The "America's Got Talent" Season 12 finale aired last Wednesday on NBC, following the top 10 performances on Tuesday. After watching Season 12, it's hard to argue the greatness of winner Darci Lynne throughout the season. But some things didn't feel right with this season of "AGT."

The top 10

Here's a list of the top 10 and the order they placed:

1. Darci Lynne

2. Angelica Hale

3. Light Balance

4. Mandy Harvey

5. Sara & Hero

Acts that placed sixth through tenth were cut without receiving their actual rank in the voting. These acts include Preacher Lawson, Chase Goehring, Diavolo, Kechi Okwuchi (Kechi), and Evie Clair.

What America got wrong

Preacher Lawson is the real star of "AGT" this season. He was hilarious, he was original, and he will go on to become the biggest star from this season. Simon's golden buzzer Mandy Harvey could have won as well. The deaf singer went viral with her first performance, singing an original song and describing how she never gave up on singing after losing her hearing.

Darcy Lynne was phenomenal in her own right, learning how to become a ventriloquist and perform songs at the age of 12, but Harvey and Lawson both should have edged out Lynne in the votes. America voted, however, and the singing puppets were the favorite.

Narrative vs. raw talent

America loves talent competitions, but one of the biggest issues with them is the need for an emotionally-charged story.

Sure, good stories make for good television, but does it truly lead to the best crop of talent? Many acts won't even make it to the judges if they don't have a good story to back them up. This way of thinking may leave more talented acts by the wayside, while those with a story get their foot in the door. Diavolo is a great example of something we've never seen before that made it far by their raw talent alone.

Kechi and Evie

America gets caught up voting for their favorite emotional connection, and some of the best talent makes an early exit. Two of the most touching stories this season came from Evie Clair and Kechi.

Evie Clair is a 13-year-old singer whose father ended his battle with colon cancer during the course of Evie's journey on "AGT." Some even speculated Clair would not return to AGT following his passing.

America fell in love with Evie as she performed emotional ballads in honor of her father.

Kechi is also a singer that experienced tragedy in her own way. The burn victim of a plane crash, Kechi was the lone survivor of the accident, taking years to recover. With visible marks of the crash all over her body, Kechi sang songs of strength throughout the season and caught America's attention.

Another thing these singers have in common: both were rescued from semi-final elimination through the Dunkin Save. If you don't watch the show, this basically means they didn't receive enough votes to advance to the finals, but voters could real-time vote one of them through during the results show. Both semi-finals featured stronger talent that got eliminated because they did not have an emotional connection to voters like Evie Clair and Kechi did.

You could even notice the judges talk more about their stories than actually judging their performances.

Where's the magic?

It's obviously not Evie Clair's or Kechi's fault that they have emotional stories to back up their talent. But magicians Eric Jones and Colin Cloud were much more entertaining and talented than these two singers. America would have loved seeing these close-up magic and mentalist acts in the finals.

The top 10 featured six singing acts, two dance groups, a dog act, and a comedian. No magic. No death-defying acts. Extreme roller-skating duo Billy and Emily England got absolutely robbed from being in the final show. Magic and death-defying performances are part of the reason "AGT" is so great.

The lack of diversified acts in the finals was disappointing, especially the number of singers. With several other talent shows focused on singing and the majority of previous "AGT" winners being singers, it would have been nice to see some more act-diversity in the finals.

What needs to change?

  • Get rid of the Dunkin Save. Put through the top vote-getters in the live rounds and leave one vote for the judges. Dunkin Donuts gets enough sponsor time with the Dunkin Lounge and the Dunkin cups used by the judges. America gets their time to vote and leave the tough, last-minute decision to the judges.
  • Vote for diversified acts. We're seeing too many emotionally-charged acts get through that wouldn't do so without their stories. Let's see some more magic and dancing in the later rounds, please.
  • Tyra Banks.
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