Rafu Staff Report
Standup comedian Aiko Tanaka reached the semifinals in Season 17 of NBC’s “America’s Got Talent,” but was eliminated in the results show that aired on Wednesday.
Tanaka was well received during the tryouts in June. She joked that she enjoyed working as a translator because she could make a mistake and no one would notice. She did her final routine as one of 11 acts on Tuesday at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.
During Wednesday’s show, in which only two acts advanced to the final round of competition, host Terry Crews announced that Tanaka and fellow comedian Mr. Pants had received fewer votes than Korean magician Yu Hojin. Fusion Japan, a dance group, was eliminated in favor of the Brown Brothers, a musical duo. Left standing at the end of the show were Yu and Chapel Hart, a country trio.
The talent show’s grand prize is $100,000 and an opportunity to be a headlining act in Las Vegas. Contestants advance through a combination of approval from the judges — Simon Cowell, Heidi Klum, Sofia Vergara and Howie Mandel — and online votes from the public.
Born in Tokyo, Tanaka (https://aikotanaka.com) is also an actress and TV personality. She appeared in the theatrical film “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift” and was featured in the Justin Lin mockumentary “Finishing the Game,” about Bruce Lee’s last film. She has been featured on “The Jim Jeffries Show” and “The Howard Stern Show,” and most recently in Comedy Central’s “Stand-Up Asia! Live.”