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'America's Got Talent': Piers and Sharon Size Up the Top 24

'America's Got Talent': Piers and Sharon Size Up the Top 24

Piers Morgan and Sharon Osbourne help us size up the strengths and weaknesses of this season's semifinalists

By Emily Exton and Mandi Bierly

Updated August 24, 2010 at 01:00 PM EDT

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1 of 24

Future Funk

Trae Patton/NBC

Dance Group

PIERS' TAKE:
Strength: Impossibly cute, very talented, and cheekiest smiles in AGT history
Weakness: Lots of great dancers this year, and they're not technically the best.
If They Win: Millions of American hearts will instantly melt.

2 of 24

Christina and Ali

Trae Patton/NBC

Singers

PIERS' TAKE:
Strength: Fantastic chemistry, driven by an extraordinary, shared family tragedy.
Weakness: Not the best natural singers in a year when singers are the strongest category.
If They Win: They will inspire the whole country in a way few other acts could ever do.

3 of 24

Nathaniel Kenyon

Trae Patton/NBC

Musician/singer

PIERS' TAKE:
Strength: Pop-star looks, easy charm, and a pretty good voice.
Weakness: Suffers from terrible nerves. That may prove fatal to his chances.
If He Wins: It will be a victory for all those talented people who sing in tiny communities and never get a break.

Continued on next slide.

4 of 24

Fighting Gravity

Trae Patton/NBC

Dance group

PIERS' TAKE:
Strength: Incredibly creative, fresh, and ingenious act.
Weakness: Have we seen their best now? And what if there's a power cut!?
If They Win: I could see them headlining Vegas, no problem.

5 of 24

Michael Grimm

Justin Lubin/NBC

Singer/musician

PIERS' TAKE:
Strength: Best singer in the competition and most commercial voice.
Weakness: Hasn't set the competition on fire yet. He's one of the favorites but needs to pull out a memorable performance and stop playing safe.
If He Wins: I could see him selling millions of records.

6 of 24

Alice Tan Ridley

Trae Patton/NBC

Singer

PIERS' TAKE:
Strength: She's got passion, guts, determination, and a very famous daughter — a lethal cocktail in a talent show.
Weakness: Will Gabourey's fame count in her favor or against her? Not sure.
If She Wins: Subways all over New York will be devastated because she'll never play down there again!

Continued on next slide.

7 of 24

Antonio Restivo

Trae Patton/NBC

Magician

PIERS' TAKE:
Strength: Great theatrical act, really exciting and entertaining.
Weakness: Very emotional, and that may knock him off his game when it really matters.
If He Wins: Another act that was made for Vegas. I think he'll get there anyway, even if it's just as a ''Weeping Willow'' sideshow act!

8 of 24

AscenDance

Trae Patton/NBC

Climbers/Dancers

PIERS' TAKE:
Strength: Brilliant concept, superbly executed.
Weakness: Is America ready to vote a bunch of dancing wall-climbers the hottest new act in the country?
If They Win: Wall-climbing will never be the same again — there will be people all over America clambering up walls dancing.

9 of 24

Jackie Evancho

Bret Hartman/NBC

Singer

PIERS' TAKE:
Strength: She's the most incredibly talented young singer we've ever had.
Weakness: Being the favorite puts big pressure on a 10-year-old girl. Can she cope?
If She Wins: She will become America's new sweetheart superstar.

Continued on next slide.

10 of 24

Alexander ''Maestro'' Bui

Bret Hartman/NBC

Singer

PIERS' TAKE:
Strength: The best technical musician left in the competition.
Weakness: Classical music does not have mass popularity, so he must choose a piece of music that people will be familiar with.
If He Wins: He could play huge theatres. He's a brilliant pianist.

11 of 24

Dan Sperry

Bret Hartman/NBC

Magician

PIERS' TAKE:
Strength: He's shocking and disgusting.
Weakness: He's shocking and disgusting.
If He Wins: I'm leaving the country.

12 of 24

Kristina Young

Bret Hartman/NBC

Singer

PIERS' TAKE:
Strength: Great passion and emotion when she sings.
Weakness: Not a great voice, just a good one.
If She Wins: It will be a reward for sheer will to win over natural ability.

Continued on next slide.

13 of 24

Michael Grasso

Bret Hartman/NBC

Variety/Magic

PIERS' TAKE:
Strength: A real Vegas-style showman, slick and classy.
Weakness: His Vegas boot-camp act was small and boring. If he tries that again he'll fail.
If He Wins: I could see him doing very well — he's a great magician.

14 of 24

Michael Lipari & Ashleigh Dejon

Trae Patton/NBC

Variety/Aerial

PIERS' TAKE:
Strength: Their girl-drop stunt was astonishing and unexpected. Showed me they know how to raise their game when it matters.
Weakness: No aerial act has ever won AGT.
If They Win: Every kid in America will be climbing sheets.

15 of 24

Anna & Patryk

Trae Patton/NBC

Dancers

PIERS' TAKE:
Strength: Absolutely fantastic little dancers with amazing chemistry.
Weakness: The competition is ferocious this year. They will have to give the dance of their lives to progress.
If They Win: They will charm and delight audiences all over the world.

Continued on next slide.

16 of 24

Conor Doran

Justin Lubin/NBC

Kite Flyer

PIERS' TAKE:
Strength: A fabulously artistic performer
Weakness: In the end, it's only kite-flying!
If He Wins: He will prove that dreams really do come true.

17 of 24

Debra Romer

Trae Patton/NBC

Musician/Singer

SHARON'S TAKE:
Strength: She's got a great vulnerability about her and she's a beautiful, beautiful young girl.
Weakness: I don't think she's a great performer, I think she's got a very sweet voice, very vulnerable. That's appealing and beautiful, but I don't think as a performer she's got it. I don't think she'd be great at headlining a show. There's a difference, a very, very big difference between being a recording artist and being a great showman and a great entertainer and I don't think she has that in her.
If She Wins: She could make a good album with the right songs and the right producer.

18 of 24

Studio One Young Beast Society

Trae Patton/NBC

Dance Crew

SHARON'S TAKE:
Strength: They're like little cartoon characters. When they dance their personalities come through, and that's what sets them apart.
Weakness: None
If They Win: I think they could end up with a show on Nickelodeon or [another] kids' network, and I think they've got a great future.

Continued on next slide.

19 of 24

Haspop

Trae Patton/NBC

Hip-Hop Dancer

SHARON'S TAKE:
Strength: He's an incredible, incredible artist. He brings a sense of comedy into his work, too. He's a very, very talented man.
Weakness: [No weaknesses] at all. I think that what he does, he's top of the game. He's fantastic.
If He Wins: I think that he could do very, very well. He brings another element into mime and comedy with his dance, so he's got it all going on. He's a great performance artist.

20 of 24

Jeremy Vanschoonhoven

Trae Patton/NBC

Stunt-Bike Rider

SHARON'S TAKE:
Strength: He's great. I think that young kids would love watching him. He's like an extreme-sports kind of guy.
Weakness: He is a very shy guy.
If He Wins: He'll have a future. He would end up doing all the big extreme-sports shows. He would do exhibition shows.

21 of 24

Taylor Matthews

Trae Patton/NBC

Musician/Singer

SHARON'S TAKE:
Strength: Lovely, very young, very likable, great, great likability. Very natural with what he does.
Weakness: His lack of experience. He doesn't have the experience to control an audience yet.
If He Wins: I think young girls would love him, I really do.

Continued on next slide.

22 of 24

Prince Poppycock

Trae Patton/NBC

Opera singer

SHARON'S TAKE:
Strength: Just brilliant. He's a star. The way he creates these characters for himself to his makeup that is unbelievable to his costumes, the songs he chooses... He reinvents himself every time. You don't know what you're going to get.
Weakness: He has no downside for me.
If He Wins: He will go on to have a huge career because he reinvents himself. He's a true artist in every sense of the word.

23 of 24

ArcAttack

Trae Patton/NBC

Performing Arts

SHARON'S TAKE:
Strength: They're very unique, they're very different. They do perform very well, they get the audience going.
Weakness: I don't know whether they can have a show for an hour, could you see that for an hour? I don't know yet. We have to see where they take it to for their next performance. I don't know whether they have enough for a whole show or whether it would just be repetitive.
If They Win: You could do a great show around them, you really could. I mean, it would cost a fortune, but you could put a great show around them.

24 of 24

Murray Sawchuck

Trae Patton/NBC

Magician

SHARON'S TAKE:
Strength: He's gotten bigger and better every time we see him. He steps it up. He's very theatrical with his act, he delivers his stunts really well, he's got a great delivery, great timing. He's very Vegas. That's what I like about him.
Weakness: He's got very stiff competition because there's a couple of other very good magicians in the show.
If He Wins: His tricks are larger-than-life, so I think he would be a great entertainer.

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By Emily Exton
By Mandi Bierly @EWMandiBierly

Account

'America's Got Talent': Piers and Sharon Size Up the Top 24

1 of 24

Future Funk

1 of 24

2 of 24

Christina and Ali

2 of 24

3 of 24

Nathaniel Kenyon

3 of 24

4 of 24

Fighting Gravity

4 of 24

5 of 24

Michael Grimm

5 of 24

6 of 24

Alice Tan Ridley

6 of 24

7 of 24

Antonio Restivo

7 of 24

8 of 24

AscenDance

8 of 24

9 of 24

Jackie Evancho

9 of 24

10 of 24

Alexander ''Maestro'' Bui

10 of 24

11 of 24

Dan Sperry

11 of 24

12 of 24

Kristina Young

12 of 24

13 of 24

Michael Grasso

13 of 24

14 of 24

Michael Lipari & Ashleigh Dejon

14 of 24

15 of 24

Anna & Patryk

15 of 24

16 of 24

Conor Doran

16 of 24

17 of 24

Debra Romer

17 of 24

18 of 24

Studio One Young Beast Society

18 of 24

19 of 24

Haspop

19 of 24

20 of 24

Jeremy Vanschoonhoven

20 of 24

21 of 24

Taylor Matthews

21 of 24

22 of 24

Prince Poppycock

22 of 24

23 of 24

ArcAttack

23 of 24

24 of 24

Murray Sawchuck

24 of 24

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