'America's Got Talent' Season 5 Finale Recap

['America's Got Talent' - 'Season Finale']

"Tonight, one act's life will change forever." - Nick

After about three months of competition, it's now time to crown the winner of Season 5 of 'America's Got Talent.' Prior to Nick announcing the results, our latest TV Squad poll placed Jackie Evancho as winner with close to 20 percent more votes than Prince Poppycock, who took second place. Fighting Gravity was in third while Michael Grimm placed fourth.

Did the TV Squad voters get it right? Let's get on with the happenings of this way too-long, two-hour finale.

Since NBC decided 'AGT' should get a two-hour finale to bank on the show's big ratings and to compete with the premiere of 'Survivor' and the season finale of 'Big Brother' on CBS, the network filled the finale with footage from the season, guest performers, as well as the Top 4 finalists performing duets with their idols.

In the segments category, we got a replay of the Top 4 live performances and we were reminded of all the crazy things Nick did during the season. We went down memory lane and relived the bad performances from the auditions, we got to see how Howie tried to annoy Piers all summer, and we got to see a day in the life of a Top 4 finalist.

The latter segment was quite informative, as we rarely get to see behind-the-scenes at 'AGT.' This allowed us to see the finalists waking up, practicing, meeting with the stylist, rehearsing, doing a photo shoot, getting ready for show time, etc. What was more interesting was seeing the contestants watch the live performances from the Orville Lounge and then reacting to what was going on -- like Piers Xing Prince Poppycock! The other contestants seemed outraged at the buzzing, but surely a little evil voice deep down inside them said "Gotcha, more chances for me to win now that you've been Xed!"

Guest performers were Cirque du Soleil, David Copperfield, Goo Goo Dolls and Usher. Cirque du Soleil's Beatles act was too much dancing, not enough cirque. Their routine could have been performed by Studio One Young Beast Society. Goo Goo Dolls offered a solid performance. Usher was entertaining and a crowd pleaser. As for David Copperfield, he rocked the house! It was about time 'AGT' got him to perform on the show, since Copperfield's magic fits right in with the show's description, but also has a Vegas twist.

I've complained all summer long that the magicians were all doing box tricks. Copperfield did two of them. We've seen the "David appears on a bike" box trick before. However, his "shrinking" box trick, where he was inside the box and made himself shrink and grow back without any "help" from a lovely assistant, was legen -- wait for it --dary! That was a perfect example of the "wow factor" the judges talked about all season long. Plus Copperfield engaged the crowd and made his magic tricks fun.

As it was done in the past, some of the season's bad acts got to perform together. The acts picked to return were not as bad as some we've seen in previous season finales and their routines were fun and not half bad!

The funniest guest performance of them all was Nick and Sponjetta singing a new version of 'Studio.' The addition of Nick and the few tweaks in the background music made Sponjetta's song almost bearable! Now we need a trick to get "Studio, Studio" out of our heads!

Each Top 4 finalist got to do a duet with one of his or her idols. Prince Poppycock went back to his extravagant and less serious roots and performed with Donna Summer. Michael Bolton Grimm sang with Jewel. Fighting Gravity provided background footage while Lionel Ritchie sang his hit song 'Dancing on the Ceiling.' Finally, 10-year-old opera singer Jackie Evancho teamed up with Sarah Brightman to sing 'Time to Say Goodbye' (aka 'Con Te Partiro').

The pairings were fitting and the performances were entertaining. The only thing missing was a proper stage setting. The stage was bare and looked huge behind each pair. It was surprising to see such little background -- this is the finale, after all. The 'AGT' staff were able to pull up and down huge stage settings during past live shows, why not tonight? It made the finale look a bit cheap.

On to the results! It turns out that TV Squad voters got the results totally wrong, except third place. Or maybe America got it all wrong!

The first upset of the evening was when Nick announced that Prince Poppycock was in fourth place. Say what?! It looks like Poppycock's choice to perform a more serious piece in the Top 4 live show and Piers' X cost him a lot of votes as a lot of online polls put him in the Top 2. Even if he didn't win 'AGT,' Prince Poppycock has a future on the Vegas Strip.

Then Nick announced that Fighting Gravity was in third place. This wasn't a total upset as it was clear they wouldn't finish first. Still, they're another act that could do very well in Vegas.

And then it was time to announce the winner. In the polls we ran this past week, Jackie was always in the Top 2 and Michael was, in most cases, fourth. What an upset it was when it was announced that Michael was the Season 5 winner! He did grow a lot as a singer over the season and offered us a pretty good final performance, but Michael is not unique (too much like Michael Bolton) and he is not "Vegas" material -- Jackie ain't Vegas material either for that matter.

Isn't it about time 'AGT' stepped away from the "we're looking for someone to headline a show in Vegas" bit since only one of their winners -- Terry Fator -- was truly worthy of headlining a Vegas show? Plus having yet another singer win the competition brings back the "shouldn't they exclude people who can compete on 'American Idol'" question.

The final standings are:

4th place: Prince Poppycock
3rd place: Fighting Gravity
2nd place: Jackie Evancho
1st place: Michael Grimm

Even if I'm extremely not pleased with the final standings -- Michael Grimm was not Top 4 material in my book -- I'm satisfied with this season of 'AGT'. The season has been exciting and allowed us to discover some great talent. We also had a lot more diversity, including magicians, than ever before in the Top 48. What's your overall take on the season and the final standings? Share your two cents in the comments below.

On a side note, TVSquad.com is giving away tickets in 12 major cities where the 'AGT' tour will perform. Find out more about this exciting giveaway!

[Follow @icarreau on Twitter]