Actual human tears? From Simon Cowell? Now that’s how you kick off a new season of America’s Got Talent.
AGT returned for its 18th edition on Tuesday, ending with a first for NBC’s long-running competition series: a Golden Buzzer selected by the audience. And we can’t imagine a single viewer who didn’t wholeheartedly agree.
The lucky recipient was Mzansi Youth Choir, the final act to audition on Tuesday. The South African vocal group would have been impressive on its own, but it went the extra mile by performing a song written by Jane Kristen Marczewski — aka Nightbirde, a fan-favorite AGT contestant from Season 16 who lost her battle with cancer in 2021.
Cowell became visibly emotional during the performance, and he was fully powering through tears as he gave the group its good news.
“Right until the end, she was so passionate about sharing her music,” he said of Nightbirde. “This has gone all over the world, and you’ve come back here with the most amazing tribute. It was just breathtaking, honestly.”
As chants for a Golden Buzzer began to grow from the crowd, Cowell added, “We’ve always discussed one day giving the audience something.” And just like that, the first-ever audience-chosen Golden Buzzer in AGT history was awarded to Mzansi Youth Choir.
Read on for a breakdown of the other eight acts sent through during this first week of AGT Season 18 auditions, then vote for your favorite(s) in our poll and drop a comment with your thoughts on the episode.
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TREX FLIPS
Image Credit: Courtesy of NBC Howie Mandel called the first act of Season 18, a man backflipping and breakdancing in a T-rex Halloween costume, “the ultimate surprise.” But the real surprise is that all four judges gave him a “yes.” Don’t get me wrong, I agree with Cowell that he was “the best dancing dinosaur we have ever had on AGT,” but what kind of bar is that? Would anyone pay real, human dollars to see this live in Vegas? I wouldn’t.
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PHILIP BOWEN
Image Credit: Courtesy of NBC First of all, I love that Bowen learned how to play violin after seeing musician Itzhak Perlman — who just happens to be Mandel’s cousin (?!) — on Sesame Street. But I have even more love for the music that Bowen blessed us with tonight. Did I expect this kindly father of three to absolutely melt our faces off with what I can only describe as “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” meets… System of a Down? It was cool, then it was beautiful, then it was cool again. And it was always rock ‘n’ roll.
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STEEL PANTHER
Image Credit: Courtesy of NBC With an intro from the likes of Dave Navarro calling it “the greatest metal band you’ve never heard of,” this glam-metal foursome is sure to have long legs in this competition. Guitars? Shredded. Vocals? Screaming. I can’t blame Joe Manganiello for hiring these guys to play at his 40th birthday party — I grew a long, curly mane of rock-god hair just listening to them!
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THREE G
Image Credit: Courtesy of NBC Were it not for the first-of-its-kind audience Golden Buzzer, this would have been the most talked-about audition of the night. This beautiful acrobatic trio from Ukraine had the audience in awe, stacking themselves on top of one another with all the precision of the Cat in the Hat. But then… a fall. Followed by another fall. This kind of repeated fumble is rare in a televised AGT audition, so most viewers assumed this would be the end of the road for Three G. Instead, the judges commended them for picking themselves back up and finishing their audition. As Cowell put it before sending them through, “Lesser people would have just given up.”
Honestly, I’m torn. What Three G did accomplish was very impressive, but it’s all irrelavent if we’re worried about whether or not they’re going to fall down again.
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TRIGG WATSON
Image Credit: Courtesy of NBC This tech genius-turned-magician blew the judges’ minds (as well as my own) with a routine in which he interacted with a giant cell phone, taking things from the screen and putting them back in at random. Not only do I have no idea how any of this was accomplished, but I’m declaring it Doctor Strange-level sorcery. This man needs to be locked up. Or put in charge of the multiverse — either one!
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D’COREY JOHNSON
Image Credit: Courtesy of NBC Every season of AGT needs at least one precocious youngster with a mean set of pipes, and we got our first one in this 11-year-old showstopper from Louisville, Ky. Determined to one day be on Broadway, this pint-sized performer shocked me with a booming rendition of… Journey’s “Open Arms”? Really? Surely I can’t be the only person who was expecting a musical theater ballad here.
Still, Johnson totally crushed his moment in the spotlight. And he sounded even better when the judges requested that he perform it again a cappella.
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SHADOW ACE
Image Credit: Courtesy of NBC Shadow puppetry usually feels very been-there-done-that on AGT, so I can’t say enough good things about this bonafide entertainer, who practically reinvented the genre to deliver a hilarious, impressive production featuring pole dancing, Miley Cyrus’ iconic wrecking ball and, of course, “Gangnam Style.”
(When he said he was resurrecting a lost art, he wasn’t talking about shadow puppetry. He was talking about Psy.)
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ORLANDO LEYBA
Image Credit: Courtesy of NBC I probably would have found his set funnier if I watched Yellowstone (sorry!), but there was no denying the vibe that this 45-year-old Miami-based comedian was putting out there. I may not watch one of the buzziest shows on TV, but even I know that bison are nothing more than bougie cows.
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This story originally appeared on TVLine
