As we near the conclusion of the first phase of the “America’s Got Talent: All-Stars” competition, there’s one question on our mind: What do the superfans have against singers? Out of the 40 acts to perform in the first round so far, a quarter of them can be considered vocal talents, but only chorale group Detroit Youth Choir has advanced, and that was thanks to a Golden Buzzer from Terry Crews. The nine other singers failed to earn enough votes from the superfans and were eliminated, but why?
Among the singing acts eliminated so far are former Golden Buzzer acts Cristina Rae and Sara James as well as champions of “Canada’s Got Talent” and “Dominica’s Got Talent” Jeanick Fournier and Keren Montero. Both Jeanick and Keren placed within the top three with the superfans on their respective episodes, as did Caly Bevier and Ndlovu Youth Choir. None of those four acts could topple the two acrobatic acts, saxophonist and dance duo that earned more votes though.
SEE All Golden Buzzers on ‘AGT’ through the years
The superfans were introduced in the spin-off “AGT: The Champions” that premiered in 2019. In the two seasons of that series, four singing acts made it out of the preliminary rounds based on the group’s vote: Cristina Ramos, Paul Potts, Brian Justin Crum and Marcelito Pomoy. Both Cristina and Marcelito managed to advance to the top 5 of their seasons, but ultimately neither became the champion of “The Champions.”
Our best guess at the superfans’ mindset is that the spin-off series are a chance to even the playing field for non-singing acts. In general, singers have fared very well in the main series, amassing a total of seven winners in 17 seasons (nine if you add ventriloquists Terry Fator and Darci Lynne Farmer who incorporate singing into their act). Though aerial, danger and comedy acts have made it as far as the finale in these seasons, they are not popular enough to ever win. The most unique winner that’s ever been crowned is probably spoken word poet Brandon Leake. Three magicians, three ventriloquists, two dance acts and one dog trick act make up the other champions.
As it stands in “All-Stars,” The Finals will feature aerialist Aidan Bryant, magician Aidan McCann, saxophonist Avery Dixon, acrobats Bello Sisters, dancers Light Balance Kids, stand-up comedian Mike E. Winfield, dancers Power Duo, as well as Detroit Youth Choir. Two more acts will join that group after the fifth set of 10 acts perform on January 30. From there, the opinion of the superfans will continue to reign supreme as they are set to decide who among the finalists claims the “All-Stars” crown. Do you think they’ll pick a singer as the winner this season or will they embrace the chance to further diversify the list of “AGT” champions?
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