Updated at 8:25 p.m. Aug. 23, 2017

Merrick Hanna of Encinitas advanced to the semifinals of “America’s Got Talent” as a result of nationwide voting after Tuesday night’s quarterfinals.

Merrick Hanna of Encinitas performs in quarterfinals of "America's Got Talent" on NBC.
Merrick Hanna of Encinitas performs in quarterfinals of “America’s Got Talent” on NBC. Image via YouTube.com

“Light Balance, Mandy Harvey, Johnny Manuel, Celine Tam and Merrick Hanna are the five acts that will be in the semis based on America’s vote,” according to goldderby.com.

AGT tweeted the news itself: “Find the nearest robot, dance and RETWEET because @IAmMerrickHanna making it through to Semifinals makes our hearts complete. #AGTResults”

Original story:

At 5:18 p.m. Tuesday, Merrick Hanna’s campaign commenced.

Hoping to stay alive in “America’s Got Talent” and its $1 million prize, the Encinitas 12-year-old pulled out all the social media stops after his quarterfinals performance at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

He even recruited his brother Sagan, who at 6 is too young to vote. (But Sagan still repeated in a Twitter video: “Vote for Merrick! Vote, vote, vote!”)

Voting [for those 13 and over] ended at 4 a.m. Wednesday Pacific time. Wednesday night’s NBC show will reveal who advances.

At least one fan bragged about using different email addresses to vote 130 times for Merrick — instead of the maximum of 30 the show touts. [See rules here.]

Show creator and judge Simon Cowell gave Merrick a standing ovation after the robotic dancer story-told another song popularized by Alec Benjamin, the 23-year-old Phoenix songwriter whose “I Built A Friend” shot the local lad into fans’ hearts.

The son of Shawn and Aletha Hanna again wore his trademark red pants in the pre-dance video, shot at a treehouse. He was one of 12 acts performing in Tuesday’s live show (on the East Coast at least.) Seven acts advance to the semifinals.

“For me, so far, this is the best act we’ve seen tonight,” Cowell said after Merrick’s 100-second performance, the fifth of the night, in front of a screen projected with animated robots.

Cowell hailed the dancer’s originality and said: “I think you’ve been overlooked so far.”

But judge Heidi Klum’s critique contradicted that thought. She said: “You’ve definitely left an impression” from the numerous references she’s heard to the “dancing robot boy.”

Judge Mel B said Merrick was mesmerizing. “I sit here in awe of you.” And judge Howie Mandel called Merrick “amazing,” “very original” and “entertainment for the entire family” (while also noting his similarity to Merrick — lacking a low-cut top” like other women on the show, including Tyra Banks).

Merrick’s first video — at least the official one — had nearly 7.4 million views on YouTube.

Two weeks ago, Merrick and his father described the AGT experience to Coast News. The story noted that Merrick was about to enter middle school in the Merrick, entering middle school.

“Missing the first few weeks of school wouldn’t be cool because that is when you meet your teachers, you meet other students, you take tours of the school and I really don’t want to miss that,” Merrick said.

His father told the paper [with a laugh]: “We’re just hoping the San Dieguito Union High School District will be friendly to us.”

Tuesday’s dance, Merrick said, was about a boy who has no family.

“It would be really hard to imagine life without my family,” he said in the pre-dance video. “It’s amazing that I’ve gotten this far [in the show], and I want to keep going.”

He’s later shown saying: “To imagine winning [long pause] … wow!”

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