Alice Tan Ridley, Ascendance and Michael Grimm Deliver on AGT

Tonight was a tough night for America's Got Talent. It started slowly, lagged in the middle and there was little or no bang at the end. There were a few talented acts, but Piers Morgan used his 'X' button nearly as much as during auditions. NBC must be really cutting budgets this year to need to fill up this many weeks with AGT acts.

At least we did not have to wait long for Alice Tan Ridley. The mother of Academy Award nominated actress Gabourey Sidibe ("Precious"), took the stage looking absolutely stunning. She sang "Midnight Train to Georgia" with the feeling of Gladys Knight and all three Pips, earning herself a standing ovation from all three judges. Ridley has been singing in the subways to earn money to support her family, and now says it's time to come out "into the sunlight". Welcome to the warmth Alice.

There was another rather tedious hour of AGT before we finally got to see the live performance of Ascendance. The married duo of Isabel and Ryan Von Rittberg have combined rock wall climbing with dance, and it's beautiful to watch. Adding two more dancers only enhanced the elegance. Ascendance shows amazing timing and strength along with the beautiful lines. All three AGT judges agreed this would be an awesome act in Las Vegas. Imagine huge walls and a small army of wall dancers.

Singer Michael Grimm closed the show tonight not so much with a bang, but a solid vocal performance. He changed his look so much I did not recognize him. Piers Morgan loved the transformation. It seemed a bit like the chicken farmer from last season to me. Michael Grimm had a blues style and look. Don't fix what works. He still sounded amazing, but he has trouble connecting with the audience. You get the same emotions from him as you do listening to a really great album. Hopefully he can learn to command the stage.

Those are my top three acts on America's Got Talent this week. If all of them go through to the semi finals there is still room for one more. This one is a coin flip to me. I enjoyed the dance group Wreckless. The judges claimed that they had lost some of their street edge. We weren't privy to enough audition tape to make that judgement. Their act was tight and original.

The AGT judges and crowd loved Antonio Restivo and his fire act. He got docked points from me this week for shamelessly pandering to Sharon with Ozzie music in his act. The magic act is big with fire and flames abounding, he just doesn't do much for me. He has a ton of assistants on stage and just walks around pointing at things. He also cries after every performance. There's no crying in magic.

The results show is tomorrow night on NBC with Cirque du Soleill and Train as special guests. For all the judges comments visit my blog here.