We've finally reached only six performers and each had two chances to really impress America. While no one stumbled, three acts really brought their A-game and were here for the win. Any of the six could be justified as to why they should win, each hitting a distinct category that is tough to judge head-to-head, but here are the final rankings for this season.
6) Jimmy Rose - For his encore "Coal Keeps the Lights On" made the most sense because it not only placed him in that perfect "All-American" mentality, but it's a unique song. I mean, we've heard "B-double O-T-Y" three times, so an original song heard with a better arrangement and something where Jimmy plays to his strengths in his voice. Jimmy ended with "The Dance" which also had a sentimental mentality of his first performance and had that "this is my journey" mentality. His voice was beautiful to hear, but the song is naturally a bit sleepy and he didn't go anywhere extreme on the song.
5) Cami Bradley - The staging and arrangement for "Believe" seemed better this time around as she didn't have as much distracting light sticks all around her. I think that Cami should release a full version of "Believe" just to capitalize on this performance; then next season another shadow dance team or a monitor dance team could try to translate it in visuals. I'm not sure if "I Want to Hold Your Hand" was the best of choices. I associate slower-tempo versions of this song with the film Across the Universe and from Glee. Cami reminds me a bit of Ellie Goulding, but with less polish. I keep thinking whether Cami deserves to win this competition when she's going up against true Vegas-style acts; I still find her to be a coffee shop singer.
4) Collins Key - Collins knew that he couldn't do the same exact trick twice, so he decided to do some close-up magic. The trick was decent for the camera with the exception of occasionally having Howard's hair. The idea of getting the two judges uncomfortable was hysterical. The Twitter hash tag trick seemed interesting but there was something forced about the execution. Either it was the spelling of "Key" at the end that wasn't needed but an extra push, the fact that Howard had nothing to really do, or the choices of hash tagged phrases (lie #HiMom) which was just beyond cheesy. Collins got to do two tricks that no one has seen and only the close-up card trick was a standout because of Heidi and Mel, not Collin's charisma or trickery.
3) Taylor Williamson - Taylor had one of the bigger challenges of "redoing" a performance. I liked the forced camel jokes, then the attack on Seal for Heidi, and the choir/fireworks at the end really made a difference. The ending routine about relationships was hit or miss for me. I liked the Heidi jokes, the not gay jokes, and the illegal alien pieces. Taylor’s final night was probably his strongest where he accepted the fact that he was in the finals and was still quite awkward.
2) Forte - I would have loved if the group went the audition piece since they had a new voice in their group. It is all about the voices, but we've barely even seen them than walk. Because their vocals verged on perfect this week, I think the next thought for the group is really with making sure the trio can look like individuals, while still looking like a group. Maybe one of the guys should be a bow-tie person. Production clearly spent all their money on "The Prayer" with the flipped camera work and the side-choir. It was beautiful to listen to, though the choir did help boost the harmonies above what we've heard from the trio. The performance of "Caruso" was less of a production piece, though I didn't understand what the rectangle behind them was for. Nonetheless, they were beautiful to hear and would be deserving winners.
1) Kenichi Ebina - Kenichi was smart to choose his original piece with graphical tweaks because his original piece was all about his dancing and not how cool he could be with graphic screens. I don't grow as tired of watching Kenichi doing similar performances. It was also interesting to see his notebook of sketches and notes. His final piece was actually a good culmination piece. He also apparently could spit fire like Collins. I appreciate that he had an eight person screen, and had a moment of Mitsi School to emphasize accuracy, but the performance never had to be perfectly synched like the previous performances, Kenichi could always say that it was because one of the eight fake dancers was just a bad dancer. I think that Kenichi deserves to win based off of his creativity, though I would have loved to see a fully choreographed routine because Kenichi take moments to joke around and that wastes time.