Do singing acts have an advantage on ‘America’s Got Talent’? It’s been 4 years since Kodi Lee won
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
The live shows of “America’s Got Talent” Season 18 begin on Tuesday, August 22 with the first “Qualifiers” round. In this stage of the competition, the acts sent through by the judges during the “Auditions” phase will perform again for a chance to advance to the finals. Of the 55 acts we know advanced to this round, 21 incorporate some form of singing in their overall talent. That’s over a third of the acts still in the competition, leaving us to wonder whether singing acts have a distinct advantage when it comes to the world’s biggest talent show. In terms of winners, it’s been four years since the last singer, Kodi Lee, claimed victory.
In the first six seasons of “AGT,” all of the victors worked within the singing genre on their way to claiming the championship. Bianca Ryan, Neal E. Boyd, Kevin Skinner, Michael Grimm and Landau Eugene Murphy, Jr. were all singers as their primary talent while the winner of Season 2, Terry Fator, was the first-ever ventriloquist to win, using singing as an aspect of his variety act. The vocal talent streak was broken in Season 7 when Olate Dogs took the top spot, beating out comedian Tom Cotter and harpist William Close within the top three. There were no other singing acts in the Finals that season; the highest placing singing acts were eliminated in the Semi-Finals.
More from GoldDerby
SEE Will a comedian ever win ‘America’s Got Talent’?
It took until Season 11 for another singer to win the show. Like Fator, Grace VanderWaal was a ventriloquist who used singing to round out her overall talent. Her win was immediately followed in Season 12 by another young female ventriloquist-singer, Darci Lynne, and then pianist and singer Kodi Lee in Season 14. In total, nine singing acts have won the “AGT” franchise in its 17 regular seasons for an over 50% success rate.
Aside from becoming a champion, another way to see how popular singers are in the competition is to take a look at how many have earned the coveted Golden Buzzer from a judge after their first audition. The twist to give each judge a chance to send their favorite act straight through to the live shows was introduced in Season 10. In some seasons, Golden Buzzers were available in both the audition and “Judges’ Cuts” rounds of the competition. Of the 60 acts that earned a Golden Buzzer in the the last eight seasons, 39 of them were singing talents. The popularity of singing among the judges peaked in Season 12 when eight of nine Golden Buzzer acts were vocalists. At a 65% success rate, it is clear that the judges are especially moved when someone shows off their vocal talent.
SEE ‘America’s Got Talent’ winners list: All seasons, plus ‘Champions’ and ‘Extreme’
This season, judges Simon Cowell, Sofia Vergara, Heidi Klum and Howie Mandel, as well as host Terry Crews, handed out seven Golden Buzzers, four of which went to singers. Simon gave his to Putri Ariani, Heidi handed hers to Lavender Darcangelo, and Sofia’s went to Gabriel Henrique. They also awarded the first ever Audience Golden Buzzer to the Mzansi Youth Choir. For what it’s worth, Grace, Darci and Kodi were all Golden Buzzer recipients before they won their seasons.
Though they didn’t capture a Golden Buzzer, other vocal acts that earned high praise from the judges and could go on to win include the 82nd Airborne Chorus, 12 year old D’Corey Johnson, Mariachi lead Eduardo Antonio Trevino, the chorale group Freedom Singers, solo singer Lachuné, guitarist Mitch Rossell or the rock band True Villains.
Do you think Season 18 will produce the 10th singing winner on “AGT”? Will it be one of this year’s Golden Buzzer acts or someone else? Sound off with your thoughts in the comments below.
SEE exclusive predictions: Who will win ‘America’s Got Talent’?
Be sure to make your predictions to influence our reality TV racetrack odds. You can keep changing your predictions until just before the results episode airs live on NBC. You’ll compete to win a $100 Amazon gift card and a spot on our “AGT” leaderboard. See our contest rules and sound off with other fans in our reality TV forum. Read more Gold Derby entertainment news.
SIGN UP for Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions
Best of GoldDerby
Sign up for Gold Derby's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
