America's Got Talent season 18 explained

Bg Colour:	4d1316
Module1:	Host: Terry Crews Judges: Howie Mandel Heidi Klum Sofía Vergara Simon Cowell Winner: Adrian Stoica and Hurricane Runner Up: Anna DeGuzman
Num Episodes:	24
Network:	NBC

The eighteenth season of the American talent show competition series America's Got Talent premiered on NBC on May 30, 2023, and concluded on September 27, 2023.

The season was won by dog act Adrian Stoica and Hurricane, with magician Anna DeGuzman finishing second, and dance group Murmuration placing third.During its broadcast, the season averaged around 5.47 million viewers. ^[1]

Production

On March 3, 2023, it was announced that the entire main cast from the previous season would return for the new season.^[2] On March 30, 2023, it was announced that the season would premiere on May 30, 2023.^[3]

Season overview

For the first time in the show's history, the audience used the Golden Buzzer for Mzansi Youth Choir. This occurrence follows the sixteenth season of Britain's Got Talent to use this addition.^[4]

Just like the previous season, during the final qualifying round results show on September 20, an Instant Save vote was held for viewers to send a final wildcard into the finals. The four acts included in this vote were acts that were eliminated in the live shows, with each act selected by one of the judges; Mandel selected Avantgardey, Klum selected Herwan Legaillard, Vergara selected Gabriel Henrique, and Cowell selected Chioma & the Atlanta Drum Academy. Avantgardey ultimately won the public vote, taking the last spot in the season's finals.

| | | |

America's Instant Save | Golden Buzzer Audition

Participant	Age(s)	Genre	Act	From	Qualifier	Result
82nd Airborne Chorus	20-33	Singing	Choir	Fort Bragg, North Carolina	5
Adrian Stoica and Hurricane	45 & 9	Animals	Dog Act	Turin, Italy	1
Ahren Belisle	28	Comedy	Stand Up Comedian	North Bay, Ontario, Canada	2
Alfie Andrew	12	Singing	Singer	Manchester, England	2
Andrew Stanton	42	Danger	Sword Swallower	Las Vegas, Nevada	2
Anna DeGuzman	24	Magic	Magician	New Jersey	4
Avantgardey	18-27	Dance	Dance Group	Osaka, Japan	5
Barry Brewer Jr.	40	Comedy	Comedian & Pianist	Chicago, Illinois	3
Brynn Cummings	12	Comedy / Magic	Ventriloquist & Magician	Paw Paw, Michigan	1
Chibi Unity	16-25	Dance	Dance Group	Niigata, Japan	4
Chioma & the Atlanta Drum Academy	6-14	Music	Percussion Group	Atlanta, Georgia	2
D'Corey Johnson	12	Singing	Singer	Louisville, Kentucky	4
Dani Kerr	24	Singing / Music	Singer & Guitarist	Statesville, North Carolina	2
Eduardo Antonio Trevino	11	Singing	Mariachi Singer	Humble, Texas	5
Erica Coffelt	36	Dance	Dancer	Reno, Nevada	2
Eseniia Mikheeva	7	Dance	Dancer	Moscow, Russia	5
Freedom Singers	22-65	Singing	Vocal Group	Los Angeles, California	4
Gabriel Henrique	27	Singing	Singer	Minas Gerais, Brazil	5
Grace Good	30	Acrobatics	Aerialist & Hula Hooper	Las Vegas, Nevada	5
Herwan Legaillard	33	Acrobatics / Danger	Aerialist & Sword Swallower	Paris, France	3
John Wines	59	Music	Electric Guitarist	Dorset	1
Justin Jackson	33	Dance	Tap Dancer	Montréal, Québec, Canada	3
Kylie Frey	28	Singing / Music	Singer & Guitarist	Opelousas, Louisiana	4
Lachuné	31	Singing	Singer	Fort Worth, Texas	5
Lambros Garcia	10	Dance	Dancer	Glen Head, New York	1
Lavender Darcangelo	27	Singing	Singer	Fitchburg, Massachusetts	1
Mandy Muden	61	Comedy / Magic	Comic Magician	London, England	5
Mariandrea	14	Acrobatics / Dance	Dancer & Contortionist	Mexico	4
Maureen Langan	62	Comedy	Stand Up Comedian	Manhattan, New York	1
Mitch Rossell	35	Singing / Music	Singer & Guitarist	East Tennessee	1
MOS	20-27	Music	Brass Band	Japan	3
Murmuration	12-25	Dance	Dance Group	Nîmes, France	2
Mzansi Youth Choir	19-23	Singing	Choir	Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa	3
Oleksandr Leshchenko & Magic Innovations	34	Dance	Multimedia Dancer	Kyiv, Ukraine	1
Orlando Leyba	45	Comedy	Stand Up Comedian	Miami, Florida	4
Phil Wright & Parent Jam	36	Dance	Dance Group	Los Angeles, California	3
Philip Bowen	38	Music	Violinist	Detroit, Michigan	3
Puppet Simon & the Cowbelles		Comedy/Singing	Puppet Act	Farmersville, California	4
Putri Ariani	17	Singing / Music	Singer & Pianist	Yogyakarta, Indonesia	3
Ramadhani Brothers	26 & 36	Acrobatics	Acrobatic Duo	Tanzania	5
Ray Wold & Mom	64 & 85	Danger	Danger Act	Las Vegas, Nevada	1
Roland Abante	45	Singing	Singer	Santander, Cebu, Philippines	4
Ryland Petty	10	Magic	Magician	Cannock, United Kingdom	2
SAINTED Trap Choir	21-44	Singing	Choir	Charlotte, North Carolina	1
SangSoon Kim	28	Magic	Magician	Seoul, South Korea	5
Shadow Ace	26	Variety	Shadow Artist	Calatagan, Batangas, Philippines	4
Sharpe Family Singers	14-57	Singing	Vocal Group	New Jersey	2
Steel Panther	51-57	Singing / Music	Band	Hollywood, Los Angeles, California	2
Summer Rios	19	Singing	Singer	Brunswick, Ohio	3
Three G	19-24	Acrobatics	Acrobatic Trio	Lutsk, Ukraine	2
Trailer Flowers	27 & 28	Singing / Music	Vocal Duo	Wildwood, Missouri	5
Trigg Watson	33	Magic	Magician	Los Angeles, California	3
True Villains	28-36	Singing / Music	Band	Nashville, Tennessee	1
Warrior Squad	14-30	Acrobatics	Acrobatic Group	Gurgaon, India	3
Zion Clark	25	Acrobatics	Acrobat	Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania	4

Qualifiers summary

Buzzed Out | | |

Qualifier 1 (August 22)

Guest Performer, Results Show: Craig Robinson, Aidan Bryant, The Pack Drumline, Human Fountains, Light Balance, Kodi Lee

Participant	Order	Buzzes				Result (August 23)
True Villains	1
Lambros Garcia	2
Mitch Rossell	3
Oleksandr Leshchenko & Magic Innovations	4
Adrian Stoica and Hurricane	5
SAINTED Trap Choir	6
Brynn Cummings	7
John Wines	8
Maureen Langan	9
Ray Wold & Mom	10
Lavender Darcangelo	11

Qualifier 2 (August 29)

Guest Performer, Results Show: Shin Lim

Participant	Order	Buzzes				Result (August 30)
Chioma & the Atlanta Drum Academy	1
Sharpe Family Singers	2
Three G	3
Erica Coffelt	4
Alfie Andrew	5
Ahren Belisle	6
Dani Kerr	7
Ryland Petty	8
Andrew Stanton	9
Steel Panther	10
Murmuration	11

Qualifier 3 (September 5)

Guest Performer, Results Show: Detroit Lions Cheerleaders, Chapel Hart

Participant	Order	Buzzes				Result (September 6)
Warrior Squad	1
Trigg Watson	2
Summer Rios	3
Phil Wright & Parent Jam	4
Philip Bowen	5
Mzansi Youth Choir	6
Justin Jackson	7
MOS	8
Barry Brewer Jr.	9
Herwan Legaillard	10
Putri Ariani	11

Qualifier 4 (September 12)

Guest Performer, Results Show: Drake Milligan

Participant	Order	Buzzes				Result (September 13)
Zion Clark	1
Puppet Simon & the Cow Belles	2
Roland Abante	3
Mariandrea	4
Kylie Frey	5
Chibi Unity	6
Freedom Singers	7
Orlando Leyba	8
Anna DeGuzman	9
D'Corey Johnson	10
Shadow Ace	11

Qualifier 5 (September 19)

Guest Performer, Results Show: Reba McEntire, Sofie Dossi

Participant	Order	Buzzes				Result (September 20)
Eduardo Antonio Trevino	1
Grace Good	2
Lachuné	3
Eseniia Mikheeva	4
Mandy Muden	5
Avantgardey	6
Trailer Flowers	7
Ramadhani Brothers	8
Gabriel Henrique	9
Sangsoon Kim	10
82nd Airborne Chorus	11

• Mandel pressed Klum's buzzer during Trailer Flowers' performance instead of his own. Mandel proceeded to claim he would never press his buzzer during the semi-finals, despite video shown afterwards showing him pressing Klum's buzzer.^[5]
• Avantgardey was brought back as a Wildcard act for the Finals.

Finals (September 26–27)

Guest Performers, Results Show: Mayyas

| | |

Finalist	Performed with (2nd Performance)	Result (September 27)
82nd Airborne Chorus	N/A
Adrian Stoica and Hurricane	Cat Cora
Ahren Belisle	N/A
Anna DeGuzman	Jason Derulo
Avantgardey	N/A
Chibi Unity	Thirty Seconds to Mars
Lavender Darcangelo	Diane Warren
Murmuration	Jason Derulo
Mzansi Youth Choir	Jon Batiste
Putri Ariani	Leona Lewis
Ramadhani Brothers	Thirty Seconds to Mars

• Anna DeGuzman and Murmuration conducted a joint routine for their second performance, and thus shared the same guest performer.
• Chibi Unity and Ramadhani Brothers conducted a joint routine for their second performance, and thus shared the same guest performer.

Notes and References

1. Web site: America's Got Talent Names Its New Champion! See Who Won Season 18. People. Kelly Martinez. Joelle Goldstein. September 27, 2023. September 28, 2023.
2. Web site: A special message from @heidiklum!! There's still time to sign up for #AGT auditions!. agt. America's Got Talent. Instagram. March 3, 2023. March 3, 2023.
3. Web site: NBC Announces Summer Premiere Dates For America's Got Talent, American Ninja Warrior, Hot Wheels: Ultimate Challenge & More. Deadline Hollywood. Katie Campione. March 30, 2023. March 30, 2023.
4. Mzansi Youth Choir Win 'AGT' Golden Buzzer with Emotional Tribute to Nightbirde: Watch . .
5. Web site: Simon Cowell scolds America's Got Talent producers on live television: 'I apologize' for 'what they just did' [WATCH]]. Gold Derby. Marcus James Dixon. September 19, 2023. September 20, 2023.