Whose dreams will they crush next? (NBC)

After a season that was more like "America's Got a Moderate Amount of Talent", we've come to the big finale. Expect lots of montages and filler tonight - but at least it's only an hour. After a brief season recap, we are once again introduced to our final five, Nuttin' But Stringz (who I hope win), Donald Braswell (who I still have a raging crush on), Neal E. Boyd (who will probably win), Eli Mattson (I hope he gets a record deal out of this) and Queen Emily (who I'm also sure we'll hear from again. Or not - anyone remember last year's runner-up Cas Haley?) Hoff said he could not pick the winner - any one of them could win tonight. Our first time-waster is the first performance together from the ten perform together. So if you missed little Kaitlyn Maher or Joseph "Hunky Elvis" Hall, it's your moment. (I'm glad to see my favorite season three performer Paul Salos again.) They all join in for a rousing rendition of "For a Moment Like This" It's just as cheesy as you'd think it was. Hoff's all teared up. Sharon says the performance cements the fact that they're all winners.

Nuttin But The Winners?

I was ready and kind of looking forward to seeing the five performers who America thinks have enough talent to perform in Vegas for a one-off show (because my favorite competitior, Frank Sinatra impersonator Paul Salos, was eliminated last week and I'm looking for a new act to root for) but at 9pm, instead of seeing some talent, I saw our doofus of a president telling us that our economy is in the toilet. So, fifteen minutes later, I don't feel much better about our country, but it's time for talent! Sadly, we get an abbreviated "America's Got Talent" tonight, because we can't pre-empt the first quarter of "Lipstick Jungle", now can we?

And I am telling you...she's not going....Finally...it's time to find out who the five most talented acts in America are! A slight criticism - can't they change the montage of camera angles at the top of the show? (Sorry, it's the former tv production worker in me.) First off, as we have 30 whole minutes to fill, we get to see the highlights of last night's performances. They way the producers edited the package, you can pretty much figure out who is moving on. The first acts called to the front of the stage are Nuttin But Stringz and whoever is losing. In this case it's The Wright Kids. At least the finals won't be "nuttin but singerz." And taking a cue from "American Idol", the poor kids now have to watch the "Bad Day" montage of their time on the show. I think that was a little too intense for them - as they're visibly disappointed (especially the lead singer, who bites his upper lip during the whole thing.) One thing - they did show a really short clip of them playing bluegrass and I think they should have stuck to their musical roots.

Elton John would approve (NBC)With the judges no longer making picks, it's all up to you, America, as to who is going to win $1 million and a gig in Vegas. According to Piers, America has to make a responsible choice as to who they want to make it to the final five as "the games are now over" as well as the "sympathy votes." Sharon said the artist who wins will represent America all over the world (because people the world over know the name Bianca Ryan - sorry, kid. I'm sure they have no idea who Terry Fator is either.) Hoff, who Jer-ry says is an experienced star in Vegas (I'd love to know where that is, unless he made that infamous drunken cheeseburger eating video in some casino there) is looking for the  "money players". Jer-ry throws out every cliche in the book as he introduces a retrospective of all of the acts and their challenge-packed journey to the top ten.

It's kind of sad that I have seen Jer-ry and the "America's Got Talent" gang more this week than I've seen my own husband. So anyway, tonight we discover the fates of some truly talented acts, some moderately talented acts and the Zooperstars! Fortunately, after four long hours of dancing, singing, kid acts, dancing balloons and even baton twirling, I'm thankful that tonight's results show is a tight, zippy 30 minutes. Jer-ry says it's going to be an emotional night for the competitors and even the judges (I doubt that.) First up, we see the highlight reel from Tuesday night's show with the good (Queen Emily and Neal E. Boyd the not-quite-as-good (Paul Salos, who I think was awesome, The Cadence and Daniel Jens) and the ugly (of course you know who I'm referring to here.) The first ten acts take the stage to find out what America has decided.

For Donald Braswell, it's AGT or "Evil Dead - The Musical"It's day two of the three-day talent extravaganza that is "America's Got Talent." Yep, the last ten acts in the top 20 are performing in hopes of landing a what, according to what I understood last night is a "one night only" gig in Sin City. Since there's no eliminations tonight, NBC has decided to bring last season's winner, ventriliquist Terry Fator, back for an "exclusive performance." (Which begs the question - Whatever happened to season one's winner, Bianca Ryan, anyway?) Last night Piers thought there were two or three outstanding performance and adds that "it's not a tea party anymore." Sharon said that in her opinion, there are five standout acts she hopes to make it to the end. Hoff says tonight's acts have to raise the bar, be in the zone, (insert your favorite showbiz cliche here.) Piers says the winner stands up along with the biggest stars in the world. Sinatra. Presley. Zooperstars! I don't see it. In the mandatory, time-filling montage, the remaining competitors tell us how much they want to win and perform in Vegas (who's going to say "Naah, I'd rather head home to my small town and scrape by"?) This leads into a mini-documentary on Terry, telling us how much his life had changed since winning (Wow, his name's on the side of the Las Vegas monorail!)

Paul Salos doing it "his way". (Image courtesy of NBC)Well, it's almost over. Tonight, we find out the remaining five acts moving on to the top 20 and we'll also be treated to performances from ten acts looking to move on to next week's top ten. Jer-ry's ready, the judges are ready, the audience is equipped with their awful signs, so let's get this show on the road! Piers wants to let America know that Jer-ry became a grandfather this past weekend (and doesn't look a day younger.) Congrats, Grandpa Jer-ry! After the usual, showbiz cliche-ridden banter and mandatory highlight reel, we learn the fate of last week's competitors.

I dread what's going to happen tonight, as last night's performances were pretty weak. I have a hard time believing this show represents the best talent our nation has to offer. Piers has a disgusted look already plastered on his face. He told Jer-ry that he should have buzzed one or two more acts than the five he expressed his displeasure with last night. Sharon says that it's time to get serious and it's "no more Mrs. Nice Woman" as far as she's concerned.

Live from Los Angeles, it's time to crush the dreams of five acts and pick five more to move on to the top 20. After the usual overblown introductions and meaningless banter with the judges, it's time to find out which acts are moving on after last Wednesday's performances. Once again, to pad out our two-hour extravaganza, we first get to see highlights of the performances and then it's time for the slow 'n' painful announcements. Jerry first calls up Frank Sinatra impersonator (and my personal favorite) Paul Salos and the cougar-packed burlesque troupe Slippery Kittens. Just like last week, one stays and one goes, and America did me proud and moved Paul on to the top 20.

It's the second evening of our post-Olympic orgy of talent! The audience is holding their awful, amateur signs, the judges get some love and Jer-ry says that last night's ratings were awesome, so all is well in talent competition land. Before we can get started, we are "treated" to some banter between Jer-ry and the judges - which reveals nothing we haven't heard a million times before. Last night's competitiors are brought to the stage to find out which five acts are moving on to the top 20 (four were chosen by America and one by the judges.) But, before we find out who's got talent, we get to see a montage of what we saw last night (because apparently America's got talent, but it's also got an extremely short attention span.)