by Arthur Perkins  
 
I made two sets of predictions about which acts would go forward to the top 10 and which would not. Let's see how I did and what I think of the actual decisions from both the viewing audience and the judges. I will keep you mostly in suspense Jerry Springer style on my thinking.
 
So, what happened. The practice of pairing teams continued, but with a nasty twist. In the first group second pairing they placed Neil E. Boyd and Queen Emily together. The audience was in a state of consternation and both Neil and Emily were shocked. Jerry Springer then revealed that he (or some producer) was just playing with them as they both were going forward. To balance that out, they paired the James Gang and the Cadence and Jerry told them they both were eliminated. The winners in addition to Neil Boyd and Queen Emily were the Wright Kids and Paul Salos. The other immediate losers were Extreme Dance FX and Sick Step; it was a bad night for the dance acts. That left for the #5/#6 decision David Jens and Jessica Price. I thought Jens was the better of the two. In a shocking move, Piers was last in the judging order instead of his usual first place. That meant David started and did not have to make any ultimate decisions, which he strongly dislikes doing. David Hasselhoff said the camera loves Jessica and David should not go back to Iraq. That tips off his decision, which is for Jessica. Sharon says that as a mom she is going with the most heart; that is David Jens. It's all up to Piers, who goes with who he believes will do better in the top 10, which is Jessica. She wins and David Jens is eliminated.
 
The second grouping winners were Nuttin But Stringz, Eli Mattson, Kaitlyn Maher and Donald Brasswell. The Tapping Dads, Sarah Lenore, Sick Step and the Taubl family were eliminated. On the bubble were Joseph Hall and Jonathan Burkin. I thought Burkin has been consistently excellent while Hall has been variable. Piers wants to see Joseph's best (in the future) and voted for him. Sharon voted for Jonathan with no comment. David was left to make the decision and he chose Joseph after hemming and hawing. Joseph Hall is in the top 10 and Jonathan Burkin has to go home.
 
I did reasonable well in predicting this, but some of the decisions stick in my craw. Paul Salos did not deserve the top 10; I believe he got a sympathy vote based on his age (72) and maybe his claim of technical difficulties messing up his performance. Extreme Dance FX should not have been voted below 6th place, as they were a very good act. I thought choosing Jessica Price over David Jens was a mistake. I am not surprised to see Kaitlyn Maher in the winners' group. The home audience loves her cuteness and her deficiencies as a singer are being ignored because she is 4 year old. I don't think any quarter should be given in this competition. Individuals of any age should compete without any age factor being part of the results. I was absolutely shocked by Jonathan Burkin not placing in the top 4 and further shocked that the judges chose Joseph Hall over him. The top 10 going forward is not the best 10 acts that could have been selected, but so be it. It was done the American Way, by voting. On we go. Next week there is a competition show Wednesday 9/17 at 8pm t0 10pm. On Thursday 9/`8 there will be a half-hour results show to tell you who the top 5 are.  It should take no more than the first 15 minutes to accomplish that. One can only wonder what NBC has I store for it. How about a performance of some sort by the judges? If it happens, that ought to be particularly interesting when Piers gets up to perform. Watch out for rotten eggs (although I think Piers is the only judge doing his job properly)!
 
I want to review right now how my original predictions are holding up. I selected 8 acts as my favorites back in early July. Michael Harrison did not make the round of 40. The Russian Bar Trio, my single most favorite act, had to withdrew due to injury (not surprising as it was a very risky act). Not making the round of 20 were Victoria Jacoby and Kyle Rifkin. Jonathan Burkin disappeared before the round of 10. Left in the top 10 are Neil E. Boyd, Queen Emily, and Joseph Hall. I think the final decision for the $1,000,000 and Las Vegas performance will be between Neil E. Boyd and Queen Emily.