America's Got Talent Results: And the Semifinalists Are...

There were five strong performers on America's Got Talent last night. But only four made it through on the first night of eliminations. Let's go through each one and see if you agree with the results...

First elimination: Fearless Flores Family, Duo Aero or Snap Boogie? And the semifinalist is... Snap Boogie! It was obvious that Duo Aero was going to be eliminated after their old-fashioned route. Suspenders and polka dots are cool, but come on. The Fearless Flores Family probably outlasted their stay. If they performed in the Vegas rounds, the mom would have been in the sphere and the bar would have been raised even higher for the live shows; instead we got basically the same routine again.

Musical guest: Avril Lavigne with"What the Hell" and "Smile" - Does anyone else think that "What the Hell" is a rehash of "Girlfriend?" The performance wasn't enhanced by the fact that the audio was mixed really badly. They fixed it on The Voice, so NBC has no excuses. Avril also had a meek stage presence.

Second elimination: Squonk Opera, Sandou Trio Russian Bar or J Chris Newburg? Squonk fell apart last night with their original song. Apparently they didn't watch the Las Vegas rounds when they reamed female Justin Bieber for doing an original song; their performance didn't stand out, either. As a comedian, J Chris Newburg simply missed. Sandou Trio Russian Bar (pictured) made it to the semifinals for several reasons. Firstly, they benefited from performing last, which left them fresh in memory. They also had a daring enough act that had great physicality. The trio happily claimed that they had more than just Russian Bar, so I hope they don't steer too far from what got them to the semis.

Third elimination: Dezmond Meeks, Echo of Animal Gardens or Anna Graceman? It was almost easy to realize that Anna Graceman was breezing through. Even with horrid background music, Anna survived because America loves children with booming voices. Dezmond was very cruise ship and was obviously too flamboyant for our nation. Echo did the same performance as the audition and was unfortunately sandwiched in the middle.

Musical Performance: Priscilla, Queen of the Desert - There was something about the synchronization of the audio where it sounded like a lot of odd voices trying to sing together. Yes, the costumes were pretty and colorful, but the singing trio threw me off. The performance left me with an urge for a cupcake instead of running to Broadway to watch the whole performance.

Fourth elimination: Those Funny Little People, The Fiddleheads or Miami All-Stars? Nick eliminated the former. As entertaining as they were, their novelty started running out. The backup dancers were distracting, as were the rubber ducks behind them. That meant that the fourth and fifth place performers were Miami All-Stars and The Fiddleheads. Nick gave the teams an opportunity to beg for their lives. Miami All-Stars claimed that the kids were trained in Hip-Hop, Contemporary, and other forms of Ballroom. Fiddleheads know now not to listen to those pesky producers.

With two votes (Sharon/Pierce), Miami All-Stars advanced to the finals. I'm afraid they (and, to an extent, Sandou Trio Russian Bar) will get old if they attempt Contemporary or Hip-Hop during the semifinals. A pure non-Latin style performance could lose them votes. The only areas that Miami All-Stars should extend to are Samba, Cha-Cha, or possibly Jive.