This week many of the contestants had to prove why they made it to the semi-finals. Marty Brown may have been a sympathy vote after he was in tears and wavered. Can Branden James survive this week to go head-to-head against Forte? Without the competition of his sister, will D'Angelo and Amanda succeed? Here are this week's rankings.

12) Marty Brown – Luck brought Marty to the semi-finals, but skill is what he needed to succeed. He chose “God Bless the Broken Road” and while he was better than his prior performance, I wasn’t a fan of the performance; I just don’t prefer his voice especially against Jimmy Rose. I would have preferred if the production team put him in front of a fake campfire and played up his cowboy charm. My Grade: C

11) Chicago Boyz – With the boys down a man the group recovered with a well choreographed routine. The cheerleaders were unnecessary, but luckily it didn’t last long. It did seem like the group depended on the jump rope much more, but I appreciate the three-man jump rope routine. One guy definitely messed up his tumbling pass at the end and the last backflip was all forms of un-synchronized. My Grade: B+

10) Branden James – I’ve noted that I preferred Jonathan Allen over Branden, but that doesn’t mean that Branden doesn’t have a powerful voice. He seemed to warble through the whole performance where I feel like Forte would have been much smoother. Branden was the complete opposite of Jonathan where Branden pushed too hard, Jonathan didn’t push hard enough. I love the song “Alone” when it’s performed well, but it didn’t connect for me this time. My Grade: B-

9) American Military Spouses’ Choir - The choir has multiple stories including a new baby and a Sargent performing with the group, it's a sign of how interchangeable these women are. How would they split their money? The performance didn't have the strongest lead singer. The costuming was also awful. The key change was a nice adjustment to the song, but I don't think it was enough to really win me over. Thank you for Howie pointing out that story shouldn't overpower performance. My Grade: B

8) Leon Etienne & Romy Low – Howard wanted speed and the two tried to put it to heart. The opening with the bowling ball seemed silly, the fire-cage was also silly. I appreciate that they slipped in a little bit of quick change and tried to slip in a whole ton of different acts together that didn’t need explanation. The final trick with Romy appearing on the side was odd, but showed really good scale. My Grade: B+

7) John Wing – John went for a routine about marriage and the jokes were hit or miss for me. John is the type of comedian that needs a much longer time period than 90 seconds. I’d watch his full routine, but the segments The jokes about his wife’s decision making skills were interesting, but the whole routine needed a real power joke. My Grade: B-

6) Jimmy Rose - Jimmy will easily steal Marty's votes with his performance. I actually think he'll also steal votes from the military choir as well. His production was done correctly and he chose the right song because it was in the sweet spot of his voice. He'll also easily be remembered because he went last. I think he'll drown in the Top 12 performances, but I'd like to see him get a shot. My Grade: B-

5) Timber Brown - Timber gave us another angle by working on both things similar to silks but adding water to his routine. I thought the risk was great and the fact that he could do one-armed tricks were awesome. Even with the slight tangling near the beginning, Timber recovered well. The strobe lights did a disservice to his routine, but it was great to watch and even with mistakes he should easily make it through with his good looks. My Grade: B+

4) D’Angelo and Amanda - The thing I like about D’Angelo over his sister was that his routine went straight into aggressive tricks and spins, instead of mugging for the camera. That the lighting and costuming did a disservice because they blended in with the background. I’m not sure how I felt about the water choreography, but it was a step up in creativity from their previous performance. My Grade: B+

3)Anna Christine – Anna decided to drop the piano in hopes that the timing would improve, but then she sounded timid as she would wait for the piano to play some notes. She has a great husk to her voice and when she belts out notes they have power and soul. I’ve heard “Wild Horses” done in several different ways (including Susan Boyle’s version) and she held her own. My Grade: A-

2) Kenichi Ebina – I was nervous when Kenichi was squished right in the middle of this week’s performers that he’d be forgotten. I really loved the mirror effect in the beginning of the routine, though I thought it lasted a bit too long until the full interaction took place. The blackout sequence took a bit too long, but I appreciated the end sequence with the mirror Kenichi still trying to get out. My Grade: A-

1) KriStef Brothers – The two seemed to be in good spirits even with the injury in the way. The two decided to do their routine pretty similarly. I love the comedy of their act and the fact that the one still had their neck brace on throughout the beginning of the routine whole routine. I give them credit for the sword swallowing section because they added a great layer to the performance. My Grade: A