America's Got Talent

For the Got Talent international franchise, see Got Talent.

For the spin-off, see America's Got Talent: The Champions.

America's Got Talent
Genre	Reality Talent contest
Created by	Simon Cowell
Directed by	Russell Norman
Creative director	Brian Friedman
Presented by	Regis Philbin Jerry Springer Nick Cannon Tyra Banks Terry Crews
Judges	Piers Morgan David Hasselhoff Brandy Norwood Sharon Osbourne Howard Stern Howie Mandel Mel B Heidi Klum Simon Cowell Gabrielle Union Julianne Hough
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	13
No. of episodes	326
Production
Executive producers	Simon Cowell Sam Donnelly Jason Raff Rob Wade Trish Kinane Richard Wallace
Running time	60–120 minutes
Production companies	Fremantle USA Syco Entertainment
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	June 21, 2006 (2006-06-21) – present
Related
America's Got Talent: The Champions

America's Got Talent (often abbreviated as AGT) is a televised American talent show competition, and is part of the global Got Talent franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle USA and Syco Entertainment, distributed by the former, and broadcast on the NBC television network, premiering on June 21, 2006, after plans for a British edition in 2005 were suspended following a dispute within the British broadcaster ITV; production would later resume in 2007. A season is typically run during the network's summer schedule and has featured various hosts over the course of its history, its current host is Terry Crews.

The program attracts a variety of participants, from across the United States and abroad, to take part and who possess some form of talents, with acts ranging from singing, dancing, comedy, magic, stunts, variety, and other genres. Each participant who auditions attempts to secure a place in the live episodes of a season by impressing a panel of judges - the current line-up consists of Cowell, Howie Mandel, Julianne Hough, and Gabrielle Union. Those that make it into the live episodes compete against each other for both the judges' and public's vote in order to reach the live final, where the winner receives a large cash prize, paid over a period of time, and, since the third season, a chance to headline a show on the Las Vegas Strip.

Since its premiere, America's Got Talent has helped to unearth new talent and kickstart/boost the careers of various performers who took part in the competition, while the show itself has been a rating success for NBC, drawing in on average around 10 million viewers per season. In 2013, a book was entitled Inside AGT: The Untold Stories of America's Got Talent, was released, providing a description of the seasons, contestants, judges, and production techniques of the show, along with detailed interviews with contestants from all seasons, up to the date of the book's of publication. The programme has run for a total of thirteen seasons, and spawned a spin-off competition entitled America's Got Talent: The Champions, consisting of notable contestants from the U.S. and other international versions of the franchise, which premiered on NBC on January 7, 2019.

Format

Simon Cowell, creator of America's Got Talent and the Got Talent franchise, is primarily a judge on the British international version of the franchise. He has operated as a judge on AGT since May 2016.

Auditions

The general selection process of each season is begun by the production team with open auditions held in various cities across the United States. Dubbed "Producers' Auditions", they are held months before the main stage of auditions are held. Those that make it through the initial stage, become participants in the "Judges' Auditions", which are held in select cities across the country, and attended by the judges. Each participant is held offstage and awaits their turn to perform before the judges, whereupon they are given 90 seconds to demonstrate their act, with a live audience present for all performances. At the end of a performance, the judges give constructive criticism and feedback about what they saw, whereupon they each give a vote - a participant who receives a majority vote approving their performance, moves on to the next stage, otherwise they are eliminated from the programme at that stage. Each judge is given a buzzer, and may use it during a performance if they are unimpressed, hate what is being performed, or feel the act is a waste of their time; if a participant is buzzed by all judges, their performance is automatically over. Many acts that move on may be cut by producers and may forfeit due to the limited slots available for the second performance. Filming for each season always takes place when the Judges' Auditions are taking place, with the show's presenter standing in the wings of each venue's stage to interview and give personal commentary on a participant's performance.

The YouTube audition of Jackie Evancho for Season Five of America's Got Talent in 2010 was a critical turning point towards Evancho becoming the youngest solo artist ever to go platinum in the U.S.

From the fifth to seventh seasons, acts who did not attend live auditions could instead submit a taped audition online via YouTube. Acts from the online auditions were then selected to compete in front of the judges and a live audience during the "live shows" part of the season, prior to the semi-finals. Before the inclusion of this round, the show had a separate audition episode in Seasons 3 and 4 (2008–2009) for contestants who posted videos on MySpace.

In the ninth season, the show added a new format to the auditions in the form of the "Golden Buzzer", which began to make appearances within the Got Talent franchise, since it was first introduced on Germany's Got Talent. During auditions, each judge is allowed to use the Golden Buzzer to send an act automatically into the live shows, regardless of the opinion of the other judges; when it was initially used, the buzzer simply saved an act from elimination. The only rule to the buzzer was that a judge could use it only once per season; the host was later allowed to use the Golden Buzzer for an act from the eleventh season.

Judge Cuts

Following auditions, successful entries take part in a second stage of the talent competition, in which they are separated out into a number of groups. Over the course of several weeks, each group performs per week, at a fixed venue, in which that group's participants each attempt to secure a place in the live show by performing a new variation of their act for the judges. Of these acts, the judges chose around 10 from each group to perform in the live shows; in some seasons, participants eliminated at this stage were given a chance to still appear in the live shows by being selected as a "wildcard" act. The judges have access to their buzzers and if an act is buzzed by all of them, they are immediately eliminated from the competition. Until the second season, acts did not have to perform a second time, instead moving on into the live shows, with the judges given a list of the acts who would appear in each live episode. From the second season to the eighth, this stage was dubbed as the "Las Vegas" due to the fixed venue being situated upon the Las Vegas Strip, while in the ninth series, acts performed in New York, with the stage dubbed "Judgement Week".

From the tenth season, the stage's format was changed and renamed as "Judge Cuts". In each round, the judging panel were joined by a guest judge who helped with making decisions on which act could move on to the live shows. Like the auditions, the guest judge could use a Golden Buzzer for an act, but once used, it could not be used again. Unlike previous seasons, the Judge Cuts featured twenty acts per round, with seven acts advancing into the live shows, including the one chosen by the guest's golden buzzer. Unlike the previous format for the stage, the venue used varied, but included the CBS Studio Center and the NBC Universal Back Lot.

Live shows

During the live shows, the final selection of participants, which has ranged from between 20 to 60 acts and include those that were chosen as Wildcards by the judges or received the Golden Buzzer, are divided into groups and compete against each other for viewers' and judges' votes. While earlier seasons did not follow a set structure, from the fifth season onwards it has generally focused its live episodes towards a set of quarterfinals, two semi-finals, aimed at finding that season's finalists, and an additional set of rounds when required (such as a "Top 8" or a "Top 10", depending on the season). Live episodes are broadcast weekly, and featured performances by guest stars, including previous winners of America's Got Talent. During these stages, the judges still provide feedback on an act's performance when it is over, and can use buzzers to prematurely end an performance before it is over; in the first season, the judges could not end a performance before it was over. Acts which do not secure a sufficient number of votes by the public and/or the judges, are eliminated from the competition.

Those that make it into the season's final compete against each other to secure the most votes from the public, with the number of finalists varying between seasons. The act which does is declared the winner for that season, in which they secure the programme's cash prize of $1 million, and, since Season 3 (2008), a chance to headline a show on the Las Vegas Strip. Between the fifth and eighth season, the winner was also made the headline act of a national tour with runners up following the final show, stopping in 25 cities. For season nine, however (2014), there was no tour; two shows were held in Las Vegas for the winner and some of the runner-up acts.

Judges and presenters

Terry Crews took over as host in 2019, following Tyra Banks departure, having already hosted the programme's spin-off series earlier that year.

Howie Mandel is the longest serving judge on America's Got Talent, since June 2010.

Nick Cannon is the longest serving host of the program, from June 2009, to September 2016.

Season	Presenter	Judges (chair's order)
		1	2	3	4
1	Regis Philbin	Piers Morgan	Brandy	David Hasselhoff	—
2	Jerry Springer		Sharon Osbourne
3
4	Nick Cannon
5				Howie Mandel
6
7		Howard Stern
8			Heidi Klum	Mel B	Howie Mandel
9
10
11		Howie Mandel	Mel B	Heidi Klum	Simon Cowell
12	Tyra Banks
13
14	Terry Crews	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA

In its first season, the judging panel consisted originally of David Hasselhoff, Brandy Norwood, and Piers Morgan, with the program hosted by Regis Philbin. Prior to the start of the second season, Norwood was forced to step down due to a legal matter she was caught up in, leading to her being replaced by Sharon Osbourne, while Philbin was replaced by Jerry Springer as the show's host. Further changes were made to the panel and show's host in later seasons, as a direct result of each respective member having a need to focus on other TV commitments - Springer was forced to leave after the third season, and was replaced by Nick Cannon for the fourth season; Hasselhoff left the show after the fourth season, and so was replaced by Howie Mandel for the fifth season as a direct result; Morgan left after the sixth season, leading to his replacement by Howard Stern for the seventh season.

In August 2012, Osbourne left the program following a dispute with NBC. While the network replaced her with former Spice Girls member Mel B in February 2013, the production staff decided to expand the number of judges in the panel to four - such a format change had already been occurring in other international versions of the competition, such as on Britain's Got Talent two years prior. In March 2013, supermodel Heidi Klum was announced as joining the panel for the eighth season, confirming reports that the show would include a fourth judge into its format. In October 2015, Stern was replaced by Simon Cowell for the eleventh season. After his eighth year hosting America's Got Talent, Cannon announced plans to retire from the show due to comments he made about the network; despite being under contract to continue his hosting duties, NBC eventually replaced him with Tyra Banks for the twelfth season.

On February 11, 2019, NBC announced a change to the program's host and its judging panel following the conclusion of the thirteenth season - Banks had decided to move on to other projects, leading to her being replaced by Terry Crews, who was already working with the network as host of America's Got Talent: The Champions; both Heidi Klum and Mel B decided to leave America's Got Talent for unspecified reasons, leading to actress Gabrielle Union and dancer Julianne Hough replacing them, and joining alongside Mandel and Cowell within the judging panel.

Season	Judge Cuts Guest Judge (in order of appearance)
10	Neil Patrick Harris	Michael Bublé	Marlon Wayans	Piers Morgan
11	Ne-Yo	Reba McEntire	George Lopez	Louis Tomlinson
12	Chris Hardwick	DJ Khaled	Laverne Cox	Seal
13	Ken Jeong	Olivia Munn	Martina McBride	Chris Hardwick

Season synopses

Season	Premiere	Finale	Winner	Runner-up	Third place
1	June 21, 2006	August 17, 2006	Bianca Ryan	All That / The Millers 1	N/A
2	June 5, 2007	August 21, 2007	Terry Fator	Cas Haley	Butterscotch
3	June 17, 2008	October 1, 2008	Neal E. Boyd	Eli Mattson	Nuttin' But Stringz
4	June 23, 2009	September 16, 2009	Kevin Skinner	Bárbara Padilla	Recycled Percussion
5	June 1, 2010	September 15, 2010	Michael Grimm	Jackie Evancho	Fighting Gravity
6	May 31, 2011	September 14, 2011	Landau Eugene Murphy, Jr.	Silhouettes	Team iLuminate
7	May 14, 2012	September 13, 2012	Olate Dogs	Tom Cotter	William Close
8	June 4, 2013	September 18, 2013	Kenichi Ebina	Taylor Williamson	Jimmy Rose
9	May 27, 2014	September 17, 2014	Mat Franco	Emily West	AcroArmy
10	May 26, 2015	September 16, 2015	Paul Zerdin	Drew Lynch	Oz Pearlman
11	May 31, 2016	September 14, 2016	Grace VanderWaal	The Clairvoyants	Jon Dorenbos
12	May 30, 2017	September 20, 2017	Darci Lynne Farmer	Angelica Hale	Light Balance
13	May 29, 2018	September 19, 2018	Shin Lim	Zurcaroh	Brian King Joseph

• ^1 Although both acts were runner-ups, neither were defined in terms of 2nd and 3rd place during the broadcast of the final's result for this season.

Season 1 (2006)

Main article: America's Got Talent (season 1)

Bianca Ryan, season one winner

The first season was announced in May 2006, and aired later that year between June 21 to August 17. Auditions took place in June within Los Angeles, where the live-round episodes were also broadcast from, New York, and Chicago. Initial advertisements for America's Got Talent implied that the winning act would headline a show in Las Vegas, but this was later dropped in favour of a cash prize of $1 million dollars due to concerns surrounding the possibility of awarding such a prize to a minor. Episodes were broadcast from June 21 to August 17, and were hosted by Regis Philbin, with the judging panel consisting of actor David Hasselhoff, singer Brandy Norwood, and journalist Piers Morgan.

More than 12 million viewers watched the program's premiere episode, a far greater viewing figure than had been achieved by the premiere of American Idol in 2002, becoming one of the most-watched program on U.S. television and the highest-rated among viewers aged 18 to 49, at that time. This season was won by singer Bianca Ryan, with clogging group All That and musical group The Millers being the runners-up; neither act were defined in the results in terms of who was placed 2nd, and who was placed in 3rd.

Season 2 (2007)

Main article: America's Got Talent (season 2)

Terry Fator, season two winner

The second season was aired during 2007, between June 5 to August 21. When it was initially announced, NBC intended for it to be aired in Janaury of that year on Sunday nights, without separate episodes for results. However, due to concerns it would be put in direct direct competition with American Idol, which had a similar premise and was more popular, America's Got Talent was assigned to the Summer schedule used for the first season, with the slot appointed to another reality-based talent show, Grease: You're The One That I Want, as a direct result. Auditions for this season involved the same cities as had been previously used, but with the inclusion of Dallas as part of its schedule.

The second season saw the use of the Judge's vote being suspended for this season only, meaning acts advanced purely on viewer votes, and introduced a period of callback episodes filmed in Las Vegas, aimed at streamlining around 70 successful participants down to around 20 semi-finalists, while results episodes were given a shorter timeslot than the one-hour period used for these episodes in the first season. In March 2007, NBC announced that Philbin would not be returning as host of the program, and thus revealed that Jerry Springer would succeed him in this role. The following month, Norwood was forced to leave her role as a judge on America's Got Talent due to a legal case being made against her, and was thus replaced by Sharon Osbourne, having previously worked as a judge on Cowell's UK show The X Factor.

This season was won by singing impressionist and ventriloquist Terry Fator, with singer/guitarist Cas Haley coming in second, and singer Butterscotch placing third.

Season 3 (2008)

Main article: America's Got Talent (season 3)

Neal E. Boyd, season three winner

The third season was aired during 2008, between June 17 to October 1; because of the 2008 Summer Olympics, the program was forced to suspend its broadcast between August 7-26 to avoid conflicting with live broadcasts of the sporting event. Auditions took place between January to April, across the same cities from the previous season, but included new stops within Charlotte, Nashville, Orlando and Atlanta. Unlike the previous season, the Las Vegas callback episodes doubled the number of semi-finalists involved in the live rounds to around forty acts, instead of twenty, while the show modified the X's used by the judges to the same style as those in Britain's Got Talent, introduced a new title card, and aired several results episodes in a irregular schedule.

This season was won by opera singer Neal E. Boyd, with singer and pianist Eli Mattson coming in second, and violinists Nuttin' But Stringz placing third.

Season 4 (2009)

Main article: America's Got Talent (season 4)

Kevin Skinner, season four winner

The fourth season aired during 2009, between June 23 to September 19, and was the first to be broadcast in high definition. Auditions were held between January to April, with a change in cities used - while the program returned to New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Atlanta, it also held auditions within Washington, D.C., Miami, Tacoma, Boston, and Houston. Alongside live auditions and home audition tapes, participants were given the opportunity to register their auditions through uploading a video direct to the program's website. This season saw results episodes being given one-hour timeslots has had been done in the first season, the "Las Vegas Callbacks" being redubbed as "Vegas Verdicts" by the production team, and the winning act being given a 10-week headline show at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip alongside the program's cash prize.

Springer left the program following the conclusion of the previous season, owing to other TV commitments he had, leading him to be replaced as the program's host by Nick Cannon in February. This season was won by country music singer Kevin Skinner, with opera singer Bárbara Padilla coming in second, and percussionists Recycled Percussion placing third.

Season 5 (2010)

Main article: America's Got Talent (season 5)

Michael Grimm, season five winner

The fifth season aired during 2010, between June 1 to September 15; NBC initially considered moving the program to its 2009 Fall schedule, to match that of the move made by rival series So You Think You Can Dance, but decided against this action. Audition were held between January to April; televised auditions took place within Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Orlando, and Portland (Oregon), while non-televised auditions held by the program's producers were held in Atlanta and Philadelphia. This season was the first in the program's history to accept registration through online auditions via YouTube, and adopt a format on its live episodes that would be standard for future seasons.

As Hasselhoff had signed himself up as the host of a new television program prior to filming of this season beginning, his role as judge was taken over by comedian and game show host Howie Mandel. Along with the cash prize, the winning act was also given a performance at the Caesars Palace Casino and Resort on the Las Vegas Strip and made the headline act of the America's Got Talent Live Tour that year, alongside the runner-up, 3rd place, and the other top ten finalists. This season was won by singer/musician Michael Grimm, with classical singer Jackie Evancho coming in second, and performance group Fighting Gravity placing third.

Season 6 (2011)

Main article: America's Got Talent (season 6)

Landau Eugene Murphy, Jr., season six winner

The sixth season was aired during 2011, between May 31 to September 14. Auditions took place in Winter - early Spring of that year - televised auditions within Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, Houston, Minneapolis, and Seattle; and non-televised auditions in Denver and Chicago. Auditions made via Youtube were conducted on May 4. No changes were made to the program nor did it face any major disruptions. This season was won by singer Landau Eugene Murphy, Jr., with dance group Silhouettes coming in second, and dance group Team iLuminate placing third.

Season 7 (2012)

Main article: America's Got Talent (season 7)

Olate Dogs, season seven winners

The seventh season was aired during 2012, between May 14 to September 13. Auditions were held between October 2011 to February 2012, within the cities of New York, Washington, D.C., Tampa, Charlotte, Austin, Anaheim, St. Louis, and San Francisco. In December 2011, Cowell announced that the program would undergo a major revamp that would see it receive new graphics, including a new logo, new lighting mechanics, and a new set of title credits and theme music. In addition, live episodes were broadcast from the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark - the change in location not only meant that the live-round studio set was revamped, including a revised judges' desk design that bore similarities to that used on Britain's Got Talent, but that the audience attending these rounds was much larger than in previous seasons.

Morgan was forced to quit America's Got Talent after the sixth season, despite stating that he had signed a three-year contract to stay on the program on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on July 27, 2010, because of his TV commitments with hosting CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight. As a result, he was replaced by radio personality Howard Stern - because Stern hosted his SiriusXM radio show in New York, his involvement in America's Got Talent that year directly contributed to the production team using the Performing Arts Center in Newark for broadcasting the live episodes, in order to ensure his work schedule for that year was not disrupted. This season was won by dog tricks act Olate Dogs, with comedian Tom Cotter coming in second, and musician William Close placing third.

Season 8 (2013)

Main article: America's Got Talent (season 8)

The eighth season was aired during 2013, between June 4 to September 18. A series of polls took place from July 2012, aimed at determining which major cities in the United States would be used for televised auditions in 2013, whereupon filming in the chosen cities - New York, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Antonio - took place during Spring of that year. The format for audition episodes was changed to be similar to that used for such episodes on Britain's Got Talent, in that each episode would be split into two or three parts, each part consisting of a selection of record auditions from one of the visited cities. Alongside this change, the production team moved broadcasts of live episodes out of Newark, and focused them within Radio City Music Hall in New York.

Sharon Osbourne left America's Got Talent after the seventh season, after announcing her decision to do so on August 6, 2012, following a dispute between herself and NBC in regards to the treatment of her son Jack Osbourne by producers for a new NBC program at the time. Her departure led to her being replaced on March 3, 2013, by supermodel Heidi Klum. Apart from the change of judges, the program also looked towards expanding the panel with a fourth judge, and eventually confirmed this with an announcement in February 2013 that Mel B (Melanie Brown) of the Spice Girls would be joining the panel in that role. This season was won by martial arts dancer/mime Kenichi Ebina, becoming the first foreign act to win America's Got Talent, with stand-up comedian Taylor Williamson coming in second, and singer/guitarist Jimmy Rose placed third.

Season 9 (2014)

Main article: America's Got Talent (season 9)

Mat Franco, season nine winner

The ninth season was aired during 2014, between May 27 to September 17. Preliminary auditions (or "Producer's auditions) were held in late 2013 within Miami, Atlanta, Houston, Baltimore, Denver, Indianapolis, New York, and Los Angeles. Televised auditions (or "Judges'" auditions) were filmed during early 2014, between February to April, within Newark, New York, and Los Angeles. This season included a special audition via the website of The Today Show, in which participants could submit a video on the website, and if they were the top three of this selection, they would perform their act on the program on July 23, 2014, with the winner securing a spot in the quarterfinal of this season's America's Got Talent.

A few changes were made to the program's format in this season. Firstly, the "bootcamp" rounds discontinued filming in Las Vegas in favour of New York, and renamed "Judgement Week"; this change also intended for the use of a live studio audience, but this idea was scrapped by the producers. Secondly, the "Golden Buzzer" was introduced - a format that had begun to appear within the Got Talent franchise since it was first introduced on Germany's Got Talent in 2012, and which had recently been introduced into Britain's Got Talent earlier that year - although its use was mainly for saving an act from elimination. The final change involved the inclusion of a special vote entitled the "Snapple Vote", a reference to the program's sponsor during that season - viewers could vote online for one of three acts in either the semi-finals (if they finished in 5th, 6th, or 7th place per the public vote), or in the "Top 12" round (if they finished in 4th, 5th or 6th place per the public vote), with the act getting the most votes moving on to the next stage, whilst the remaining two faced a judges' vote for survival.

This season was won by magician Mat Franco, with singer Emily West coming second, and acrobatic troupe AcroArmy placing third.

Season 10 (2015)

Main article: America's Got Talent (season 10)

The tenth season aired during 2015, between May 26 to September 16. Producer auditions took place between late 2014 to early 2015 within Tampa, Nashville, Richmond, New York, Chicago, St. Louis, San Antonio, Albuquerque, San Francisco, Seattle, Boise, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles. Filming of Judges' auditions took place during Spring-early Summer 2015, between March and June within Newark, New York, and Los Angeles, with a special "extreme" audition session held within Pomona, California, performed on an outdoor stage, for participants with acts considered too dangerous to be conducted within an indoor studio set.

This season saw the Golden Buzzer format, introduced in the previous season, being amended to match that on Britain's Got Talent, in that its use would send a participant directly into the live rounds, although the host was not allowed to use it per the revised format. In addition, the Bootcamp round was revamped with a new format and renamed as "Judges Cut", in which they were held over four weeks rather than one, consisted of around a total of 80 acts shortlisted from the auditions with around 20 per week, and featured the involvement of a guest judge for each of these episodes, who, alongside the judges, could use the Golden Buzzer for an act they wished to see in the live rounds. Neil Patrick Harris, Michael Bublé, Piers Morgan, and Marlon Wayans, became the first guest judges for the new format in this season. The "Snapple Vote", introduced in the previous season, was renamed the "Dunkin' Save" to coincide with the program's new sponsor that season, with its format expanded to cover quarter-finalists who finished in 6th, 7th, or 8th place per the public vote.

This season was won by ventriloquist Paul Zerdin, with comedian Drew Lynch coming in second, and magician mentalist Oz Pearlman placing third.

Season 11 (2016)

Main article: America's Got Talent (season 11)

Grace VanderWaal, season eleven winner

The eleventh season was aired during 2016, between May 31 to September 16. Open auditions were held between late 2015 to early 2016, within Detroit, New York, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, San Jose, San Diego, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Orlando, and Dallas. Filming of the judges' auditions took place in March 2016, prior to the premiere episode of the season, and were exclusively conducted within the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Los Angeles. The season premiered on May 31, 2016.. During the previous season on June 24, 2015, Howard Stern announced his departure from America's Got Talent on his TV program, leading to Simon Cowell announcing in October 22 later that year that he would be replacing him for eleventh season; on October 4, 2016, Cowell signed a contract that would keep him as a judge on America's Got Talent until 2019. Stern's departure led to the production team moving the live-round broadcasts back to Los Angeles, and filmed at the Dolby Theatre. Apart from this change, the Golden Buzzer format was amended so that the host Cannon could now use it during auditions.

The guest judges who featured in the Judges' Cut for the eleventh season consisted of George Lopez, Reba McEntire, Ne-Yo, and Louis Tomlinson. This season was won by singer-songwriter and musician Grace VanderWaal, with magician mentalist duo The Clairvoyants coming in second, and magician Jon Dorenbos placing third.

Season 12 (2017)

Main article: America's Got Talent (season 12)

The twelfth season aired during 2017, between May 30 to September 20. Open auditions were held in late 2016 to early 2017, within Chicago, Austin, Cleveland, Jacksonville, Philadelphia, Las Vegas, San Diego, New York, Charleston, Memphis, and Los Angeles, with filming of the Judges' audition conducted in March 2017 at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Los Angeles. On February 13, 2017, Nick Cannon resigned from hosting America's Got Talent, following a dispute between himself and NBC concerning remarks he had made during his Showtime comedy special Stand Up, Don't Shoot. As a result, despite Cannon being under contract, the network were forced to find a replacement, and chose supermodel Tyra Banks as his successor.

This season is notable for the death of a participant during its broadcast - American physician Brandon Rogers, who died in an automobile accident on June 11, 2017. Rogers had managed to secure a place in America's Got Talent during the audition's stage before his death, following his involvement with American R&B vocal group Boyz II Men earlier that year after the group had seen footage of him singing on Youtube. His audition was not shown in the wake of the death, until it was decided to air it as part of the episode on July 11, in his memory.

The guest judges who featured in the Judges' Cut for the twelfth season consisted of Chris Hardwick, DJ Khaled, Laverne Cox and Seal. This season was won by singer ventriloquist Darci Lynne Farmer, with singer Angelica Hale coming in second, and Ukrainian dance act Light Balance placing third.

Season 13 (2018)

Main article: America's Got Talent (season 13)

The thirteenth season was aired during 2018, between May 29 to September 28. Open auditions were held in late 2017 to early 2018, within Orlando, Cincinnati, Savannah, Milwaukee, Houston, Las Vegas, New York, Nashville, and Los Angeles, with the Judges' auditions filmed in March 2017 at at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Los Angeles. A minor change was made to the format of the Judges Cuts in terms of the number of participants in this stage from the auditons being reduced to 72, with around 18 performing each week. The guest judges who featured in the Judges' Cut for the thirteenth season consisted of Ken Jeong, Olivia Munn, Martina McBride, and Chris Hardwick. This season was won by magician Shin Lim, with acrobatic group Zurcaroh coming in second, and violinist Brian King Joseph placing third.

Season 14 (2019)

The fourteenth season is set to be aired during 2019. On December 25, 2018, Tyra Banks resigned as host of America's Got Talent, leading to Terry Crews, host of the spin-off series America's Got Talent: The Champions, being announced as her replacement on February 11, 2019. On that same date, both Heidi Klum and Mel B were also revealed to have departed from their roles as judges, leading to them being replaced by Julianne Hough and Gabrielle Union.

Post-show

America's Got Talent Live

America's Got Talent Live is a show on the Las Vegas Strip that features the winner of each season of America's Got Talent as the main performance.

In 2009, America's Got Talent Live appeared on the Las Vegas Strip appearing Wednesday through Sunday at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, in a limited ten-week run from October through January featuring winner Kevin Skinner, runner-up Barbara Padilla and fourth-place finisher The Texas Tenors. It featured the final ten acts which made it to the season four (2009) finale. Jerry Springer emceed, commuting weekly between Stamford, Connecticut, tapings of his self-named show and Las Vegas.

In 2010, on the first live show of season five, the winner headlined America's Got Talent Live from Caesars Palace Casino and Resort on the Las Vegas Strip, which was part of a 25-city tour that featured the season's finalists. Jerry Springer returned as both host of the tour and the headliner of the show.

In 2012, the tour returned, featuring winners Olate Dogs, Spencer Horsman, Joe Castillo, Lightwire Theater, David Garibaldi and his CMYK's, Jarrett and Raja, Tom Cotter, and other fan favorites.

In 2013, after the success of the 2012 tour, another tour was scheduled, featuring season eight's winner, Kenichi Ebina, and finalists Collins Key, Jimmy Rose, Taylor Williamson, Cami Bradley, The KriStef Brothers, and Tone the Chiefrocca. Tone hosted the tour.

In 2014, America's Got Talent Live announced that performances in Las Vegas on September 26 and 27 would feature Taylor Williamson, the season eight (2013) runner-up, and the top finalists for season nine: Mat Franco, Emily West, Quintavious Johnson, AcroArmy, Emil and Dariel, Miguel Dakota, and Sons of Serendip.

In 2015, no tour was held. Instead, three shows were given at the Planet Hollywood Resort in Las Vegas featuring winner Paul Zerdin, runner-up Drew Lynch, and fan favorite Piff the Magic Dragon.

In 2016, four shows were given at the Planet Hollywood Resort in Las Vegas. They featured the top two finalists for season 11, Grace VanderWaal and The Clairvoyants, as well as finalist Tape Face.

In 2017, four shows were given at the Planet Hollywood Resort in Las Vegas. They featured winner Darci Lynne, runner-up Angelica Hale, third-placed Light Balance, and finalist Preacher Lawson.

In 2018, three shows were given at the Paris Las Vegas in Las Vegas. They featured winner Shin Lim, 4th place Samuel J. Comroe, and three other finalists Courtney Hadwin, Vicki Barbolak, and Duo Transcend, as well as quarterfinalist Hans.

Holiday Spectacular

NBC broadcast the two-hour America's Got Talent Holiday Spectacular on December 19, 2016, hosted by Cannon with performances by Grace VanderWaal, Jackie Evancho, Andra Day, Penn & Teller, Pentatonix, Terry Fator, Mat Franco, Piff the Magic Dragon, Olate Dogs, Professor Splash, Jon Dorenbos and others, and featuring the Season 11 judges, including Klum, who sang a duet with Season 11 finalist Sal Valentinetti. The special drew 9.5 million viewers.

NBC also broadcast holiday TV special, Darci Lynne: My Hometown Christmas on December 11, 2018, hosted by Darci Lynne Farmer with her four main puppets (Petunia, Oscar, Edna and Katie), as well as duets with Lindsey Stirling, Toby Keith, and Kristin Chenoweth, and guest performances by Pentatonix and Hunter Hayes. Also included were the four America's Got Talent judges, Simon Cowell, Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum and Mel B, in a sketch, and Lonnie Chavis from This Is Us as the announcer for the special.

Reception

U.S. television ratings

Since the show began, its ratings have been very high, ranging from 9 million viewers to as many as 16 million viewers, generally averaging around 12 million viewers. The show has also ranked high in the 18–49 demographic, usually rating anywhere from as low as 1.6 to as high as 4.6 throughout its run. Audition shows and performance shows rate higher on average than results shows.

Although the show's ratings have been high, the network usually keeps the show's run limited to before the official start of the next television season in the third week of September with some reductions or expansions depending on Olympic years, where finale ratings are usually lower due to returning programming on other networks.

The highest rated season in overall viewers to date is season four (2009). The most-watched episode has been the finale of season five (2010), with 16.41 million viewers. The series premiere and an episode featuring the first part of Las Vegas Week in season six (2011) have each tied for highest rating among adults 18–49, both having a 4.6 rating.

Season	Premiered		Ended		TV season	Timeslot (ET)	Season viewers	Season ranking
	Date	Viewers (in millions)	Date	Viewers (in millions)
1	June 21, 2006	12.41	Final Performances: August 16, 2006		2005–06	Wednesday 8:00 pm		1
			Season Finale: August 17, 2006	12.05		Thursday 9:00 pm		1
2	June 5, 2007	12.93	Final Performances: August 20, 2007		2006–07	Tuesday 8:00 pm		1
			Season Finale: August 21, 2007	13.87
3	June 17, 2008	12.80	Final Performances: September 30, 2008	10.23	2007–08	Tuesday 9:00 pm (June 17 – August 5) Tuesday 8:00 pm (after August 26)		1
			Season Finale: October 1, 2008	12.55		Wednesday 9:00 pm (after August 27)		1
4	June 23, 2009	11.30	Final Performances: September 15, 2009	13.84	2008–09	Tuesday 9:00 pm		1
			Season Finale: September 16, 2009	15.53		Wednesday 9:00 pm		1
5	June 1, 2010	12.35	Final Performances: September 14, 2010	14.60	2009–10	Tuesday 9:00 pm		1
			Season Finale: September 15, 2010	16.41		Wednesday 9:00 pm		1
6	May 31, 2011	15.28	Final Performances: September 13, 2011	13.67	2010–11	Tuesday 8:00 pm (May 31 – July 5) Tuesday 9:00 pm (after July 5)	12.65	1
			Season Finale: September 14, 2011	14.37		Wednesday 9:00 pm (after June 22)	11.49	1
7	May 14, 2012	10.48	Final Performances: September 12, 2012	11.05	2011-12	Monday 8:00 pm (May 14 – July 3) Tuesday 8:00 pm (after July 3)	10.48	1
			Season Finale: September 13, 2012	10.59		Tuesday 9:00 pm (May 14 – July 3) Wednesday 9:00 pm (after July 3)	10.58	1
8	June 4, 2013	12.41	Final Performances: September 17, 2013	11.19	2012–13	Tuesday 8:00 pm	11.22	1
			Season Finale: September 18, 2013	11.49		Wednesday 8:00 pm (after July 10)	10.34	1
9	May 27, 2014	12.00	Final Performances: September 16, 2014	11.46	2013–14	Tuesday 8:00 pm (May 27 – July 15) Tuesday 9:00 pm (after July 22)	10.31	1
			Season Finale: September 17, 2014	12.21		Wednesday 9:00 pm (after July 23)	10.37	1
10	May 26, 2015	11.09	Final Performances: September 15, 2015	11.33	2014–15	Tuesday 8:00 pm	10.70	1
			Season Finale: September 16, 2015	9.54		Wednesday 8:00 pm (after August 12)	9.07	1
11	May 31, 2016	11.67	Final Performances: September 13, 2016	13.97	2015–16	Tuesday 8:00 pm	11.71	1
			Season Finale: September 14, 2016	14.41		Wednesday 8:00 pm (after July 5)	10.97	1
12	May 30, 2017	12.37	Final Performances: September 19, 2017	14.70	2016–17	Tuesday 8:00 pm	12.90	1
			Season Finale: September 20, 2017	15.64		Wednesday 8:00 pm (after August 9)	12.00	1
13	May 29, 2018	12.16	Final Performances: September 18, 2018	12.99	2017–18	Tuesday 8:00 pm	TBA	1
			Season Finale: September 19, 2018	12.88		Wednesday 8:00 pm (after August 15)	TBA	1

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Result	Ref.
2011	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Competition Show	Nominated
	Kids' Choice Awards	Favorite Reality Show	Nominated
	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Hairstyling For A Multi-Camera Series Or Special	Nominated
2012	Kids' Choice Awards	Favorite Reality Show	Nominated
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Summer TV Show	Nominated
		Choice Male TV Personality: Nick Cannon	Nominated
2013	Kids' Choice Awards	Favorite Reality Show	Nominated
2014	People's Choice Awards	Favorite TV Competition Show	Nominated
	Kids' Choice Awards	Favorite Reality Show	Nominated
2015	People's Choice Awards	Favorite TV Competition Show	Nominated
	Kids' Choice Awards	Favorite Talent Competition Show	Nominated
2016	People's Choice Awards	Favorite TV Competition Show	Won
	Kids' Choice Awards	Favorite Talent Competition Show	Nominated
2017	Critics' Choice Awards	Best Reality Series - Competition	Nominated
	People's Choice Awards	Favorite TV Competition Show	Nominated
	Kids' Choice Awards	Favorite Reality Show	Won
2018	Critics' Choice Awards	Best Reality Series - Competition	Nominated

Top-selling albums by former contestants

Sales numbers and rankings are U.S. sales only.

See also: RIAA certification

Rank	Former contestant	Total US sales	Albums
1	Jackie Evancho (season 5, runner-up)	3,000,000+	Prelude to a Dream (2009) No. 121 O Holy Night (2010) No. 2 (Platinum certification) Dream with Me (2011) No. 2 (Gold certification) Heavenly Christmas (2011) No. 11 Songs from the Silver Screen (2012) No. 7 Awakening (2014) No. 17 Someday at Christmas (2016) No. 93 Two Hearts (2017) No. 100 (Evancho's 7th consecutive No. 1 ranking on the Classical Albums Chart)
2	Lindsey Stirling (season 5 quarterfinalist)	856,000+	Lindsey Stirling (2012) No. 23 Shatter Me (2014) No. 2 Brave Enough (2016) No. 5
3	The Texas Tenors (season 4, 4th place)	500,000+	The Texas Tenors (album)|Country Roots, Classical Sound: Remastered Special Edition (2011) No. 1 Classical Catalog Albums chart O Night Divine (2013) No. 13 Classical Albums chart You Should Dream (2013) No. 111; No. 5 Classical Albums Chart First 5 Years Live (2014) No. 1 Classical Catalog Albums Chart Rise (2017) No. 22; No. 1 Classical Albums Chart A Collection of Broadway & American Classics (2018) No. 1 Classical Albums Chart
4	Grace VanderWaal (season 11 winner)	200,000+	Perfectly Imperfect (2016) No. 4 Just the Beginning (2017) No. 22
5	Landau Eugene Murphy, Jr. (season 6 winner)	156,000+	That's Life (2011) No. 34 Christmas Made for Two (2013) did not chart
6	Bianca Ryan (season 1 winner)	150,000+	Bianca Ryan (2006) No. 57 Christmas Everyday (2007) did not chart The True Meaning of Christmas (2009) did not chart
7	Cas Haley (season 2 runner-up)	40,000+	Cas Haley (2008) No. 8 Connection (2010) did not chart La Si Dah (2013) did not chart
8	Michael Grimm (season 5 winner)	22,000+	Michael Grimm Live (2007) did not chart I Am Michael Grimm (2009) did not chart Leave Your Hat On (2010) No. 101 Michael Grimm (2011) No. 13
9	Neal E. Boyd (season 3 winner)	6,000+	My American Dream (2009) No. 195

Contestants who have competed on other reality shows

Many acts which have competed on America's Got Talent but were ultimately eliminated before the final round have either previously competed on or went on to compete in a number of other reality shows, most notably American Idol and America's Best Dance Crew.

American Idol

The following America's Got Talent (AGT) contestants also appeared on American Idol (AI):

AGT Season	Year	Contestant	AI Season	Year	Outcome
1	2006	Jessica Sanchez	11	2012	Runner-up
3	2008	Holli Harden	9	2010	Appeared
4	2009	Thia Megia	10	2011	Finished in the Top 11
4, 9	2009, 2014	Kelli Glover	1	2002	Appeared
6	2011	Shevonne Phillidor	15	2016	Appeared
9	2014	Nick Fradiani, member of Beach Avenue	14	2015	Winner
10	2015	Jenna Renae	15	2016	Top 24
11	2016	Sal Valentinetti	14	2015	Appeared

America's Best Dance Crew

The following America's Got Talent (AGT) contestants also appeared on America's Best Dance Crew (ABDC):

AGT Season	Year	Contestant	ABDC Season	Year	Outcome
2	2007	Jabbawockeez	1	2008	Champions
3	2008	Extreme Dance FX	5	2010	Competed as Blended Projekt
3, 4	2008, 2009	SQ Entertainment	1	2008	Runner-up
4	2009	BreakSk8	1	2008	Finished in fourth place
4	2009	FootworKINGz	6	2011	Competed
5	2010	Rated Next Generation (RNG)	7	2012	Finished in Top Four
5	2010	Strikers All-Stars	3	2009	Finished in Top Four
7	2012	787 Crew	6	2011	Competed
9	2014	Flight Crew Jump Rope	5	2010	Finished in fifth place, and competed as Saltare

Other shows

The following America's Got Talent (AGT) contestants also appeared on these other shows:

AGT Season	Year	Contestant	Show	Season	Year	Network	Outcome
1	2006	Tonya Kay, member of Trey Knight's Stilt World	Who Wants to Be a Superhero?	1	2006	SyFy	5th Place
2	2007	Tammie Brown	RuPaul's Drag Race	1	2009	Logo	8th Place
2	2007	Tika "Sweetie" Rainn	Flavor of Love	1	2006	VH1	8th Place
3	2008	Derrick Barry	RuPaul's Drag Race	8	2016	Logo	5th Place
5	2010	Justin Hopkins	The Voice	2	2012	NBC	Advanced to Battle Rounds
5	2010	Murray SawChuck	Celebracadabra	1	2008	VH1	Appeared
5	2010	Alice Tan Ridley	30 Seconds to Fame	Pilot	2002	Fox	Winner
6	2011	Dani Shay	The Glee Project	2	2012	Oxygen	Appeared
7	2012	Trisha Paytas	Who Wants to Be a Superhero?	2	2007	SyFy	7th Place
7	2012	Horse	American Ninja Warrior	4	2012	G4 and NBC	Competed
7	2012	Bria Kelly	The Voice	6	2014	NBC	Advanced to Top 10 on Team Usher
7	2012	Academy of Villains	Fake Off	2	2015	TruTV	Appeared
7	2012	Lightwire Theatre	Fake Off	1	2014	TruTV	Winners
7, 8	2012, 2013	D'Angelo and Amanda	Live to Dance	1	2011	CBS	Winners
7	2015	Ben Blaque	Britain's Got Talent	10	2010	ITV	Advanced to the semi-finals
8	2015	Alexandr Magala	Britain's Got Talent	10	2010	ITV	9th place
8	2013	Kennedy Davenport	RuPaul's Drag Race	7	2015	Logo	4th Place
8	2013	Tummy Talk	The Gong Show	1	2017	ABC	Appeared
8	2013	Angela Hoover	First Impressions	1	2016	USA Network	Appeared
8	2013	KriStef Brothers	Fake Off	1	2014	TruTV	7th Place
8	2013	Taylor Williamson	Last Comic Standing	7	2010	NBC	Semifinalist
9	2014	Adrian Romoff	Child Genius	2	2016	Lifetime	Winner
10	2015	Leroy Patterson	Solitary	2	2007	Fox Reality	7th Place
10	2015	Myq Kaplan	Last Comic Standing	7	2010	NBC	Finalist
10	2015	Freelusion Dance Company	Fake Off	1	2014	TruTV	Fourth place, appeared as Freelusion USA
10	2015	Piff the Magic Dragon	Penn & Teller: Fool Us	1	2011 2014	ITV (U.K.) The CW (U.S.)	Appeared
10	2015	Stevie Starr	Britain's Got Talent	4	2010	ITV	Advanced to the semi-finals
11	2016	Cory Kahaney	Last Comic Standing	1	2003	NBC	Finalist
11	2016	Laura Bretan	Romania's Got Talent	6	2016	Pro TV	Winner
13	2018	The Sacred Riana	Asia's Got Talent	2	2017	AXN Asia	Winner
13	2018	Yumbo Dump	Asia's Got Talent	2	2017	AXN Asia	Semifinalist

International broadcasts

In Indonesia, the eleventh season has currently been broadcast by NET. since October 22, 2016 every Saturday and Sunday at 10 pm WIB. But, since Monday, October 31, in addition to the weekend slot, the show has also been broadcast every Monday to Friday at 5 pm WIB as the replacement of the currently concluded TV drama, the second season of Kesempurnaan Cinta, which was concluded on Friday, October 28, 2016.

In the United Kingdom, TruTV, along with simulcasts on the Local Television Limited network, show America's Got Talent, with TruTV showing it from the tenth season.

The thirteenth season of the show will air on AXN Asia, together with the twelfth series of Britain's Got Talent.

In the Philippines, the show was being broadcast on ABS-CBN from 2008 to 2010. When the network premiered Pilipinas Got Talent in 2010, the show was now being aired on Studio 23 until January 2014, the time Studio 23 rebranded to ABS-CBN Sports+Action (now branding as ABS-CBN S+A). In 2011, the show aired on The Game Channel until its closure in 2015. Currently, it is being aired on AXN Philippines and on RTL CBS Entertainment (now Blue Ant Entertainment).

See also

• Got Talent
• The X Factor

External links

• Official website
• America's Got Talent at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com show