LAST EDITED ON 08-29-12 AT 01:30 AM (EST)

Pretty good show this week, enjoyed it, though not as strong as I thought it would be. And let's get one thing out of the way first, before I get to the individual performances: sound quality tonight was the pits. However well the singers may have sounded to the live audience, on TV they didn't sound all that good, including the singers in the William Close act. And stage/lighting distractions got in the way of three (at least) of the other acts.

01. Andrew De Leon, singer. Much abused song, not a knockout performance. He still has an impressive instrument but his inexperience was sorely obvious this time.

02. Todd Oliver, ventriloquist. Liked the routine, had a few laughs, seemed derivative though.

03. Donovan & Rebecca, acrobats. Incredible, awesome, impressive, I hope the bad staging doesn't hurt their chances.

04. Edon, singer. I really was not at all impressed, but then I actually couldn't hear his singing much of the time as the music drowned him out.

05. Scott Brothers, dancers. Loved it, great dancing! Real dancing! The make-up and costuming made them seem like street performers, unfortunately, but I was really impressed otherwise.

06. Dittelman, mind reader. Well done mind reading routing with Howard though the triangle/circle thing was a basic law of probability once he eliminated square.

07. Turf, contortionist/dancer. How can you claim to be doing more dance and then spend most of your time standing in one spot not dancing? Should have been buzzed.

08. Bria Kelly, singer. Loved the song choice, sang well enough, did not possess the stage though, stood in one spot and did not emote.

09. Joe Castillo, light and sand artist. Absolutely loved this one, hope he gets through.

10. William Close, musician. Enjoyed this performance but he didn't really step it up much from his quarterfinal performance, still seems like the most Vegas-worthy act of the season.

11. Tom Cotter, comedian. Good routine, a bit risque, should get a lot of votes.

12. Academy of Villains, dance troupe. Enjoyable performance marred by bad TV directing and horrible staging causing them (with their costumes) to vanish into the stage at times.