Puppies! Fire! 'America's Got Talent' hosts ultimate battle of good vs. evil

Tuesday on America’s Got Talent, the show depicted a good-vs.-evil battle between Branden Wilbarger and his glam-rock alter ego, Bonavega. Tragically, on Wednesday’s live results show, both of these split personalities went home, as Branden/Bonavega was one of the night’s first eliminated contestants. (Sigh. I guess rock really is dead.)

Also axed early in the episode were queer country crooner Kameron Ross, rapping celebrity impersonator Vincent Marcus, kiddie singer Kelvin Dukes, and hip-hop troupe the Shape, while homeless choral collective Voices of Our City Choir, Bollywood dancers Bad Salsa, and Russian tween diva Daneliya Tuleshova sailed through.

So far, nothing was going according to plan… or at least according to my Tuesday predictions. While Daneliya was an obvious slam dunk, I was genuinely surprised that daredevil Jonathan Goodwin and dog act Alexis Brownley & the Puppy Pals were up for the instant Dunkin’ Save — and at risk of going home. And I was even more surprised when underwhelming yo-yo duo Spyro Bros won the Dunkin’ vote instead, leaving the judging panel to decide the outcome of another good-vs.-evil battle: between a cherub-faced, pigtailed 8-year-old and her lovable litter of furry friends (Alexis), or a tattooed, straitjacketed muscle man whose talents include setting himself on fire and catching crossbow arrows with his bare, calloused hands (Jonathan, of course).

The first to cast his vote was guest judge Kenan Thompson (filling in for the injured Simon Cowell), who went with the pups. “No matter what happens tonight, I want you to know that you are great. You are a wonderful performer. You have an incredible amount of connection with your pets, and it's a wonderful thing to witness,” Kenan told Alexis. However, regular judges Heidi Klum and Sofia Vergara went for Jonathan... leaving Howie Mandel to cast the deciding vote.

“Oh my God, this is such a tough one,” moaned Howie. “Alexis, I'm looking at you and I can see how much this means to you, and I just want to tell you that you are a beautiful, young, talented lady who has a whole career ahead of yourself. Jonathan, you scare the bejeezus out of me. I was calling for the paramedics [Tuesday]; I thought you’d killed yourself! I don't want anybody to kill themselves on this show. You're a danger act. I've never seen more danger. When I'm choosing somebody, I want to choose somebody that I think America will love — and, I think America loves kids and puppies. So... I choose Alexis!”

Deadlock! OK then, couldn’t they just bring Bonavega back? Sadly, nope. That’s not how this show works, damn it. Instead, host Terry Crews announced that either Alexis or Jonathan would prevail, depending on which had received the most public votes. And, well, Howie was wrong: Apparently America doesn’t love kids and puppies all that much. America loves fire and blood! And so, Jonathan barely made it through — just like he’d barely made it out of his human-torch Houdini act alive on Tuesday.

Poor little Alexis seemed crushed, but she is young, and both Kenan and Sofia were already advising the precocious kid to go into acting, predicting that she could be a “movie star.” So Alexis will be just fine. And I am sure her dogs will get over the rejection. But... there is more rejection ahead! Tune in next Tuesday, when 11 other quarterfinalists perform.

Read more on Yahoo Entertainment:

• Nick Cannon on quitting 'America’s Got Talent': 'One of the best decisions I ever made in my career'

• Simon Cowell stunned by twin act's 'bonkers' Bieber cover on 'AGT': 'I actually liked it!'

• Heidi Klum accused of 'fatphobia' and 'body-shaming' for buzzing plus-size 'AGT' dancer

• First live results show of 'AGT' season ends with a shocker: 'These judges have lost their minds'

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