'America's Got Talent' Three Finalists Chosen

Three lucky acts are going on to the finals of NBC's America's Got Talent, hosted by Nick Cannon and presided over by Sharon Osbourne, Howie Mandel and shock jock Howard Stern — and the finalists were announced on last night's episode.

The evening began with a convoluted elimination process that first involved the twelve contestants who went into the process being broken down into groups of three, from which only one finalist each would emerge, having been chosen to stay by America. Of course, this brought the total number of finalists down to four, which meant that one contestant still had to go.

The four acts remaining before the last elimination, which was up to the judges, were Earth harp musician William Close, stand-up comic Tom Cotter, dog ventriloquist Todd Oliver and sand artist Joe Castillo.

Then the judges revealed that Close and Cotter were safe, bringing the nail-biting moment down to Oliver and Castillo. While Stern went with Oliver, Osbourne chose to save Castillo, and in a moment of panicked excitement, Mandel had to break the tie, with his two cohosts practically hyperventalating beside him and the audience going wild.

"Go with your gut," Osbourne encouraged, grasping onto Stern to relieve her mounting anxiety.

"I want originality!" Mandel exclaimed, climbing to his feet and placing his hands on top of his head. "I am gonna go with … Joe Castillo," he yelled, saving Castillo the sand artist and sending Oliver the dog ventriloquist home.

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