It takes talent: Crews calls the shots in Season 19 of ‘AGT’
Any age. Any talent. Any dream. Crowned “America’s most popular talent competition,” the jaw-dropping series “America’s Got Talent” returns for its 19th season, premiering Tuesday, May 28, on NBC.
Fans will be excited to see that the “Core Four” — Howie Mandel (“Deal or No Deal”), Simon Cowell (“The X Factor UK”), Heidi Klum (“Project Runway”) and Sofia Vergara (“Modern Family”) — are all returning to preside over this season’s contestants, and that the ever-cheerful Terry Crews (“Brooklyn Ninenine”) has returned to take his place as host at the show’s helm, steering the talent-heavy ship forward.
There’s plenty of talent aboard, too, as new singers, dancers, acrobats, impressionists, magicians and otherwise talented Americans take to the “AGT” stage, all performing in front of a live audience for their shot at performing in the live episodes later on and earning an opportunity to reach the $1 million prize at the end of it all.
Before they can win, however — and before they can even start the competition — all hopeful competitors must take part in the audition rounds, which will air between May and mid-august.
While speaking with People magazine, Cowell made note of one exciting change to this year’s audition round, stating that he, Klum, Vergara and Mandel (the judges) have each been given two Golden Buzzers in the upcoming season. The Golden Buzzers, for those who don’t remember, act as an “opposite veto” of sorts, sending an act right to the live shows — without requiring a majority vote from the panel — when pushed. In previous seasons, each judge only received one.
Adding another fun twist to this season, however, will be one additional Golden Buzzer, this time placed in the hands of host Terry Crews, who will experience voting power like never before.
Following the first week of auditions, Cowell told People: “In the first two days we’ve used more Golden Buzzers than we’ve ever used — that’s got to be a good sign!”
“We can’t wait to see which talented artists come out of the woodwork ... maybe it’ll be someone you know,” teases NBC. “Maybe it’ll be you!”
Created by Cowell, Jason Raff (“Clash of the Choirs”) and Ken Warwick (“American Idol”), “America’s Got Talent” returns Tuesday, May 28, with episodes airing on NBC and streaming on Peacock the following day.