed on film or television. Jacob Williams is one of those unfortunate souls who's currently suffering from that thanks to this show. He's one of two comedians who made it to the semifinals. But instead of striding out in a slightly awkward kind of stance and getup, Jacob Williams struts out in a sharp suit. Unfortunately not all of his jokes were as witty as it takes a good minute for him to build up the laughs with his audience. The judges aren't too convinced that his material was strong enough to carry him into the finals.

Shanice & Maurice Hayes, the sweet father/daughter singing duo who've been grateful and happy that they've made it this far. With twenty people providing the background vocals, the duet sounds strong. The judges like their act but the most surprising critique came from Howard Stern. They both agree that the father is taking up more time in the spotlight compared to the daughter. Ouch. Doesn't look like they're too convinced that they should move forward, but at the same time that isn't their decision to make.

All Wheel Sports, the variety act, is back to dominate the stage once again. They want to show off bigger and better tricks to get noticed. Between a few aerial stunts, some fun stunts and jumps we're amused. There is definitely a lot going on in such a small space which is an accomplishment in itself. Not everyone's convinced that they astounded viewers at home, since in some ways their act basically has the same layout as their previous ones.

There's a few people who've stepped out on that stage and have continually wowed audiences with his/her voice. One of them easily is Tim Hockenberry, the singer/pianist who's made it this far thanks to his unique raspy voice. He does his own version of John Lennon's "Imagine" backed by his piano and a chello player. While Howie isn't certain Hockenberry can advance to the next round, Howard is in awe of his talent. "You went back to sounding like the Tim Hockenberry that I love."

Let us not forget about the dance group The Untouchables. The young bunch of dancers are ready to make it big, which means they'll be going out on the stage with an even better routine than before. They perform a really cute and impressive tango. What makes this dance spice up even more is the sudden clothing change from all of the female dancers. Adding a bit of variety in this definitely wowed the audience, the judges and everyone else watching this. They easily got one of the best audience reactions of the night.

We still have a couple more acts to go, one of them being the cute human/dog act Olate Dogs. They've done a number of tricks with the dogs before but how will they step it up. They do so with having their talented animals do jump rope, dance, do a little fuzzy conga line and even ride on a scooter. We're trying our best not to die from this stupendous amount of cuteness they're showing in this performance.

Here is our next act which require the lights to be out in order for them to strut their stuff. We're talking about LIghtwire Theater, the confident group of people who create their own stories and costumes. They put a spectacular amount of dedication in what they do which shows in this new performance. They go more for a sci-fi monster aspect which plays out like a short movie action sequence. Their act is definitely Las Vegas material which will definitely be enough to bump them into the finals.

Last up is one of our favorites, David Garibaldi and his CMYK's. They're the dance/painting group who are wonderfully theatrical and entertaining with each one of their performances. Supposedly this is the biggest night of their life, but which means they're only going to step up what they do with their act even more. The fact that they've immediately spread out their painting to four canvases excites us. We like to see a little bit of variety in a person's performance from time to time. They create a very cool painting of the Statue of Liberty. Nice work guys, we'll hopefully be seeing you in the semi-finals.

If you want to find out who made it through, check out 'America's Got Talent' on Thursday at 8 PM.