Season ten of the reality competition television series America's Got Talent was the 10th annual installment of the series and premiered on May 26, 2015. It concluded on September 16, 2015. Nick Cannon returned as host for his seventh season. Howie Mandel returned for his sixth season as a judge, and Howard Stern returned for his fourth and final season. Mel B and Heidi Klum both returned for their third seasons on the judging panel.
On July 29, the show aired a special two-hour tenth anniversary retrospective episode. The series returned to Radio City Music Hall in New York for the live shows, which began on Tuesday, August 11, 2015.
Dunkin' Donuts replaced Snapple as sponsor of the show after three seasons. Four guest judges were invited to judge during the judge's cuts round: actor Neil Patrick Harris, singer Michael Bublé, actor Marlon Wayans and former judge Piers Morgan. This was the first season to have an all-male finale and the first where at least four magicians competed in the finals. Ventriloquist Paul Zerdin was voted the winner for the season on September 16, 2015. Comedian Drew Lynch was the runner-up, and magician Oz Pearlman came in at third place. Piff the Magic Dragon was named the most memorable act this season, or the fan favorite.
Changes
America's Got Talent 2015 Season 10 | Paul Zerdin ventriloquist | Winner - Paul Zerdin is an English comedian and ventriloquist from London.He is the winner of the 10th season of America's Got Talent. When Paul was 10, a family friend made him a puppet theatre which...
Among the changes for the season are more extreme acts, an enhanced Golden Buzzer, and new elements in the boot camp round. The live shows began on Tuesday, August 11 and the later rounds returned to Radio City Music Hall.
Some auditions were held outdoors to showcase big danger acts. Auditions, both in the theater and outdoors, were filmed in the Fairplex in Pomona, California.
The Golden Buzzer was also enhanced this year with an act going straight through to the live shows when a judge hit the buzzer (the same format as that of Britain's Got Talent, rather than a free pass to boot camp, as in the previous season). Like the previous season, the Golden Buzzer could only be used once by each judge and by each guest judge.
The enhanced bootcamp round began July 14, 2015, to determine which acts would become a part of the Top 36 to perform for America's vote. Unlike previous seasons, the live shows will only feature 36 acts instead of 48. The bootcamp round also lasted several weeks compared with just one week in previous seasons. The celebrity guest judges, who each assisted the regular judges one week, were Neil Patrick Harris, Michael Bublé, Piers Morgan, and Marlon Wayans.
A special two hour retrospective aired on July 29 this season to celebrate the ten years of AGT. The show featured some of the best acts of the series, the most heartwarming stories, the oddest personalities, and the biggest show-stopping moments from the last 10 years, as well as updates on what some of these acts are currently doing.
Preliminary auditions
Producer auditions began on November 2, 2014 in Tampa, Florida. Other auditions sites include Nashville, Richmond (New York), Chicago, St. Louis, San Antonio, Albuquerque, San Francisco, Seattle, Boise, Los Angeles, Las Vegas. Online auditions were also accepted. Auditions in front of the judges were held March 2â€"9 at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. They continued at the Manhattan Center in New York City and the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. A special "extreme" audition session was held outside at the Fairplex in Pomona, California.
Golden Buzzer acts
Each of the four judges had one chance to use the Golden Buzzer. Mandel was the first one whose use of the Golden Buzzer was aired, doing so on stuttering comedian Drew Lynch. Contemporary dance duo Freckled Sky became the second Golden Act whose performance was aired, with Stern using the Golden Buzzer on them. Mel B was the third judge seen using the Golden Buzzer, this time on gospel singer Sharon Irving. Klum was the last to utilize the Golden Buzzer, with 11-year-old classical singer Arielle Baril being its recipient.
The guest judges each also had one chance to use the Golden Buzzer on any one act during their participation without consultation from the regular panel. Like the acts so selected by the regular judges, the Golden Buzzer acts chosen by the guest judges also went straight to the live rounds. On the July 14 episode, Neil Patrick Harris used his golden buzzer on magician Piff the Magic Dragon. On the July 21 episode, Michael Bublé used his golden buzzer on singing duo The Craig Lewis Band, although he was initially hesitant to do so. Marlon Wayans used his buzzer on ventriloquist comedian Paul Zerdin on the July 28 episode. Japanese light-and-sound dance troupe Siro-A became the last Golden Buzzer act of the season when former judge Piers Morgan used the Golden Buzzer on them.
Freckled Sky was eliminated in the quarterfinals after losing the Judges' Choice to the rock band 3 Shades of Blue. Arielle Baril, Sharon Irving and Siro-A were all eliminated in the semifinals.
Judge Cuts
The Judge Cuts round began on Tuesday, July 14, 2015. This round replaces the "Vegas Week" or "Judgment Week" rounds that were used in previous seasons. As noted above one guest judge joined the judges' panel in each week. Each guest judge was given one golden buzzer opportunity to send an act straight to the live shows. Twenty acts were shown each week, and seven advanced, including one from the guest judge's golden buzzer. Guest judges were not given a red buzzer to use. Any act that received all four red buzzers was to be immediately eliminated from the competition.
Week 1
Guest judge: Neil Patrick Harris
- Note
Week 2
Guest judge: Michael Bublé
- Note
Week 3
Guest judge: Marlon Wayans
Week 4
Guest judge: Piers Morgan
- Note
Quarterfinals
The live quarterfinals began on August 11 and were broadcast live from Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Each week, twelve acts performed and seven advanced. One or more guest artists or acts performed during each results show.
The four judges were still able to press the red buzzers to show disapproval of an act. If any act received all four buzzes, their performance would be ended prematurely, but the act would not necessarily be eliminated immediately. The golden buzzer did not appear in the live rounds. This season marked the first time Mel B and Heidi used their buzzers in the live rounds. This season also marked the first time an act received four 's during a live round in America's Got Talent history. Triple Threat, Animation Crew, and DADitude! all received "X's" in the Quarterfinals. Season 10 also has the least amount of Quarter Finals in America's Got Talent history. Previous years have had 4 Quarter Finals while this season only had 3.
The Dunkin' Save, originally called the Snapple Save, was continued from the previous season. Each week during the quarterfinals, the acts with the 6th, 7th and 8th most votes were subject to a new vote during the live results shows to send one of them to the semifinals. Out of the remaining two acts, one was selected by the judges to move on to the next round. In the event of a tie, the act with the most votes from the previous night would move on.
Week 1 (August 11â€"12)
Guests: The Rockettes, Mat Franco, OMI
Week 2 (August 18â€"19)
Guests: Emily West, William Close
^1 Klum's voting intention was not revealed.
Week 3 (August 25â€"26)
Guests: Le Rêve
^1 Though they were eliminated in the quarterfinals, Metal Mulisha Fitz Army were the judges' wildcard pick, and they came back for the first week of the semifinals.
^2 DADitude! is the first and only act as of America's Got Talent (season 12) to get 4 Xs during the live rounds. This is also the first time that Heidi has buzzed an act during the live shows.
Semifinals
The live semifinal round began on September 1 at Radio City Music Hall in NYC, with two weeks of competition. Because only 22 acts advanced to the semifinals, eleven acts perform each week, and five acts advance each week. Special guest acts or artists will perform each week during the live results shows.
The four judges will still be able to press the red buzzers to show disapproval of an act. If any act receives all four buzzes, their performance would be ended prematurely, but the act would not necessarily be eliminated immediately. Ira was the only act to receive an "X" in the semifinals.
The Dunkin' Save continued into the semifinals, with the three acts in danger of elimination being those voted in 4th, 5th, and 6th place.
Week 1 (September 1â€"2)
Guests: The Illusionists, Taylor Williamson
^1 After Mandel's vote tied the Judges' Choice, The CraigLewis Band went through to the finals on account of gaining more votes than Samantha Johnson during the previous night's voting.
Week 2 (September 8â€"9)
Guests: Little Mix, AcroArmy
^1 After Stern's vote tied the Judges' Choice, Gary Vider went through to the finals on account of gaining more votes than Freelusion during the previous night's voting.
Top 10 (finals)
The live finale took place at Radio City Music Hall in NYC on September 15 with the live results show taking place on September 16. The finale spanned only one week with the top 10 acts performing one more time before a winner was selected. The judges had the option to use their buzzer, though none of them did so. Five acts advanced into the top 5.
Finale
The following chart describes the acts and appearances presented during the finale.
^1 Freelusion was invited to perform in the finale although they were eliminated in the semifinals.
Top 36 acts
U.S. Nielsen ratings
Specials
References
External links
- Official website
- IMDB America's Got Talent website