America's Got Talent: Final performances

The Top 4 is composed of: Cas Haley, Butterscotch, Terry Fator, and Julienne Irwin. So I got 4 out of 4 and the TV Squad voters got 3 out of 4. When Jerry announced that the judges would choose what the performers would do first, I was pretty sure they were all singers (or could sing) because how could they tell Sideswipe what to do?

Cas Haley

- Performance #1: The judges have Cas sing "I Can't Help Falling In Love". Of course, he performs it in his usual Bob-Marley style but I must admit it was a nice arrangement even if not my favorite type of music. He does really well and is comfortable on stage but it's not original as he never gets out of his comfort zone style-wise. In that style, he does really well, but for a million dollar, I would like to see more. On the bright side he did open his eyes a bit while singing!

- Performance #2: He went with a "safe" song people know (haven't we heard it enough in commercial ads recently?) but that gave him a few challenges vocally (some lyrics had to be sang quite fast!). It was an entertaining performance and the musical arrangement was really nice. That was a great way for him to finish off.

Butterscotch

- Performance #1: The judges selected "What's Going On" by Marvin Gaye for her to perform. She decided to sing it and didn't include any beat boxing. The sound wasn't too great as sometimes we heard the band more than we heard her. Was she articulating enough (or maybe it was again the adjustment of the mic's volume) because I had a hard time understanding some of the words. I thought that her performance was average. She didn't hit all the notes properly and was missing some spark and energy while singing. She did show that she can sing but that wasn't her best performance. I doubt that the Butterscotch from the auditions could have performed that. Kudos to her for opening up on stage and taking on the challenges that are thrown her way.

- Performance #2: She gave a performance that is totally her: a lot of beat boxing mixed with a few lyrics. She had a very nice setting behind her that helped enhance her performance. She seemed way more in her world with this performance than in the first performance she gave earlier tonight; she seemed more in tune and at ease. It was a good performance but I doubt it'll be enough to have voters choose her as #1 since a lot of voters are not used to beat boxing (there aren't a lot of famous beat boxers out there). She's "smooth like butter" and "hard like scotch!" Her words.

Terry Fator

- Performance #1: The judges selected "Friends In Low Places" by Garth Brooks. A fantastic performance once again! He used a puppet that wasn't Garth Brooks so he could go around the fact he couldn't imitate Brooks' voice properly. By being able to sing a country song tonight, he showed us his versatility. He is my favorite performer hands down!

- Performance #2: Winston the turtle is back! This allowed Fator to inject humor, interactions, and singing in the performance. Again, a great performance. What more can we say? Maybe I'm less critical because he's my favorite?

Julienne Irwin

- Performance #1: The judges chose "What Hurts the Most". Even if the song was in her voice range (she didn't have high notes to sing this week), she seemed a bit off here and there. She supposedly made a mistake but I didn't notice, maybe it's because I don't know the song enough. She didn't have much stage presence while singing this song; she did walk a bit but it was not totally fitting the music. Maybe it's because she was concentrating on the words? Nonetheless, this was not her worst performance at all.

- Performance #2: The first note was off a bit but she went back on track pretty fast. It was a very nice decor for the song. The sweet arrangement fit her style. Sadly, when the she picked up the higher notes she went off again. In this performance, she was best in the lower notes and in the slower parts. She seemed to totally be in tune with the song and didn't seem stressed by the fact she was sitting on a big moving moon (some people would have focused only on the fact they could fall even if they were wearing a harness). With practice and coaching, she can become a great singer and a good role model.

I don't think it'll be a surprise to anyone who's been reading my AGT posts this summer, but I want Terry Fator to win the competition. He has given fantastic performances every week and he is entertaining. I see Cas Haley finishing second, Butterscotch being third, and Julienne finishing in fourth place. Next week is the two-hour finale (yep, they'll stretch the results show as much as they can) and The Hoff performs, so mark your calendars!