America's Got Talent (season 15)

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America's Got Talent
Season 15
AGT S15 Vert KA WebSafe.jpg
Promotional poster for season 15, featuring (L to R) host Crews alongside judges Cowell, Vergara, Klum, and Mandel
Hosted byTerry Crews
Judges
WinnerBrandon Leake
Runner-ups
  • Broken Roots
  • Cristina Rae
No. of episodes25
Release
Original networkNBC
Original releaseMay 26 (2020-05-26) –
September 23, 2020 (2020-09-23)
Season chronology
← Previous
Season 14
Next →
Season 16

The fifteenth season of the American talent show competition series America's Got Talent was broadcast on NBC from May 26 to September 23, 2020. Following the previous season, both Julianne Hough and Gabrielle Union left the program, leading to both being replaced prior to filming  – Heidi Klum was brought back by the producers to resume her former role; while Sofía Vergara was hired to join her as a new judge on the judging panel. Production on the fifteenth season was greatly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic that hit the United States in 2020, alongside other television programs that year, which affected arrangements for pre-recorded and live episodes.

While most audition episodes had been filmed by the end of April, despite minor issues, production on the remaining episodes was disrupted and only resumed after safety measures were implemented to prevent the risk of the infection spreading amongst staff and participants. Amongst these changes included the use of a virtual audience for the live rounds, an alteration in the program's broadcast schedule for that year, and a revamp to the format for the Judge Cuts round that would condense it into a single episode while featuring no guest judges as in previous seasons. Alongside this, Simon Cowell was forced to miss the live shows after sustaining an injury in August that year, which saw the first two quarter-finals featuring guest judges in his place, before the remainder of the competition were conducted with the other three judges only.

The fifteenth season was won by spoken word poet Brandon Leake, with singing guitarists duo Broken Roots finishing second, and singer Cristina Rae placing third.[1] During its broadcast, the season averaged around 6.61 million viewers.

Season overview[]

The departures of Union and Hough from AGT, led to the return of Heidi Klum and the recruitment of newcomer Sofía Vergara replacing each judge respectively for the fifteenth season
Kenan Thompson served as a guest judge during the second quarter-final, filling in for Simon Cowell after an injury.

Open auditions were held in late 2019, with closed auditions held across January to March the following year. Prior to the main auditions taking place, producers faced the task of finding replacements for Julianne Hough and Gabrielle Union, who had been let go from the program following the conclusion of the previous season.[2] They eventually finalised a decision on February 27, 2020, announcing that Heidi Klum would be returning to America's Got Talent in her former role, alongside newcomer Sofía Vergara.[3]

Production on the season was dramatically impacted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which was already affecting television and film shoots across the globe. Although it had been partially disrupted by Klum falling ill, leading to Eric Stonestreet standing in for her during an audition session,[4][5] restrictions imposed by the United States to combat the spread of COVID-19 caused the program to initially move to filming without an audience present at auditions, before production was ultimately suspended;[6][7][8] additional auditions were later allowed, but these had to be conducted online as a safety precaution.[9] By April 27, production staff decided that the season would be broadcast as planned and premiere on May 26,[10][11] though with the season featuring a hiatus after the audition episodes had been aired with the footage that had already been filmed.[12]

In mid-June, production on the season resumed following changes in guidelines for media production by Californian state government, and discussions between industry unions, producers and local officials.[13] While the Judges Cuts stage was held at an outdoor venue in Simi Valley, California,[14] it required implementing several health and safety protocols: performances conducted via videoconferencing on a cinema screen; masks being mandatory for all personnel when off-camera; enforced social distancing; and regular testing amongst staff. The format of the stage was also changed - the number of participants for this stage was reduced from 72 to 60; no guest judges and Golden Buzzers would be involved; and each participant would be given a verdict after their performance.[14] Cowell notably approved the change in format, including the decision to condense all footage taken into a single episode, having disliked the arrangement used in previous seasons.[15][14]

By the end of July, production staff began focusing on how to produce the live round episodes for the season, in hopes of airing these by August 11. A decision was reached to include a virtual audience for these rounds - applications being made available within the week of July 28 - in order to maintain safe working conditions for all involved, with Universal Studios Hollywood chosen as the venue for performances to take place within,[16][17][18] and an expansion in the number of quarter-finalists for the season, including an additional quarter-final, as well as an amendment to the number of semi-finalists each round produced. Prior to the first quarter-final's live broadcast, Cowell had an accident that left him with a severe back injury.[19][20][21] After undergoing surgery to help repair the damage, he was forced to temporarily stand-down his involvement in the live episodes until doctors would allow him to return to the program. Production opted to bring in guest judges during Cowell's absence for the first two quarter-finals,[22][23][24][25] before deciding to have the remaining live episodes stick to using a judging panel of three.

Of the participants who auditioned for this season, 44 secured a place in the live quarter-finals, with 11 quarter-finalists in each one - amongst these included: singer Roberta Battaglia, choir Voices of our City Choir, spoken word poet Brandon Leake, singer Cristina Rae, and dance group W.A.F.F.L.E. Crew, who had each received a golden buzzer from the main judges and host. Around 22 quarter-finalists advanced to and were split between the two semi-finals with 10 semi-finalists securing a place in the finals. The following below lists the results of each participant's overall performance in this season:

  Winner |   Runner-up |   Third place |   Finalist |   Semi-finalist
  Quarter-finalist | Playing card heart A.svg Wildcard Semi-finalist | Yellow ffff00 pog.svg Golden Buzzer Audition
Participant[18] Age(s) 1 Genre Act From Quarter-Final Result
Alan Silva 38 Acrobatics Aerialist Las Vegas 3 Grand-finalist
Alex Hooper 35 Comedy Stand-up Comedian Baltimore, Maryland 4 Eliminated
Alexis Brownley 9 Animals Dog Tricks Act Weston, Florida 2 Eliminated
Annie Jones 12 Singing Singer Victoria, Australia 3 Eliminated
Archie Williams 59 Singing Singer Baton Rouge, Louisiana 1 Finalist
BAD Salsa 16, 21 Dance Salsa Duo India 2 Finalist
Bello & Annaliese Nock 51, 23 Danger Daredevil Duo Sarasota, Florida 1 Eliminated
Bello Sisters 14-22 Acrobatics Acrobatic Trio Italy 4 Finalist
BONAVEGA 31 Singing Singer Toledo, Ohio 2 Eliminated
Bone Breakers 22-24 Dance Contortion Dance Group Conakry, Republic of Guinea 3 Eliminated
Brandon Leake Yellow ffff00 pog.svg 27 Variety Spoken Word Poet Stockton, California 4 Winner
Brett Loudermilk 31 Danger Sword Swallower North Carolina 1 Semi-finalist
Broken Roots 2 38, 44 Singing / Music Singing Guitarists Duo Chicago 4 Runner-up
C.A. Wildcats 13-29 Dance Cheerleading Group Dallas, Texas 4 Eliminated
Celina Graves 30 Singing Singer San Diego, California 4 Semi-finalist
Cristina Rae Yellow ffff00 pog.svg 30 Singing Singer Nashville, Tennessee 3 Third place
Dance Town Family Playing card heart A.svg 8-35 Dance Dance Group Miami 3 Semi-finalist
Daneliya Tuleshova 14 Singing Singer Almaty, Kazakhstan 2 Finalist
Divas & Drummers of Compton 3-20 Dance / Music Dance & Percussion Group Los Angeles 4 Eliminated
Double Dragon 32 Singing Singing Duet San Francisco 1 Semi-finalist
Feng E 13 Music Ukulelist Tapei, Taiwan 1 Eliminated
FrenchieBabyy 25 Dance Contortionist Dancer Fairfield, California 1 Eliminated
Jonathan Goodwin 40 Danger Daredevil Pembrokeshire, United Kingdom 2 Semi-finalist
Kameron Ross 30 Singing Singer Dallas, Texas 2 Eliminated
Kelvin Dukes 14 Singing Singer Burtonsville, Maryland 2 Eliminated
Kenadi Dodds 15 Singing / Music Singer & Musician Salt Lake City, Utah 4 Finalist
Lightwave Theatre Company 32-35 Variety Puppeteer Act Bucharest, Romania 4 Eliminated
Malik Dope 27 Music Drummer Washington, D.C. 3 Semi-finalist
Max Major 33 Magic Magician Las Vegas 3 Semi-finalist
Michael Yo 45 Comedy Stand-up Comedian Houston 1 Eliminated
Noah Epps 12 Dance Dancer Virginia 4 Eliminated
Nolan Neal 39 Singing / Music Singer & Guitarist Nashville, Tennessee 3 Eliminated
Pork Chop Revue 9, 68 Animals Pig Tricks Act Miami 1 Eliminated
Resound 26-30 Singing Vocal Harmony Trio Richmond, Virginia 4 Eliminated
Roberta Battaglia Yellow ffff00 pog.svg 11 Singing Singer Toronto, Canada 1 Grand-finalist
Shaquira McGrath 26 Singing Singer Kennesaw, Georgia 1 Semi-finalist
Sheldon Riley 21 Singing Singer Sydney, Australia 3 Eliminated
Simon and Maria 12, 10 Dance Salsa Duo Colombia 1 Eliminated
Spyros Brothers 23, 25 Variety Diabolo Duo New York City 2 Semi-finalist
The Shape 15-19 Dance Dance Group Alhambra, California 2 Eliminated
Thomas Day Playing card heart A.svg 17 Singing Singer Brentwood, California N/A 3 Semi-finalist
Usama Siddiquee 29 Comedy Stand-up Comedian New York City 3 Eliminated
Vincent Marcus 32 Comedy Impressionist Los Angeles 2 Eliminated
Voices of our City Choir Yellow ffff00 pog.svg 21-80 Singing Choir San Diego, California 2 Semi-finalist
W.A.F.F.L.E. Crew Yellow ffff00 pog.svg 23-26 Dance Dance Group New York City 3 Semi-finalist
  • ^1 Ages denoted for a participant(s), pertain to their final performance for this season.
  • ^2 This act initially failed to pass through the Judge Cuts stage, but was later brought back for the quarter-finals after a quarter-finalist was forced to drop out.[26][27]
  • ^3 This participant initially pulled out from the contest for health reasons before the quarter-finals, but later returned as a Wildcard act for the semi-finals after being given the all clear by producers.[28][29]

Quarter-finals summary[]

Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Buzzed Out | Crystal Clear app clean.svg Judges' choice |   Advanced to Semi-finals
  Won Online Public Vote |   Won Judges' Vote |   Lost Judges' Vote

Quarter-final 1 (August 11)[]

Guest Performers, Results Show: Mat Franco and Kodi Lee

Quarter-Finalist[30] Order Buzzes and Judges' votes Result (August 12)
Clarkson 4 Vergara Klum Mandel
Pork Chop Revue 1 Eliminated
Feng E 2 Crystal Clear app clean.png Eliminated (Lost Judges' Vote)
Shaquira McGrath 3 Advanced
Simon and Maria 4 Eliminated
FrenchieBabyy 5 Eliminated
Bello & Annaliese Nock 6 Eliminated
Roberta Battaglia 7 Advanced
Michael Yo 8 Eliminated
Double Dragon 9 Crystal Clear app clean.png Crystal Clear app clean.png Crystal Clear app clean.png Advanced (Won Judges' Vote)
Brett Loudermilk 10 Advanced (Online Public Vote)
Archie Williams 11 Advanced

Quarter-final 2 (August 18)[]

Guest Performers, Results Show: Darci Lynne and Jabbawockeez[31][32]

Quarter-Finalist[33] Order Buzzes and Judges' votes Result (August 19)
Thompson 5 Vergara Klum Mandel
Kelvin Dukes 1 Eliminated
The Shape 2 Eliminated
Kameron Ross 3 Eliminated
BAD Salsa 4 Advanced
Vincent Marcus 5 Eliminated
Alexis Brownley 6 Crystal Clear app clean.png Crystal Clear app clean.png Eliminated (Judges' Vote Tied - Lost by Public Vote)
BONAVEGA 7 Eliminated
Spyros Brothers 8 Advanced (Online Public Vote)
Daneliya Tuleshova 9 Advanced
Jonathan Goodwin 10 Crystal Clear app clean.png Crystal Clear app clean.png Advanced (Judges' Vote Tied - Won by Public Vote)
Voices of our City Choir 11 Advanced
  • ^5 Kenan Thompson filled in for Simon Cowell while he continued to recover from a back injury sustained prior to August 11.[24][25]

Quarter-final 3 (August 25)[]

Guest Performer, Results Show: Jon Dorenbos[34]

Quarter-Finalist[35] Order Buzzes and Judges' votes Result (August 26)
Vergara Mandel Klum
Dance Town Family 6 1 Eliminated
Nolan Neal 2 Crystal Clear app clean.png Eliminated (Lost Judges' Vote)
Usama Siddiquee 3 Eliminated
W.A.F.F.L.E. Crew 4 Advanced (Online Public Vote)
Annie Jones 5 Eliminated
Malik Dope 6 Crystal Clear app clean.png Crystal Clear app clean.png Advanced (Won Judges' Vote)
Max Major 7 Advanced
Bone Breakers 8 Eliminated
Sheldon Riley 9 Eliminated
Alan Silva 10 Advanced
Cristina Rae 11 Advanced
  • ^6 Dance Town Family were later brought back as a Wildcard act for the Semi-finals.[36]

Quarter-final 4 (September 1)[]

Guest Performers, Results Show: Cam and Duo Transcend[37][38]

Quarter-Finalist[26] Order Buzzes and Judges' votes Result (September 2)
Vergara Mandel Klum
C.A. Wildcats 1 Eliminated
Kenadi Dodds 2 Advanced
Lightwave Theatre Company 3 Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Eliminated
Resound 4 Crystal Clear app clean.png Eliminated (Lost Judges' Vote)
Divas & Drummers of Compton 5 Eliminated
Celina Graves 6 Advanced (Online Public Vote)
Noah Epps 7 Eliminated
Alex Hooper 8 Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Eliminated
Broken Roots 9 Advanced
Bello Sisters 10 Crystal Clear app clean.png Crystal Clear app clean.png Advanced (Won Judges' Vote)
Brandon Leake 11 Advanced

Semi-finals summary[]

Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Buzzed Out | Crystal Clear app clean.svg Judges' choice |   Advanced to Finals
  Won Online Public Vote |   Won Judges' Vote |   Lost Judges' Vote

Semi-final 1 (September 8)[]

Guest Performers, Results Show: Piff the Magic Dragon, David Copperfield, and Ndlovu Youth Choir[39][40][41][42]

Semi-Finalist[28] Order Buzzes and Judges' votes Result (September 9)
Vergara Mandel Klum
Double Dragon 1 Eliminated
Dance Town Family 2 Eliminated
Broken Roots 3 Advanced
Spyros Brothers 4 Eliminated
Thomas Day 5 Eliminated
Alan Silva 6 Advanced (Online Public Vote)
Shaquira McGrath 7 Eliminated
Brandon Leake 8 Advanced
Malik Dope 9 Crystal Clear app clean.png Eliminated (Lost Judges' Vote)
Archie Williams 10 Crystal Clear app clean.png Crystal Clear app clean.png Advanced (Won Judges' Vote)
Roberta Battaglia 11 Advanced

Semi-final 2 (September 15)[]

Guest Performers, Results Show: BTS and Colin Cloud[43][44]

Semi-Finalist Order Buzzes and Judges' votes Result (September 16)
Vergara Mandel Klum
W.A.F.F.L.E. Crew 1 Eliminated
Kenadi Dodds 2 Advanced (Online Public Vote)
Max Major 3 7 Eliminated (Lost Judges' Vote)
Bello Sisters 4 Advanced
Celina Graves 5 Eliminated
Jonathan Goodwin 6 Eliminated
Cristina Rae 7 Advanced
BAD Salsa 8 Crystal Clear app clean.png Crystal Clear app clean.png 7 Advanced (Won Judges' Vote)
Voices of our City Choir 9 Eliminated
Brett Loudermilk 10 Eliminated
Daneliya Tuleshova 11 Advanced
  • ^7 Due to the majority vote for BAD Salsa, Klum's voting intention was not revealed.

Finals (September 22–23)[]

Guest Performers, Finale: David Dobrik, Detroit Youth Choir, Meghan Markle, and Usher[45]

  Winner |   Runner-up |   3rd place |   Top 5
Finalist Performed with
(2nd Performance)
Result (September 23)
Alan Silva Bishop Briggs and Deadly Games 8 Grand-finalist
Archie Williams Marvin Winans Finalist
BAD Salsa V.Unbeatable Finalist
Bello Sisters Bishop Briggs and Deadly Games 8 Finalist
Brandon Leake N/A 1st
Broken Roots Blake Shelton 2nd
Cristina Rae OneRepublic 3rd
Daneliya Tuleshova Ava Max Finalist
Kenadi Dodds JP Saxe and Julia Michaels 9 Finalist
Roberta Battaglia JP Saxe and Julia Michaels 9 Grand-finalist
  • ^8 Alan Silva and Bello Sisters conducted a joint routine for their second performance, and thus shared the same guest performers.
  • ^9 Kenadi Dodds and Roberta Battaglia conducted a joint routine for their second performance, and thus shared the same guest performers.

Ratings[]

Viewership and ratings per episode of America's Got Talent
No. Title Air date Rating
(18–49)
Viewers
(millions)
DVR
(18–49)
DVR viewers
(millions)
Total
(18–49)
Total viewers
(millions)
Ref(s)
1 "Auditions 1" May 26, 2020 1.5 9.88 0.4 2.11 1.9 11.98 [46]
2 "Auditions 2" June 2, 2020 1.3 8.75 0.4 2.12 1.7 10.87 [47]
3 "Auditions 3" June 9, 2020 1.3 8.63 0.3 1.85 1.7 10.48 [48]
4 "Auditions 4" June 16, 2020 1.3 8.57 0.4 2.13 1.7 10.70 [49]
5 "Auditions 5" June 23, 2020 1.3 8.72 0.4 2.09 1.7 10.81 [50]
6 "Auditions 6" June 30, 2020 1.2 8.44 0.4 1.95 1.6 10.39 [51]
7 "Auditions 7" July 14, 2020 1.1 7.63 0.4 1.91 1.5 9.54 [52]
8 "AGT: Best of Auditions" July 21, 2020 0.7 5.08 0.1 0.60 0.8 5.68 [53]
9 "Judge Cuts" July 28, 2020 1.0 6.12 0.2 1.30 1.2 7.42 [54]
10 "AGT: 15th Anniversary Special" August 4, 2020 0.8 6.16 0.2 1.01 1.0 7.17 [55]
11 "Live Show 1" August 11, 2020 0.9 6.75 0.3 1.55 1.2 8.30 [56]
12 "Results Show 1" August 12, 2020 0.7 6.15 0.2 1.23 0.9 7.38 [57]
13 "Live Show 2" August 18, 2020 0.7 5.58 0.2 1.25 0.9 6.83 [58]
14 "Results Show 2" August 19, 2020 0.6 5.14 0.1 1.05 0.8 6.19 [59]
15 "Live Show 3" August 25, 2020 0.7 5.63 TBD TBD TBD TBD [60]
16 "Results Show 3" August 26, 2020 0.6 5.00 TBD TBD TBD TBD [61]
17 "Live Show 4" September 1, 2020 0.8 6.40 TBD TBD TBD TBD [62]
18 "Results Show 4" September 2, 2020 0.6 5.66 TBD TBD TBD TBD [63]
19 "Semi-Finals 1" September 8, 2020 0.8 6.01 TBD TBD TBD TBD [64]
20 "Results Show 5" September 9, 2020 0.6 5.50 TBD TBD TBD TBD [65]
21 "Semi-Finals 2" September 15, 2020 0.7 5.94 TBD TBD TBD TBD [66]
22 "Results Show 6" September 16, 2020 0.6 5.33 TBD TBD TBD TBD [67]
23 "Live Finals" September 22, 2020 0.8 6.16 TBD TBD TBD TBD [68]
24 "Countdown to the Finale" September 23, 2020 0.7 5.48 TBD TBD TBD TBD [69]
25 "Live Finale Results" September 23, 2020 0.9 6.57 TBD TBD TBD TBD [69]

References[]

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