America's Got Talent season 21
Season of television series
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The twenty-first season of the American talent show competition series America's Got Talent premiered on NBC on June 2, 2026, and concluded on September 23, 2026. Howie Mandel, Mel B, Sofía Vergara, and Simon Cowell all returned to the panel for their seventeenth, eighth, seventh, and eleventh respective seasons. Terry Crews returned as host for his eighth consecutive season. With Crews' return, he now ties with Nick Cannon's record as the longest-serving host in the show's history.[1]
| America's Got Talent | |
|---|---|
| Season 21 | |
Promotional poster for season 21, featuring (L to R) judges Mel B, Mandel, Cowell, and Vergara alongside host Crews | |
| Hosted by | Terry Crews |
| Judges | |
| Winner | Nene Royal |
| Runner-up | Geno Ploeger |
| No. of episodes | 23 |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | June 2 – September 23, 2026 |
| Season chronology | |
The season was won by singer and guitarist Nene Royal, with magician Geno Ploeger finishing second, and magician group Hundred Fingers placing third.
Production
On March 12, 2026, it was confirmed that the entire cast from the previous season would return for the twenty-first season. The following day, filming of the auditions began at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.
On August 24, 2026, it was reported that judge Simon Cowell would be absent from the live show judging panel for a few weeks, in order to undergo back surgery.[2] Entertainment Tonight reported that guest judges will fill in for Cowell during his absence.[3] While no guest judge was present for the second Quarter-final round, Kenan Thompson served as a guest judge for the third Quarter-final round on September 1; Thompson previously filled-in for Cowell as a guest judge during season fifteen in 2020.[4][5] On September 2, it was reported that former AGT judge Heidi Klum would serve as a guest judge for the final Quarter-final round on September 8.[6] On September 22, it was announced that Britain's Got Talent judge KSI would serve as a guest judge for the season's finals on September 22 and 23.[7]
Due to NBC Sunday Night Football airing on September 9, the season's final Quarter-final round was aired altogether on September 8. Through this scheduling, the entire week's regular schedule was instead done in three hours on a single night, with the acts' performances during the first two hours, followed by immediate results in the third hour.[8][9]
.jpg)
.jpg)
_2.jpg)
Season overview
Auditions
For the third consecutive season, and the only three times in the show's history, each judge was able to give two Golden Buzzers instead of the usual one; host Terry Crews also received two Golden Buzzers to give out during the auditions.
Judges' Callbacks
This season, a new round dubbed the Judges' Callbacks occurred. The purpose of the round is to give 23 select acts a second chance to earn a spot in the live shows after the judges' deliberations.[10]
During this round, each judge worked closely with their guest judges to offer feedback and guidance to acts they selected before deciding who would advance to the live shows. Cowell hosted his selected acts in Malibu, where he was joined by singer Normani and songwriter and producer Poo Bear. Vergara hosted her selected acts in Beverly Hills, joined by singer Sebastián Yatra and content creator Lele Pons. Mel B hosted her selected acts in Leeds, alongside her Spice Girls groupmate Emma Bunton. Mandel hosted his select acts at the Laugh Factory in Hollywood, where he was joined by comedian Nikki Glaser.[11]
| Judge | Location | Guest judges | Acts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cowell | Malibu | Normani and Poo Bear | Akira Elektrodads Elsie Nyjah Music & Zyah Rhythm Sando Travis Garland |
| Vergara | Beverly Hills | Lele Pons and Sebastián Yatra | Brook Lynn Darrell Moten Kameron Marshall Olivia Befus Vahtang |
| Mel B | Leeds | Emma Bunton | Bety Butter & Grit James & Marina Joel M Lachlan Patterson Madelyn Tallent & Malachi Martin |
| Mandel | Laugh Factory Hollywood | Nikki Glaser | Bird and Byron Cris Sosa Daniel Alvarez Naimana & Daniele Nene Royal Rynia Kando |
Live shows
- Winner | Runner-up | Third place | Finalist | Semi-finalist | Quarter-finalist |
Golden Buzzer | 
Live Golden Buzzer
| Participant[12][13] | Age(s) | Genre | Act | From | Quarter-Final[14] | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Acro Canine Crew  |
7-21 | Animal / Dance | Dancing Dog Group | Edmonton, Alberta, Canada | 3 | Finalist |
| Akira | TBA | Variety | Novelty Act | Japan | 4 | Eliminated |
| Ashford Sanders | TBA | Singing | Singer | Atlanta, Georgia | 1 | Eliminated |
| Bety | TBA | Singing | Singer | Valencia, Spain | 2 | Eliminated |
| Bird and Byron | TBA | Singing | Rock Duo | Columbus, Ohio | 4 | Eliminated |
| Brad & Tracy | TBA | Danger | Sideshow Duo | Pullman, Washington | 2 | Eliminated |
| Brook Lynn | TBA | Singing | Singer | Wilp, The Netherlands | 1 | Eliminated |
| Butter & Grit | TBA | Singing | Vocal Duo | Nashville, Tennessee | 2 | Eliminated |
| Cameron Logsdon | TBA | Comedy | Impressionist | Omaha, Nebraska | 4 | Eliminated |
| Cesar Dias | TBA | Singing / Comedy | Comedy Singer | Portugal | 4 | Semi-finalist |
| Come Here | TBA | Dance | Dance Group | South Korea | 2 | Finalist |
| Cris Sosa | TBA | Comedy | Comedian | Humble, Texas | 1 | Eliminated |
| Daniel Alvarez | TBA | Comedy | Comedian | Los Angeles, California | 3 | Semi-finalist |
| Elsie | TBA | Singing | Singer | Columbia, Mississippi | 3 | Eliminated |
| Geno Ploeger | TBA | Magic | Magician | Phoenix, Arizona[15] | 2 | Runner-up |
| Guy Kelton Jones I | TBA | Singing / Variety | Singer & Poet | New York City | 3 | Eliminated |
| Herwan Legaillard | TBA | Acrobatics / Danger | Aerialist & Sword Swallower | France | 3 | Eliminated |
| Holland & Sienna | TBA | Acrobatics | Aerial Duo | Las Vegas, Nevada | 3 | Eliminated |
Hundred Fingers  |
TBA | Magic | Magician Group | South Korea | 1 | Third place |
| Isaac Atkins |
23 | Singing | Singer | Oahu, Hawaii | 3 | Eliminated |
| James & Marina | TBA | Magic | Mentalist Duo | England and Ukraine | 1 | Eliminated |
| Jesse Joe | TBA | Singing | Singer | Midland, Texas | 4 | Eliminated |
| Jesse White Tumbling Team | TBA | Acrobatics | Tumbling Group | Chicago, Illinois | 1 | Eliminated |
| Kameron Marshall | TBA | Magic | Magician | Toronto, Ontario, Canada | 3 | Semi-finalist |
| Lai Noelle |
14 | Singing | Singer | Dallas, Texas[16] | 3 | Finalist |
| Lara D |
23[17] | Singing | Singer | Sydney, Australia | 4 | Eliminated |
| LaRussell | TBA | Singing | Rapper | Vallejo, California | 2 | Eliminated |
| Luke Taleno |
TBA | Singing | Rapper | Hialeah, Florida | 1 | Semi-finalist |
| Mackenzie Sol |
25 | Singing | Singer | Newcastle, United Kingdom | 2 | Eliminated |
| Maria | 18 | Acrobatics | Contortionist | Bavaria, Germany[18] | 3 | Eliminated |
| Nene Royal |
16 | Singing | Singer & Guitarist | Phuket, Thailand | 2 | Winner |
| Nyjah Music & Zyah Rhythm | TBA | Singing | Vocal Duo | O'ahu, Hawaii | 2 | Eliminated |
| Olivia Befus | 17 | Animal | Dog Act | Midland, Michigan | 1 | Finalist |
| Patrox | TBA | Dance | Dancer | Germany | 2 | Eliminated |
| Pynk Beard | TBA | Singing | Singer | Birmingham, Alabama | 3 | Eliminated |
| Royal Lasers |
TBA | Dance | Light–Up Dance Trio | Las Vegas, Nevada | 1 | Grand-finalist |
| Rubén Roldán |
TBA | Acrobatics | Parkour Athlete | Málaga, Spain | 4 | Eliminated |
| Sando | TBA | Dance | Dancer | Los Angeles, California | 1 | Eliminated |
| The CommUNITY ATL | TBA | Singing | Choir | Atlanta, Georgia | 1 | Eliminated |
| Travis Garland | TBA | Singing | Singer | Lubbock, Texas | 4 | Semi-finalist |
| Tyrone & Margo | TBA | Danger | Knife Throwing Duo | — | 4 | Eliminated |
| Unitree |
TBA | Dance / Variety | Robot Dance Group | Hangzhou, China | 4 | Finalist |
| Veronika Goroshkova |
TBA | Acrobatics | Aerialist | Las Vegas, Nevada[a] | 2 | Grand-finalist |
| Young & Strange | TBA | Magic | Magic Duo | Oxfordshire, England | 4 | Semi-finalist |
Quarter-finals summary
Buzzed Out | 
Live Golden Buzzer | Advanced to Finals | Advanced to Semifinals | Eliminated (Top 5)
Quarter-final 1 (August 18)
Guest Performer, Results Show: NCT 127[20]
| Participant | Order | Buzzes | Result (August 19) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cowell | Vergara | Mel B | Mandel | |||
| The CommUNITY ATL | 1 | Eliminated | ||||
| James & Marina | 2 |  |
Eliminated | |||
| Jesse White Tumbling Team | 3 | Eliminated (Top 5) | ||||
| Ashford Sanders | 4 | Eliminated | ||||
| Sando | 5 | Eliminated | ||||
| Hundred Fingers | 6 | |
Advanced | |||
| Brook Lynn | 7 | Eliminated | ||||
| Royal Lasers | 8 | Advanced | ||||
| Olivia Befus | 9 | Advanced | ||||
| Cris Sosa | 10 | Eliminated (Top 5) | ||||
| Luke Taleno | 11 | Advanced | ||||
Quarter-final 2 (August 25)
Guest Performers, Results Show: Steve Ray Ladson[21] & The War and Treaty[22]
| Participant | Order | Buzzes | Result (August 26) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vergara | Mel B | Mandel | |||
| LaRussell | 1 | Eliminated | |||
| Veronika Goroshkova | 2 | Advanced | |||
| Bety | 3 | Eliminated | |||
| Come Here | 4 | Advanced | |||
| Nyjah Music & Zyah Rhythm | 5 | |
Eliminated | ||
| Geno Ploeger | 6 | Advanced | |||
| Patrox | 7 | Eliminated | |||
| Nene Royal | 8 | |
Advanced | ||
| Mackenzie Sol | 9 | Eliminated (Top 5) | |||
| Brad & Tracy | 10 | |
Eliminated | ||
| Butter & Grit | 11 | Eliminated (Top 5) | |||
Quarter-final 3 (September 1)
Guest Performers, Results Show: Absolutely,[23] Amma,[24] and Detroit Youth Choir[25]
| Participant | Order | Buzzes | Result (September 2) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thompson | Vergara | Mel B | Mandel | |||
| Holland & Sienna | 1 | Eliminated | ||||
| Isaac Atkins | 2 | Eliminated (Top 5) | ||||
| Maria | 3 | Eliminated | ||||
| Elsie | 4 | Eliminated | ||||
| Acro Canine Crew | 5 | Advanced | ||||
| Herwan Legaillard | 6 | Eliminated | ||||
| Guy Kelton Jones I | 7 | Eliminated (Top 5) | ||||
| Kameron Marshall | 8 | Advanced | ||||
| Lai Noelle | 9 | 1 |
Advanced | |||
| Daniel Alvarez | 10 | Advanced | ||||
| Pynk Beard | 11 | Eliminated | ||||
- ^1 Vergara pressed the golden buzzer after Thompson's instruction to "get her get back".
Quarter-final 4 (September 8)
Guest Performers, Results Show: Oz Pearlman[26] & Warren Zeiders[27]
| Participant | Order | Buzzes | Result (September 8) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Klum | Vergara | Mel B | Mandel | |||
| Young & Strange | 1 | Advanced | ||||
| Lara D | 2 | Eliminated (Top 5) | ||||
| Rubén Roldán | 3 | Eliminated | ||||
| Cameron Logsdon | 4 | Eliminated | ||||
| Bird and Byron | 5 | Eliminated (Top 5) | ||||
| Tyrone & Margo | 6 | Eliminated | ||||
| Cesar Dias | 7 | Advanced | ||||
| Unitree | 8 | |
Advanced | |||
| Travis Garland | 9 | Advanced | ||||
| Akira | 10 | |
Eliminated | |||
| Jesse Joe | 11 | Eliminated | ||||
Semi-finals summary
- Advanced to Finals
Semi-final (September 15)
Guest Performer, Results Show: Chris Turner[28]
| Participant | Order | Buzzes | Result (September 16) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vergara | Mel B | Mandel | |||
| Acro Canine Crew | 1 | Advanced | |||
| Kameron Marshall | 2 | Eliminated | |||
| Cesar Dias | 3 | Eliminated | |||
| Veronika Goroshkova | 4 | Advanced | |||
| Luke Taleno | 5 | Eliminated | |||
| Royal Lasers | 6 | Advanced | |||
| Olivia Befus | 7 | Advanced | |||
| Young & Strange | 8 | Eliminated | |||
| Come Here | 9 | Advanced | |||
| Daniel Alvarez | 10 | Eliminated | |||
| Geno Ploeger | 11 | Advanced | |||
| Travis Garland | 12 | Eliminated | |||
Finals summary
Guest Performers, Results Show: Taylen Biggs and Trisha Paytas[29]
- Winner | Runner-up | 3rd place | Top 5
| Finalist | Performed with (2nd Performance) |
Result |
|---|---|---|
| Acro Canine Crew | Lele Pons 2 | Finalist |
| Come Here | Rei Ami | Finalist |
| Geno Ploeger | Mat Franco, Eric Nam & Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone | 2nd |
| Hundred Fingers | Chloe Flower | 3rd |
| Lai Noelle | Jessica Sanchez | Finalist |
| Nene Royal | Linkin Park | 1st |
| Olivia Befus | Lele Pons 2 | Finalist |
| Royal Lasers | Steve Aoki 3 | Grand-finalist |
| Unitree | Steve Aoki 3 | Finalist |
| Veronika Goroshkova | Josh Groban | Grand-finalist |
Notes
- Veronika originally lived in Mariupol, Ukraine[19]
Ratings
| No. | Title | Air date | Timeslot (ET) | Rating (18–49) | Viewers (millions) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Auditions 1" | June 2, 2026 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 0.5 | 4.86 | [30] |
| 2 | "Auditions 2" | June 9, 2026 | 0.4 | 4.82 | [30] | |
| 3 | "Auditions 3" | June 16, 2026 | 0.3 | 4.82 | [30] | |
| 4 | "Auditions 4" | June 23, 2026 | 0.3 | 4.87 | [30] | |
| 5 | "AGT: July 4th Party in the USA" | June 30, 2026 | 0.3 | 3.91 | [30] | |
| 6 | "Auditions 5" | July 7, 2026 | 0.4 | 4.98 | [30] | |
| 7 | "Auditions 6" | July 14, 2026 | 0.3 | 4.81 | [30] | |
| 8 | "Auditions 7" | July 21, 2026 | 0.4 | 5.15 | [30] | |
| 9 | "Live Acts Revealed" | July 28, 2026 | 0.3 | 4.11 | [30] | |
| 10 | "Judges' Callbacks 1" | August 4, 2026 | 0.3 | 4.17 | [30] | |
| 11 | "Judges' Callbacks 2" | August 11, 2026 | 0.3 | 3.98 | [30] | |
| 12 | "Quarterfinals 1" | August 18, 2026 | 0.4 | 4.43 | [30] | |
| 13 | "Quarterfinals 1 Results" | August 19, 2026 | Wednesday 8:00 p.m. | 0.3 | 3.79 | [30] |
| 14 | "Quarterfinals 2" | August 25, 2026 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 0.4 | 4.44 | [30] |
| 15 | "Quarterfinals 2 Results" | August 26, 2026 | Wednesday 8:00 p.m. | 0.3 | 3.75 | [30] |
| 16 | "Quarterfinals 3" | September 1, 2026 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 0.4 | 4.77 | [30] |
| 17 | "Quarterfinals 3 Results" | September 2, 2026 | Wednesday 8:00 p.m. | 0.3 | 3.83 | [30] |
| 18 | "Quarterfinals 4" | September 8, 2026 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 0.4 | 4.47 | [30] |
| 19 | "Quarterfinals 4 Results" | September 8, 2026 | Tuesday 10:00 p.m. | 0.3 | 3.55 | [30] |
| 20 | "Semifinals" | September 15, 2026 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 0.4 | 4.43 | [30] |
| 21 | "Semifinals Results" | September 16, 2026 | Wednesday 8:00 p.m. | TBD | TBD | [9][31] |
| 22 | "Finale" | September 22, 2026 | Tuesday 9:00 p.m. | TBD | TBD | [9][31] |
| 23 | "Finale Results" | September 23, 2026 | Wednesday 9:00 p.m. | TBD | TBD | [9][31] |