Did Atlanta's Craig Lewis Band make 'America's Got Talent' finals?

By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Sure, the Craig Lewis Band is not really a band and Craig Lewis isn't a person. But the Atlanta R&B duo that goes by that name made it to the "America's Got Talent" finals tonight.

This is the furthest an Atlanta act has ever gotten on "AGT" in ten seasons. They are now in a position to win $1 million and a Vegas deal.

It was a close call. Really close.

Of the 11 acts, only five could get through. They were not among the top 3 vote getters so they were placed in the Dunkin' Save category with Benton Blount and Samantha Johnson. The public ended up voting for Blount.

The Craig Lewis Band had another option to make it through: they had to get at least three of the judges on their side.

But the judges split, with Howie Mandel and Howard Stern favoring the Atlanta duo and the ladies going for the female singer.

This left it down to the actual vote count as the final arbiter. In the end, Craig Lewis Band received more votes than Johnson and will be in the finals in two weeks. (Next week is the second half of the semi-finals.)

On Tuesday night, they sang Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come" and received a standing ovation from the entire crowd, including Stern.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Stern raved. "I signed on to this show to find superstars. Fellas, you arrived. You look great. You sound great. I feel like I'm in church. I feel a little retro. I feel like you're contemporary. I feel like you are all things rolled into one. Guess who just got into the finals! Come on!"

Heidi Klum: "You truly are a dynamic duo... You stripped it down just the two of you with your beautiful voices. You rocked it!"

Mel B: "For me, that lacked something. I was waiting for something to happen. I thought last week was your better performance."