'America's Got Talent' Season 14 semifinals: Fans slam judges for saving the Ndlovu Youth Choir and eliminating Robert Finley
It's a sad evening for fans of Robert Finely, as the 65-year-old blues singer heads home after failing to make it to the finals.
'America's Got Talent' season 14 aired with the first round of semifinals on Tuesday night. We saw 11 contestants battle it out at the Dolby Theatre to earn a spot in the grand finale set to air live on September 16, 2019. Out of the 11, only five made it through to the finals.
Three out of the five that made it through were acts that received the highest votes. One act was saved using the Dunkin Save where fans vote during the episode for their favorite contestant, and the fifth and final act was saved by the Judges Choice.
During the one hour episode that aired on Wednesday night, we saw Kodie Lee, Tyler Butler-Figueroa and Benecio Bryant make it directly to the finals by receiving the highest votes. The fourth act to get saved was the Light Balance Kids who received the highest fan votes during the Dunkin Save. Finally, the judges chose the fifth act moving to the finals as the Ndlovu Youth Choir.
The acts eliminated included, Ansley Burns, Robert Finley, the Messoudi Brothers, Greg Morton, Eric Chien, and Jackie Fabulous. Though fans were fine with most of the results of the semifinals this week, they were disappointed about one deserving act that didn't make the cut.
And that is none other than blues singer Robert Finley. For his semi-final performance on Tuesday night, Finley performed his song 'Age Don't Mean A Thing'. He was accompanied by his guitar and a full-fledged band. He also had his daughter as one of his background singers.
After his performance, Simon Cowell revealed that Finley was cool and classic, but also said that his performance would have been so much better if he didn't have a band accompanying him. Howie Mandel, on the other hand, felt that he thought Finley's performance was authentic and real.
Sadly, that wasn't enough to get him the votes from viewers and the judges did not save him. Many fans who watched the series felt that the talented singer was robbed of his spot in finals and he deserved it better than the Ndlovu Youth Choir.
Taking to Twitter, a fan wrote, "You have got to be shi**ing me! The youth choir over Robert Finley is criminal!!!! Ridiculous!!! Damn that boiled me won't lie #AGTResults #AGT."
Another fan added, "I’ve never been so disappointed and disgusted in the judges for picking some generic choir over Robert Finley. He is so talented and amazing..."
"How was Robert even in this position!!! I can’t believe he's not going forward! Interesting how Simon seemed to change his mind at last second! #RobertFinley deserved to be in FINALS #AGT," wrote another fan. Another added, "Robert Finley should've made it through. The youth choir was good, but a safe choice. It takes more to do what Robert does than it takes for a group of children to sing together. This is for a Vegas act. #AGT."
'America's Got Talent' season 14 airs every Tuesday and Wednesday night only on NBC. Check your local listings for more information.