Singing alongside a talking dog and nude glittery dancers, Edon Pinchot did it again. Performing to a standing ovation, the ‘Jewish Justin Bieber’ stole the show in the semifinal round of America’s Got Talent.

After the clapping (and shrieking girls) had died down, Judge Howie Mandel proclaimed Pinchot “the best singer of the competition” with a performance that was both “amazing” and “beautiful.”

Sharon Osbourne gushed as well. “I thought the song choice was spot on. You put in everything. It was perfect.”

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Even Howard Stern, whose excessively ornery demeanor draws parallels to American Idol’s Simon Cowell, had something nice to say. “I imagine a lot of 13-year old girls are going to be voting for you,” he commented, before quickly adding in that he personally found himself to be “a little bit bored.” The comment was greeted by a theater full of booing.

Edon, 1st Semifinal ~ America’s Got Talent 2012 by HumanSlinky

Though it wasn’t the “other side” of him that he promised in the preface to his performance, it was still good.

Crinkling his eyes as his fingers melted across his piano, Pinchot crooned One Direction’s “What Makes you Beautiful” with real verve. There was no doubt that he was the best singer on the stage. And even if he wasn’t, he has already won the hearts of ‘tween girls worldwide. It will be interesting to see who makes it to the final show.

Pinchot, who wears a kippa, is from Skokie, Ill., outside Chicago. He will be starting high school soon at the Ida Crown Jewish Academy in Chicago.

Another funny Jewish moment happened later in the show, during the performance of Joe Castillo, an installation art performer. His act, a huge sand art piece, featured morphing images that ended up as two pious faces, presumably Jesus and a child. Stern inquired as to whether it was Jesus, to which Howie blurted out apologetically, “Howard is Jewish. He doesn’t recognize Jesus.”

Howard quipped back, “Oh, I know Jesus. Jesus was Jewish!” The judges continued to bicker for a few minutes afterward.

The results of tonight’s competition don’t come out until today, but we are crossing our fingers that Edon made it in the top three cut. The 24 finalists have been split into two battles, and the 3 finalists of each round (total of six) will compete against each other in the final showdown. The winner gets to headline at the Venetian hotel in Las Vegas.

We at the Shmooze are dreaming of being able to wrestle with 14-year-old girls to get tickets to hear Pinchot sing live.

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