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America's Got Talent (season 4)

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America's Got Talent
Season 4
Hosted byNick Cannon
Judges
WinnerKevin Skinner
Runner-ups
No. of episodes26
Release
Original networkNBC
Original releaseJune 23 (2009-06-23) –
September 16, 2009 (2009-09-16)
Season chronology
← Previous
Season 3
Next →
Season 5

The fourth season of American talent show competition series America's Got Talent was broadcast on NBC from June 23 to September 16, 2009. Following the previous season, Jerry Springer was forced to leave the program due to other commitments,[1] and was replaced as host by Nick Cannon.[2][3] A number of changes were also made to the program before filming commenced, which included replacing the "bootcamp" stage with a round similar in format to that used by Britain's Got Talent, and changing the Buzzer format to match that being used by the Got Talent franchise. In addition, the episodes for results in each live round of the competition were also modified  – they were broadcast over a one-hour period and would feature performances by guest stars.

The fourth season was won by Country singer Kevin Skinner, with opera singer Bárbara Padilla finishing in second, and percussion group Recycled Percussion placing third. During its broadcast, the season averaged around over 11.9 million viewers, and was the first in the program's history to be aired in high definition.

Season overview[]

Jerry Springer's departure prior to this season led to NBC appointing Nick Cannon as AGT's new host.

Auditions for the fourth season's competition took place across Winter - mid-Spring 2009, with production staff expanding the audition sites to a greater number of cities. Filming for the audition episodes focused on those held within the cities of New York, Houston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, Tacoma, and Seattle; auditions were also held in Boston, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C., but production staff opted to not include these in the final edits of these episodes. Prior to auditions taking place, NBC received word from Jerry Springer that his work schedule for 2009 would make him unable to commit to hosting the program that year - alongside working on his talk show, he had also signed up to take part in summer theatre productions to help further his acting skills.[1] As a direct result, a search was made for a successor, with the network eventually recruiting Nick Cannon as his successor.[2]

Production staff decided to alter the program's format with regards to the second stage of auditions. The change was aimed at ditching the "bootcamp" format that had been used in the previous two seasons, in favor of using the selection process from Britain's Got Talent, under the title of "Vegas Verdicts" - judges would now review the tapes of participants who had made successful auditions, to determine who would advance into the live rounds. This stage would continue to divide participants into groups, allowing the judges to debate amongst themselves about which group of participants should earn a place in the live rounds, before bringing back each group to inform them of their decision about their progress in the competition; in some cases, some participants were required to do a second performance to help the judges make their final decisions. The format for the buzzers in the live rounds was also altered to match that of the format across the Got Talent franchise, in that participants receiving buzzes from all the judges had to stop immediately, rather than being given a little more time to perform.

The fourth season saw two issues arise that had to be dealt with during the running of the competition. The first saw the intervention of executive producer Simon Cowell, who felt "too much talent" had been eliminated during the new "Vegas Verdicts" stage, forcing the judges to bring back several of the eliminated acts as Wildcards for the quarter-finals at his instruction. The second saw the judges faced with the inability to determine which two acts they favored would advance past the first semi-final, eventually opting to put both through and hold no vote in the second semi-final.

Of the participants who auditioned for this season, 48 secured a place in the live quarter-finals - including those originally eliminated in the Vegas Verdicts stage before Cowell's intervention - with twelve quarterfinalists in each one. Around 20 of these advanced to and were split between the two semi-finals, with 10 semi-finalists securing a place in the live final, which was a single stage rather than multiple rounds in previous seasons. 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 club A.svg Judges' Wildcard Quarter-Finalist
Participant Age(s) 1 Genre Act From Quarter-Final Result
African High Flyers 24–35 Acrobatics Acrobats Orlando, Florida 4 Eliminated
Alizma 23, 23, 23 Singing / Music Singing Violinist Triplets Las Vegas 2 Eliminated
Anthony & Matt (AM Project) 24, 22 Dance / Music Tap dancer & Guitarist New York City 4 Eliminated
Arcadian Broad 13 Dance / Music Dancer & Pianist Orlando, Florida 1 Semi-finalist
Bárbara Padilla 36 Singing Opera singer Houston 4 Runner-up
Beale Street Flippers Playing card club A.svg 20–26 Acrobatics Flippers Memphis, Tennessee 2 Eliminated
Breaksk8 21–30 Dance Rollerskating Dance Troupe Kokomo, Indiana 1 Eliminated
BRI 17 Singing / Music Singer & Pianist Las Vegas 3 Eliminated
Carol Loo 63 Dance Dancer Jersey City, New Jersey 2 Eliminated
Charles DeWayne 21 Singing / Music Singer & Pianist La Verne, California 2 Eliminated
Coney Island Chris 42 Danger / Comedy Comic Stuntman Naugatuck, Connecticut 4 Eliminated
David Johnson 30 Singing / Comedy Comic singer Renton, Washington 3 Eliminated
Diva League Playing card club A.svg 20–44 Dance / Variety Drag Dancers & Lip-synchers Washington, D.C. 1 Eliminated
Drew Stevyns Playing card club A.svg 26 Singing / Music Singer & Musician Sykesville, Maryland 4 Finalist
Drew Thomas Magic & Illusion 40 2 Magic Magician & Illusionist Orlando, Florida 1 Semi-finalist
Eleisha Miller 8 Singing / Music Singer & Pianist Amarillo, Texas 2 Eliminated
EriAm Sisters 11, 14, 16 Singing Singing Trio Seattle 4 Semi-finalist
Erik & Rickie 8, 8 Dance Ballroom Dancers Seattle 4 Semi-finalist
Fab Five 24-35 Dance / Variety Clogging Dance Troupe Morgan, Utah 2 Finalist
FootworKINGz 16-24 Dance Dance Troupe Chicago 3 Semi-finalist
G Force 11, 9, 8 Singing / Music Girl Rock Band Amherst, Ohio 3 Eliminated
Grandma Lee 75 Comedy Stand-up Comedian Jacksonville, Florida 1 Finalist
Hairo Torres 23 Variety / Dance Contortionist & Breakdancer Grants Pass, Oregon 3 Finalist
Ishaara 18–23 Dance Bollywood Dance Troupe Berkeley, California 4 Eliminated
Jay Mattioli Playing card club A.svg 27 Magic Magician & Illusionist Manassas, Virginia 3 Eliminated
Jeffrey Ou 18 Music Classical Pianist Carrollton, Texas 3 Semi-finalist
Kevin Skinner 35 Singing / Music Singer & Musician Mayfield, Kentucky 1 Winner
Lake Houston Dance Playing card club A.svg 9–14 Dance Dance troupe Houston 1 Eliminated
Lawrence Beamen 34 Singing Bass Singer Walnut Creek, California 3 Finalist
Manuela Horn 36 Singing / Variety Yodeller & Singer Seattle 1 Eliminated
Marcus Terrell & The Serenades 22 2 Singing Vocal Group Kansas City, Missouri 3 Eliminated
Mario & Jenny 34, 33 Variety Jugglers Las Vegas 3 Semi-finalist
Mia Boostrom 16 Singing Singer North Dighton, Massachusetts 4 Eliminated
Mosaic 30–34 Singing Cappella Vocal Group Las Vegas 1 Eliminated
Pam Martin's Top Dog 54 Animal Dancing Dogs Garland, Texas 4 Eliminated
Paradizo Dance 37,29 Acrobatics Acrobatic Performers New York City 2 Semi-finalist
Pete Peterkin 54 Comedy Impressionist New York City 2 Eliminated
Pixie Mystère 9–11 Variety / Dance Contortionist Dance Troupe Cape May, New Jersey 3 Eliminated
Platt Brothers 22–27 Acrobatics / Comedy Comic Acrobats San Diego, California 1 Eliminated
Recycled Percussion 22–39 Music Junkyard Percussion Group Goffstown, New Hampshire 4 Third place
SQ Entertainment Playing card club A.svg 19–32 Dance Dance Group Boston 2 Eliminated
Team Acrodunk 23-45 Acrobatics Acrobatic Basketball Dunkers Houston 1 Semi-finalist
The Lollipop Girls Playing card club A.svg 21–40 Dance / Variety Burlesque Dance Troupe San Diego, California 4 Eliminated
The Texas Tenors 34, 35, 44 Singing Country & Classical Vocal Group Houston 2 Finalist
The Voices of Glory 16, 13, 9 Singing Sibling Trio Highland, New York 2 Finalist
Thia Megia 14 Singing Singer Redwood City, California 1 Eliminated
Tony Hoard & Rory 54 Animal Dog Frisbee-catching Act New Castle, Indiana 2 Semi-finalist
U4ria Dance Crew Playing card club A.svg 16–23 Dance Dance Troupe Coral Springs, Florida 3 Eliminated
  • ^1 Ages denoted for a participant(s), pertain to their final performance for this season.
  • ^2 The ages of Drew Thomas' assistants and Marcus Terrell's backing group were not disclosed during the season's broadcast.

Quarter-finals summary[]

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

Quarter-final 1 (August 4)[]

Guest Performers, Results Show: Terry Fator and Mariah Carey

Quarter-Finalist Order Buzzes and Judges' Vote Result (August 5)
Hasselhoff Osbourne Morgan
Breaksk8 1 Eliminated
Thia Megia 2 Crystal Clear app clean.svg Lost Judges' Vote
Platt Brothers 3 Eliminated
Diva League 4 Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Eliminated
Manuela Horn 5 Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Eliminated
Grandma Lee 6 Advanced
Mosaic 7 Eliminated
Team Acrodunk 8 Advanced
Arcadian Broad 9 Crystal Clear app clean.svg Crystal Clear app clean.svg Won Judges' Vote
Drew Thomas Magic & Illusions 10 Advanced
Kevin Skinner 11 Advanced
Lake Houston Dance 12 Eliminated

Quarter-final 2 (August 11)[]

Guest Performers, Results Show: LMFAO and Penn and Teller.

Quarter-Finalist Order Buzzes and Judges' Vote Result (August 12)
Hasselhoff Osbourne Morgan
Fab Five 1 Advanced
Charles DeWayne 2 Crystal Clear app clean.svg Lost Judges' Vote
Carol Loo 3 Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Eliminated
Tony Hoard & Rory 4 Crystal Clear app clean.svg Crystal Clear app clean.svg Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Won Judges' Vote
Eleisha Miller 5 Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Eliminated
Paradizo Dance 6 Advanced
The Texas Tenors 7 Advanced
SQ Entertainment 8 Eliminated
Pete Peterkin 9 Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Eliminated
Alizma 10 Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Eliminated
Beale Street Flippers 11 Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Eliminated
The Voices of Glory 12 Advanced

Quarter-final 3 (August 18)[]

Guest Performers, Results Show: Ashley Tisdale and Daughtry

Quarter-Finalist Order Buzzes and Judges' Vote Result (August 19)
Hasselhoff Osbourne Morgan
FootworKINGz 1 Crystal Clear app clean.svg Crystal Clear app clean.svg Crystal Clear app clean.svg Won Judges' Vote
Marcus Terrell and the Serenades 2 Eliminated
Pixie Mystère 3 Lost Judges' Vote
Jay Mattioli 4 Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Eliminated
BRI 5 Eliminated
U4RIA Dance Crew 6 Eliminated
David Johnson 7 Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Eliminated
Hairo Torres 8 Advanced
G-Force 9 Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Eliminated
Jeffery Ou 10 Advanced
Mario & Jenny 11 Advanced
Lawrence Beamen 12 Advanced

Quarter-final 4 (August 25)[]

Guest Performer, Results Show: Reba McEntire

Quarter-Finalist Order Buzzes and Judges' Vote Result (August 26)
Hasselhoff Osbourne Morgan
Ishaara 1 Eliminated
Bárbara Padilla 2 Advanced
Pam Martin's Top Dogs 3 Eliminated
African High Flyers 4 Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Eliminated
Mia Boostrom 5 Crystal Clear app clean.svg Lost Judges' Vote
Erik & Rickie 6 Crystal Clear app clean.svg Crystal Clear app clean.svg Won Judges' Vote
Coney Island Chris 7 Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Eliminated
Matt & Anthony 8 Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Eliminated
The Lollipop Girls 9 Eliminated
Drew Stevyns 10 Advanced
Recycled Percussion 11 Advanced
EriAm Sisters 12 Advanced

Semi-finals summary[]

Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Buzzed out |   Advanced

Semi-final 1 (September 1)[]

Guest Performers, Result Show: Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog, and David Hasselhoff

Semi-Finalist Order Buzzes Result (September 2)
Hasselhoff Osbourne Morgan
Team Acrodunk 1 Eliminated
The Texas Tenors 2 Advanced
Paradizo Dance 3 Eliminated
Drew Thomas Magic & Illusions 4 Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Eliminated
Tony Hoard and Rory 5 Eliminated
The Voices of Glory 4 6 Advanced
The Fab Five 4 7 Advanced
Grandma Lee 8 Advanced
Arcadian Broad 9 Eliminated
Kevin Skinner 10 Advanced
  • 4 Both acts were advanced into the next stage, after the judges could not decide on who to vote for advancing further in the competition. This decision meant no Judges' Vote was held in the next semi-final.

Semi-final 2 (September 8)[]

Guest Performer, Results Show: Cast of musical Jersey Boys.

Semi-Finalist Order Buzzes Result (September 9)
Hasselhoff Osbourne Morgan
Recycled Percussion 1 Advanced
Lawrence Beamen 2 Advanced
Erik and Rickie 3 Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Eliminated
Jeffrey Ou 4 Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Eliminated
Hairo Torres 5 Advanced
EriAm Sisters 6 Eliminated
Mario and Jenny 7 Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Eliminated
Drew Stevyns 8 Advanced
FootworKINGz 9 Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Crystal Clear action button cancel.svg Eliminated
Bárbara Padilla 10 Advanced

Final (September 14)[]

Guest Performers, Results Show: Thelma Houston, Shakira, Rascal Flatts, cast members of Cirque Du Soleil, Leona Lewis, and Susan Boyle.

  Winner |   Runner-up |   3rd place
Finalist Order Result (September 16)
The Voices of Glory 1 5th
Hairo Torres 2 8th
Lawrence Beamen 3 9th
Bárbara Padilla 4 2nd
Fab Five 5 6th
The Texas Tenors 6 4th
Drew Stevyns 7 10th
Grandma Lee 8 7th
Kevin Skinner 9 1st
Recycled Percussion 10 3rd

Ratings[]

Order Episode Rating Share Rating/Share
(18–49) 		Viewers
(millions) 		Rank (night)
(viewers) 		Rank (week)
(viewers)
1 "Auditions Episode 1" 6.8 12 3.3/10 [4] 11.30 #1 #1
2 "Auditions Episode 2" 6.2 11 3.1/9 [5] 10.39 #1 #3
3 "Auditions Episode 3" 7.5 13 3.7/11 [6] 12.91 #1 #1
4 "Auditions Episode 4" 6.8 12 2.9/9 11.30 #2 #3
5 "Auditions Episode 5" 6.2 10 3/9 [7] 10.43 #1 #2
6 "Auditions Episode 6" 6.9 12 3.3/10 [8] 11.69 #1 #1
7 "Auditions Episode 7" 8 13 3.6/10 [9] 13.17 #2 #2
8 "Auditions Episode 8" 6.9 12 2.9/9 [10] 11.38 #1 #4
9 "Auditions Episode 9" 8.2 14 3.4/10 [11] 13.75 #1 #1 [12]
10 "Auditions Episode 10
Susan Boyle Interview" 		6.6 11 2.5/7 [13] 11.26 #1 #2 [12]
11 "Vegas Verdicts (Part 1)" 7.7 13 3.4/10 [14] 12.76 #1 #1
12 "Vegas Verdicts (Part 2)" 6.4 11 2.8/8 [15] 10.90 #1 #2
13 "Quarterfinals, Group 1" 7.7 14 3.6/11 [16] 12.97 #1 #1
14 "Quarterfinals, Group 1 Results" 6 10 2.9/9 [17] 10.68 #1 #2
15 "Quarterfinals, Group 2" 7.6 13 3.4/10 12.48 #1 #1
16 "Quarterfinals, Group 2 Results" 6.9 12 2.9/9 11.42 #1 #4
17 "Quarterfinals, Group 3" 7 12 2.9/9 [18] 11.59 #1 #2
18 "Quarterfinals, Group 3 Results" 6.4 11 2.4/7 [19] 10.29 #1 #4
19 "Quarterfinals, Group 4" 6.9 12 3/8 11.42 #1 #1
20 "Quarterfinals, Group 4 Results" 6.7 11 2.9/8 10.87 #1 #2
21 "Semifinals, Group 1" 7.5 13 3.2/9 [20] 12.81 #1 #1
22 "Semifinals, Group 1 Results" 7.4 12 2.6/8 [21] 12.39 #1 #2
23 "Semifinals, Group 2 " 7.1 12 2.9/8 [22] 12.03 #1 #5
24 "Semifinals, Group 2 Results" 6 9 2.1/5 [23] 10.06 #1 #10
25 "Finals, Performances" 8.5 13 3.3/9 [24] 13.84 #2 #3
26 "Finale" 9.5 16 3.5/10 [25] 15.53 #1 #2

References[]

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  22. ^ "TV Ratings Tuesday: 90210, Melrose Place Premiere Weak; Fox & Hell's Kitchen Rule". September 9, 2009. Archived from the original on September 13, 2009. Retrieved September 10, 2009.
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