The thirteenth season of American talent show competition series America's Got Talent was broadcast on NBC from May 29 to September 19, 2018.[1] There were no major changes to the program during the season; the guest judges for this season's Judge Cuts episodes were Ken Jeong, Olivia Munn, Martina McBride, and Chris Hardwick.[2]

Quick Facts Hosted by, Judges ...
America's Got Talent
Season 13
Promotional poster for season 13, featuring (L to R) judges Mandel, Mel B, Cowell, Klum, and host Banks
Hosted byTyra Banks
Judges
WinnerShin Lim
Runner-up
No. of episodes24
Release
Original networkNBC
Original releaseMay 29 (2018-05-29) 
September 19, 2018 (2018-09-19)
Season chronology
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Season 12
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Season 14
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Judges and Host for America's Got Talent Season 13

The thirteenth season was won by close-up magician Shin Lim, with acrobatic group Zurcaroh finishing second, and electric violinist Brian King Joseph placing third. During its broadcast, the season averaged around 11.15 million viewers.

Season overview

Open auditions were held in late 2017 within Orlando, Cincinnati, Savannah, Milwaukee, Houston, Las Vegas, New York City, Nashville, and Los Angeles[3] (while online auditions were accepted).[4] As in previous years, the judges' auditions were held and filmed in March 2017 at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Los Angeles.[5] The Judge Cuts episodes included actor Ken Jeong, actress Olivia Munn, singer Martina McBride, and comedian Chris Hardwick appearing as guest judges.[2]

Thirty-six of the participants auditioning secured a place in the live quarter-finals, with twelve quarter-finalists appearing in each of the shows. Among the contestants: acrobatic group Zurcaroh, singer Michael Ketterer, singer Courtney Hadwin, singer Amanda Mena, and singer Makayla Phillips[2] who had each received a golden buzzer from the main judges and host; choir Voices of Hope, choir Angel City Chorale, ballroom dancers Quin and Misha, and rapper Flau’jae[2] who had each received a Golden Buzzer from the guest judges; opera singer Daniel Emmet, novelty water-spitting act Human Fountains, and multimedia performance group Front Pictures who were chosen as Wildcard quarter-finalists. Twenty-two quarter-finalists advanced and appeared in two semi-finals (eleven in each show), including Front Pictures which was chosen again by the judges (as the Wildcard semi-finalist); ten semi-finalists securing a place in the finals. The chart below lists the results of each participant's overall performance in this season:

  Winner |   Runner-up |   Third place |   Finalist |   Semi-finalist
  Quarter-finalist | Wildcard Quarter-finalist | Wildcard Semi-finalist
Golden Buzzer - Auditions | Golden Buzzer - Judge Cuts
More information Participant, Age(s) 1 ...
Participant Age(s) 1 Genre Act From Quarter-Final Result
Aaron Crow 49 Danger Danger Act Bruges, Belgium 3 Semi-finalist
Amanda Mena 16 Singing Singer Boston 1 Semi-finalist
Angel City Chorale 19-88 Singing Choir Los Angeles 1 Semi-finalist
Brian King Joseph 27 Music Electric Violinist Los Angeles 3 Third place
Christina Wells 42 Singing Singer Houston 3 Semi-finalist
Courtney Hadwin 14 Singing Singer Peterlee, England 1 Finalist
Da RepubliK 15-32 Dance Dance Group Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 3 Semi-finalist
Daniel Emmet 25 Singing Opera Singer Las Vegas 3 Finalist
Duo Transcend 29 & 32 Acrobatics Trapeze Duo Salt Lake City, Utah 2 Finalist
Flau'jae 14 Singing Rapper Savannah, Georgia 1 Eliminated
Front Pictures 41 & 43 Variety Multimedia Act Kyiv, Ukraine 2 Semi-finalist
Glennis Grace 40 Singing Singer Amsterdam, Netherlands 2 Finalist
Hans 19 Singing / Music Singer & Accordionist Adelaide, Australia 1 Eliminated
Human Fountains 24-29 Variety Water Spitting Act Los Angeles 1 Eliminated
Joseph O'Brien 20 Singing / Music Singer & Pianist Columbia, Tennessee 3 Eliminated
Junior New System 18-25 Dance Dance Group Manila, Philippines 1 Semi-finalist
Lord Nil 38 Danger Escape Artist Italy 1 Eliminated
Makayla Phillips 16 Singing Singer Canyon Lake, California 2 Semi-finalist
Michael Ketterer 40 Singing Singer Anaheim, California 3 Grand-finalist
Mochi 29 Variety Multimedia Diabolo Juggler Shizuoka, Japan 1 Eliminated
Noah Guthrie 24 Singing / Music Singer & Guitarist Greer, South Carolina 2 Semi-finalist
Quin & Misha 70 & 35 Dance Ballroom Duo Orlando 2 Eliminated
Rob Lake 35 Magic Illusionist Norman, Oklahoma 3 Eliminated
Samuel J. Comroe 30 Comedy Comedian Los Angeles 2 Grand-finalist
Shin Lim 26 Magic Magician Boston 1 Winner
The Future Kingz 7-23 Dance Dance Group Chicago 3 Eliminated
The PAC Dance Team 15-18 Dance Dance Group Sahuarita near Tucson, Arizona 1 Eliminated
The Sacred Riana 25 Magic Illusionist Jakarta, Indonesia 2 Eliminated
The Savitsky Cats 24 & 45 Animals Cat Act Ukraine 2 Eliminated
UDI 20-37 Dance Electronic Dance Group Tomsk, Russia 3 Eliminated
Us the Duo 27 & 28 Singing / Music Vocal Duo Los Angeles 3 Semi-finalist
Vicki Barbolak 60 Comedy Comedian Oceanside, California 1 Finalist
Voices of Hope 5-17 Singing Choir Orange County, California 2 Semi-finalist
We Three 21-27 Singing / Music Band McMinnville, Oregon 1 Semi-finalist
Yumbo Dump 31 & 34 Variety Novelty Act Okayama, Japan 2 Eliminated
Zurcaroh 8-39 Acrobatics Acrobatic Group Götzis, Austria 3 Runner-up
Close
  • ^1 Ages denoted for a participant(s), pertain to their final performance for this season.

Quarter-finals summary

Buzzed Out | Judges' choice |   Advanced to Semi-finals
  Won Online Public Vote |   Won Judges' Vote |   Lost Judges' Vote

Quarter-final 1 (August 14)

Guest Performer, Results Show: Darci Lynne

More information Quarter-Finalist, Order ...
Quarter-Finalist Order Buzzes and Judges' votes Result (August 15)
Cowell Klum Mel B Mandel
Mochi 1 Eliminated (Judges' Vote Tied - Lost by Public Vote)
Human Fountains 2 Eliminated
Angel City Chorale 3 Advanced (Online Public Vote)
The PAC Dance Team 4 Eliminated
Amanda Mena 5 Advanced
Junior New System 6 Advanced (Judges' Vote Tied - Won by Public Vote)
We Three 7 Advanced
Lord Nil 8 Eliminated
Flau'jae 9 Eliminated
Shin Lim 10 Advanced
Vicki Barbolak 11 Advanced
Courtney Hadwin 12 Advanced
Close

Quarter-final 2 (August 21)

Guest Performers, Results Show: The Illusionists, and Light Balance

More information Quarter-Finalist, Order ...
Quarter-Finalist Order Buzzes and Judges' votes Result (August 22)
Cowell Klum Mel B Mandel
Makayla Phillips 1 Advanced (Online Public Vote)
Da RepubliK 2 Advanced (Won Judges' Vote)
Noah Guthrie 3 Advanced
Yumbo Dump 4 2 2 Eliminated
Samuel J. Comroe 5 Advanced
Voices of Hope 6 Advanced
The Savitsky Cats 7 Eliminated
Glennis Grace 8 Advanced
The Sacred Riana 9 Eliminated
Quin & Misha 10 Eliminated
Front Pictures 3 11 Eliminated (Lost Judges' Vote)
Duo Transcend 12 Advanced
Close
  • ^2 Cowell and Mel B both originally buzzed Yumbo Dump, but later retracted their buzzers.
  • ^3 Front Pictures were later appointed as the judges' WildCard semi-finalist.

Quarter-final 3 (August 28)

Guest Performers, Results Show: Cast of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical

More information Quarter-Finalist, Order ...
Quarter-Finalist Order Buzzes and Judges' votes Result (August 29)
Cowell Klum Mel B Mandel
The Future Kingz 1 Eliminated (Lost Judges' Vote)
Us the Duo 2 Advanced
Daniel Emmet 3 Advanced (Online Public Vote)
Brian King Joseph 4 Advanced
Aaron Crow 5 Advanced (Won Judges' Vote)
Joseph O'Brien 6 Eliminated
Hans 7 Eliminated
UDI 8 Eliminated
Christina Wells 9 Advanced
Zurcaroh 10 Advanced
Rob Lake 11 Eliminated
Michael Ketterer 12 Advanced
Close

Semi-finals summary

Buzzed Out | Judges' choice |   Advanced to Finals
  Won Online Public Vote |   Won Judges' Vote |   Lost Judges' Vote

Semi-final 1 (September 4)

More information Semi-Finalist, Order ...
Semi-Finalist Order Buzzes and Judges' votes Result (September 5)
Cowell Klum Mel B Mandel
Amanda Mena 1 Eliminated
Junior New System 2 Eliminated
Us the Duo 3 Eliminated
Voices of Hope 4 Eliminated (Judges' Vote Tied - Lost by Public Vote)
Shin Lim 5 Advanced
Makayla Phillips 6 Eliminated
Front Pictures 7 Eliminated
Duo Transcend 8 Advanced (Judges' Vote Tied - Won by Public Vote)
Samuel J. Comroe 9 Advanced (Online Public Vote)
Michael Ketterer 10 Advanced
Zurcaroh 11 Advanced
Close

Semi-final 2 (September 11)

Guest Performers, Results Show: BTS[6] and cast of A Magical Cirque Christmas

More information Semi-Finalist, Order ...
Semi-Finalist Order Buzzes and Judges' votes Result (September 12)
Cowell Klum Mel B Mandel
Christina Wells 1 Eliminated
Da RepubliK 2 Eliminated
Noah Guthrie 3 Eliminated
Daniel Emmet 4 Advanced (Won Judges' Vote)
Angel City Chorale 5 Eliminated
Aaron Crow 6 Eliminated
Vicki Barbolak 7 Advanced
We Three 8 Eliminated (Lost Judges' Vote)
Glennis Grace 9 Advanced (Online Public Vote)
Brian King Joseph 10 Advanced
Courtney Hadwin 11 Advanced
Close

Finals (September 18–19)

Guest Performers, Finale: Kiss

  Winner |   Runner-up |   3rd place |   Top 5
More information Finalist, Performed with (2nd Performance) ...
Finalist Performed with
(2nd Performance)
Result (September 19)[7]
Brian King Joseph Lindsey Stirling 4 3rd
Courtney Hadwin The Struts Finalist
Daniel Emmet Plácido Domingo Finalist
Duo Transcend Lindsey Stirling 3 Finalist
Glennis Grace Bebe Rexha Finalist
Michael Ketterer N/A Grand-finalist
Samuel J. Comroe N/A Grand-finalist
Shin Lim Matt Iseman and Akbar Gbaja-Biamila 1st
Vicki Barbolak David Spade Finalist
Zurcaroh Lindsey Stirling 2nd
Close
  • ^4 Brian King Joseph & Duo Transcend conducted a joint routine for their second performance, and thus shared the same guest performer.

Ratings

The following ratings are based upon those published by Nielsen Media Research after this season's broadcast:

More information Episode, Title ...
Episode Title First air date Timeslot (EDT) Rating
(18–49)
Share
(18–49)
Viewers
(millions)
Nightly
Rank
Weekly
Rank
1 Auditions Week 1 May 29, 2018 Tuesday
8:00 p.m.
2.5 11 12.16 1[8] 3[9]
2 Auditions Week 2 June 5, 2018 2.2 10 11.27 1[10] 3[11]
3 Auditions Week 3 June 12, 2018 2.3 10 11.46 1[12] 1[13]
4 Auditions Week 4 June 19, 2018 2.2 10 11.86 1[14] 1[15]
5 Auditions Week 5 June 26, 2018 2.0 9 11.32 1[16] 1[17]
6 Auditions Week 6 July 10, 2018 2.1 9 11.55 1[18] 1[19]
7 Judge Cuts 1 July 17, 2018 2.1 9 11.33 1[20] 1[21]
8 Judge Cuts 2 July 24, 2018 2.0 8 11.68 1[22] 1[23]
9 Judge Cuts 3 July 31, 2018 2.1 9 11.83 1[24] 1[25]
10 Judge Cuts 4 August 7, 2018 1.9 9 11.04 1[26] 1[27]
11 Quarterfinals, Week 1 (Performances) August 14, 2018 2.1 10 11.10 1[28] 1[29]
12 Quarterfinals, Week 1 (Results) August 15, 2018 Wednesday
8:00 p.m.
1.5 8 9.85 2[30] 2[29]
13 Quarterfinals, Week 2 (Performances) August 21, 2018 Tuesday
8:00 p.m.
2.1 9 11.21 1[31] 1[32]
14 Quarterfinals, Week 2 (Results) August 22, 2018 Wednesday
8:00 p.m.
1.6 8 9.69 1[33] 2[32]
15 Quarterfinals, Week 3 (Performances) August 28, 2018 Tuesday
8:00 p.m.
1.9 8 10.78 1[34] 1[35]
16 Quarterfinals, Week 3 (Results) August 29, 2018 Wednesday
8:00 p.m.
1.5 7 9.90 2[36] 2[35]
17 Semifinals, Week 1 (Performances) September 4, 2018 Tuesday
8:00 p.m.
1.8 8 10.69 1[37] 5[38]
18 Semifinals, Week 1 (Results) September 5, 2018 Wednesday
8:00 p.m.
1.5 7 9.89 2[39] 7[38]
19 Semifinals, Week 2 (Performances) September 11, 2018 Tuesday
8:00 p.m.
1.9 8 10.75 1[40] 4[41]
20 Semifinals, Week 2 (Results) September 12, 2018 Wednesday
8:00 p.m.
1.6 8 10.15 1[42] 5[41]
21 The Finals September 18, 2018 Tuesday
8:00 p.m.
2.3 10 12.99 1[43] 2[44]
22 Season Finale September 19, 2018 Wednesday
8:00 p.m.
2.1 10 12.88 1[45] 3[44]
Close

Specials

More information Specials, Title ...
Specials Title First air date Timeslot (EDT) Rating
(18–49)
Share
(18–49)
Viewers
(millions)
Nightly
Rank
Weekly
Rank
S1 Best of Auditions July 11, 2018 Wednesday
8:00 p.m.
0.9 5 5.98 2[46] 4[19]
S2 Road to Lives August 9, 2018 Thursday
8:00 p.m.
0.7 3 3.82 2[47] 21[27]
Close

References

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