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The sixteenth season of the American talent show competition series America's Got Talent was broadcast on NBC from June 1 to September 15, 2021. Although production was still impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, live audiences were involved during audition sessions and live round stages of the competition. After Simon Cowell returned to his role on the program after an accident the previous year,[2] the Judges Cuts round was replaced by him with a new deliberation format arrangement similar to that used in Britain's Got Talent.[3]
| America's Got Talent | |
|---|---|
| Season 16 | |
 Promotional poster for season 16, featuring (L to R) judges Mandel, Vergara, Cowell, host Crews, and judge Klum | |
| Showrunners |
|
| Hosted by | Terry Crews |
| Judges | |
| Winner | Dustin Tavella |
| Runner-up |
|
| No. of episodes | 21 |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | June 1 – September 15, 2021 |
| Season chronology | |
Judges and Host for America's Got Talent Season 16
.jpg)
This season included the first group Golden Buzzer in the program's history,[4] and the creation of a "Wildcard" special (which aired via online streaming service Peacock on August 10, 2021), following the withdrawal of a Golden Buzzer participant.[5] The sixteenth season was won by magician Dustin Tavella, with aerialist Aidan Bryant finishing second, and stand-up comedian Josh Blue placing third.[6] During its broadcast, the season averaged around 6.60 million viewers, excluding its online Wildcard special.
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On February 24, 2021, the new season's line-up of judges and host was announced, revealing that Cowell would be returning, following an accident the previous year that had forced him to be absent in the fifteenth season's live episodes.[7] Closed auditions were held across March and April, with footage taken from these undergoing final editing before the season's premiere at the beginning of June.[8] A two-week hiatus in the broadcast schedule was also made, to avoid the NBC's live coverage of the postponed 2020 Summer Olympics between July and August.[3]
The Judge Cuts round, which had been significantly modified in the previous season due to the disruption of production,[3] was replaced by the deliberation format used by Britain's Got Talent. The judges conferred after the conclusion of auditions, to determine which acts would proceed to the live rounds.[9] Some deliberations were filmed and used to fill in the remaining portions of the final audition episode for the season, as was done for the British edition of the show.[10]
Due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, the auditions were conducted with smaller audiences, augmented with stock footage of audiences from previous seasons and other editing techniques.[11][12] With restrictions eased in California effective June 15,[13] the live rounds returned to their usual home of the Dolby Theatre, but with audience members required to be vaccinated for COVID-19 and wear masks.[14]
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During auditions, the judges and host agreed to grant a group Golden Buzzer for the first time in the program's history.[4] Although this would have meant six guaranteed places in the quarter-finals, singer Nightbirde later withdrew from the competition to focus on her battle with cancer, despite receiving a Golden Buzzer.[5] As a result of this, her place was converted into a Wildcard slot, with the process conducted via a special episode on the streaming service Peacock on the same night as the first quarter-final. The process involved five participants picked from those who were eliminated during the deliberation phase, with viewers voting via Twitter over a three-day period on which of these would be their Wildcard in the third quarter-final.[15]
Of the participants who auditioned this season, thirty-six secured a place in the live quarterfinals, with twelve quarter-finalists in each quarterfinal episode. Among these included: Northwell Nurse Choir,[16][17] quick-change artist Léa Kyle, singer Jimmie Herrod, World Taekwondo Demonstration Team and classical singer Victory Brinker, who each received a Golden Buzzer; and singer Storm Large, a Wildcard act voted for during the Peacock special.[18] About twenty-two quarter-finalists advanced to and were split between the two semi-finals, with 10 semi-finalists securing a place in the finals. The following below lists the results of each participant's overall performance in this season:
- Winner | Runner-up | Third place | Finalist | Semi-finalist | Quarter-finalist
America's Wildcard | 
Wildcard Semi-finalist | 
Golden Buzzer Audition
| Participant[19][20] | Age(s) 1 | Genre | Act | From | Quarter-Final | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1aChord | 19-22 | Singing | Vocal Trio | Greensboro, North Carolina | 1 | Semi-finalist |
| Aidan Bryant | 16 | Acrobatics | Aerialist | Prince George, Virginia | 2 | Runner-up |
| ANICA | 51 | Singing | Singer | Grand Barachois, New Brunswick | 3 | Eliminated |
Beyond Belief Dance Company  |
8-12 | Dance | Dance Group | Mesquite, Texas | 1 | Semi-finalist |
| Brooke Simpson | 30 | Singing | Singer | Los Angeles | 3 | Grand-finalist |
| ChapKidz | 12-18 | Dance | Dance Group | Fairfield, California | 3 | Semi-finalist |
| Dokteuk Crew | — | Dance | Dance Group | Daejeon, South Korea | 2 | Eliminated |
| Dustin Tavella | 35 | Magic | Magician | Virginia Beach, Virginia | 1 | Winner |
| Gangstagrass | — | Singing / Music | Band | New York City | 1 | Eliminated |
| Gina Brillon | 41 | Comedy | Comedian | New York City | 1 | Finalist |
Jimmie Herrod  |
30 | Singing | Singer | Portland, Oregon | 1 | Finalist |
| Johnny Showcase | — | Singing | Singer | Philadelphia | 2 | Eliminated |
| Josh Blue | 42 | Comedy | Comedian | Denver | 2 | Third place |
| Kabir Singh | — | Comedy | Comedian | Los Angeles | 1 | Semi-finalist |
| Keith Apicary | 35 | Dance | Dancer | Portland, Oregon | 3 | Eliminated |
| Klek Entos | — | Magic | Horror Magician | France | 3 | Eliminated |
| Korean Soul | — | Singing | Vocal Group | Seoul, South Korea | 2 | Semi-finalist |
| Léa Kyle |
25 | Magic | Quick Change Artist | Bordeaux, France | 3 | Grand-finalist |
| Madilyn Bailey | 28 | Singing / Music | Singer & Pianist | Los Angeles | 1 | Semi-finalist |
| Matt Johnson | — | Danger | Escape Artist | Chilliwack, British Columbia | 1 | Eliminated |
| Michael Winslow | 62 | Comedy | Voicetramentalist | Orlando | 3 | Semi-finalist |
| Northwell Nurse Choir |
— | Singing | Choir | Long Island, New York | 2 | Finalist |
| Peter Antoniou | — | Magic | Mentalist | Seattle | 2 | Semi-finalist |
| Peter Rosalita | 10 | Singing | Singer | Philippines | 1 | Semi-finalist |
| Positive Impact Movement | — | Acrobatics | Acrobatic Group | Los Angeles | 2 | Eliminated |
| Rialcris | — | Acrobatics | Acrobatic Trio | Ensenada, Mexico | 3 | Semi-finalist |
| Sethward | 32 | Comedy | Novelty Act | Los Angeles | 1 | Eliminated |
| Shuffolution | — | Dance | Dance Group | Los Angeles | 2 | Eliminated |
Storm Large  |
51 | Singing | Singer | Southborough, Massachusetts | 3 | Eliminated |
| T.3 | — | Singing | Vocal Trio | New York City | 2 | Eliminated |
| The Canine Stars | — | Animals | Dog Act | Fort Collins, Colorado | 1 | Eliminated |
| The Curtis Family C-Notes | — | Singing / Music | Band | San Francisco | 3 | Eliminated |
| Tory Vagasy | 20 | Singing | Singer | Pompano Beach, Florida | 2 | Semi-finalist |
| UniCircle Flow | — | Variety | Unicycle Group | Japan | 3 | Semi-finalist |
| Victory Brinker |
9 | Singing | Opera Singer | Latrobe, Pennsylvania | 2 | Finalist |
| World Taekwondo Demo. Team |
— | Acrobatics | Martial Arts Troupe | San Jose, California | 3 | Finalist |
- ^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 10)
Guest Performers, Results Show: Brandon Leake & Darci Lynne[19][20]
| Quarter-Finalist[19][20] | Order | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Result (August 11) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cowell | Vergara | Klum | Mandel | |||
| The Canine Stars | 1 | Eliminated | ||||
| Peter Rosalita | 2 | Advanced | ||||
| Beyond Belief Dance Company 2 | 3 |  |
|
Eliminated (Judges' Vote Tied - Lost by Public Vote) | ||
| Madilyn Bailey | 4 | |
|
Advanced (Judges' Vote Tied - Won by Public Vote) | ||
| Kabir Singh | 5 | Advanced (Online Public Vote) | ||||
| Dustin Tavella | 6 | Advanced | ||||
| 1aChord | 7 | Advanced | ||||
| Gina Brillon | 8 | Advanced | ||||
| Gangstagrass | 9 | Eliminated | ||||
| Sethward | 10 |  |
Eliminated | |||
| Matt Johnson | 11 | Eliminated | ||||
| Jimmie Herrod | 12 | Advanced | ||||
Quarter-final 2 (August 17)
Guest Performers, Results Show: Kodi Lee, The Clairvoyants,[19][20] and H.E.R.[22]
| Quarter-Finalist[19][20] | Order | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Result (August 18) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cowell | Vergara | Klum | Mandel | |||
| T.3 | 1 | |
|
Eliminated (Judges' Vote Tied - Lost by Public Vote) | ||
| Dokteuk Crew | 2 | Eliminated | ||||
| Johnny Showcase | 3 | |
|
Eliminated | ||
| Tory Vagasy | 4 | Advanced (Online Public Vote) | ||||
| Shuffolution | 5 | Eliminated | ||||
| Aidan Bryant | 6 | Advanced | ||||
| Northwell Nurse Choir | 7 | Advanced | ||||
| Positive Impact Movement | 8 | |
Eliminated | |||
| Peter Antoniou | 9 | Advanced | ||||
| Korean Soul | 10 | |
|
Advanced (Judges' Vote Tied - Won by Public Vote) | ||
| Josh Blue | 11 | Advanced | ||||
| Victory Brinker | 12 | Advanced | ||||
Quarter-final 3 (August 24)
Guest Performers, Results Show: Shin Lim & Lindsey Stirling[19][20]
| Quarter-Finalist[19][20] | Order | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Result (August 25) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cowell | Vergara | Klum | Mandel | |||
| UniCircle Flow | 1 | |
|
|
Advanced (Won Judges' Vote) | |
| ANICA | 2 | Eliminated | ||||
| Léa Kyle | 3 | Advanced | ||||
| The Curtis Family C-Notes | 4 | Eliminated | ||||
| Keith Apicary | 5 | |
Eliminated | |||
| Michael Winslow | 6 | Advanced (Online Public Vote) | ||||
| Brooke Simpson | 7 | Advanced | ||||
| Rialcris | 8 | Advanced | ||||
| ChapKidz | 9 | Advanced | ||||
| Storm Large | 10 | |
Eliminated (Lost Judges' Vote) | |||
| Klek Entos | 11 | |
Eliminated | |||
| World Taekwondo Demo. Team | 12 | Advanced | ||||
Semi-finals summary
- Buzzed Out | Judges' choice | Advanced to Finals
- Won Online Public Vote | Won Judges' Vote | Lost Judges' Vote
Semi-final 1 (August 31)
Guest Performers, Results Show: Ben Platt[23] & Preacher Lawson[24]
| Semi-Finalist[25][26] | Order | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Result (September 1) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cowell | Vergara | Klum | Mandel | |||
| Peter Rosalita | 1 | Eliminated | ||||
| Michael Winslow | 2 | 3 | Eliminated (Lost Judges' Vote) | |||
| Beyond Belief Dance Company | 3 | Eliminated | ||||
| Aidan Bryant | 4 | Advanced | ||||
| Tory Vagasy | 5 | Eliminated | ||||
| World Taekwondo Demo. Team | 6 | |
|
|
3 | Advanced (Won Judges' Vote) |
| Madilyn Bailey | 7 | Eliminated | ||||
| Dustin Tavella | 8 | Advanced | ||||
| Korean Soul | 9 | Eliminated | ||||
| Gina Brillon | 10 | Advanced | ||||
| Jimmie Herrod | 11 | Advanced (Online Public Vote) | ||||
- ^3 Due to the majority vote for World Taekwondo Demo. Team, Mandel's voting intention was not revealed.
Semi-final 2 (September 7)
Guest Performers, Results Show: Deadly Games[27] & Duo Transcend[28]
| Semi-Finalist | Order | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Result (September 8) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cowell | Vergara | Klum | Mandel | |||
| 1aChord | 1 | Eliminated | ||||
| UniCircle Flow | 2 | |
Eliminated (Lost Judges' Vote) | |||
| Léa Kyle | 3 | Advanced (Online Public Vote) | ||||
| Kabir Singh | 4 | |
Eliminated | |||
| Northwell Nurse Choir | 5 | Advanced | ||||
| Peter Antoniou | 6 | |
Eliminated | |||
| Victory Brinker | 7 | |
|
|
Advanced (Won Judges' Vote) | |
| ChapKidz | 8 | Eliminated | ||||
| Rialcris | 9 | |
Eliminated | |||
| Josh Blue | 10 | Advanced | ||||
| Brooke Simpson | 11 | Advanced | ||||
Finals (September 14–15)
Guest Performer, Finale: Idina Menzel[29][30]
- Winner | Runner-up | 3rd place | Top 5
| Finalist | Performed with (2nd Performance) |
Result (September 15) |
|---|---|---|
| Aidan Bryant | Jordan Chiles and MyKayla Skinner 4 | 2nd |
| Brooke Simpson | Bishop Briggs | Grand-finalist |
| Dustin Tavella | Mat Franco and Rico Rodriguez | 1st |
| Gina Brillon | George Lopez | Finalist |
| Jimmie Herrod | Idina Menzel 5 | Finalist |
| Josh Blue | Kenichi Ebina, Piff the Magic Dragon, Preacher Lawson, Taylor Williamson, and Tom Cotter | 3rd |
| Léa Kyle | Heidi Klum | Grand-finalist |
| Northwell Nurse Choir | Idina Menzel 5 | Finalist |
| Victory Brinker | Pentatonix | Finalist |
| World Taekwondo Demo. Team | Jordan Chiles and MyKayla Skinner 4 | Finalist |
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| No. | Title | Air date | Timeslot (ET) | Rating (18–49) | Viewers (millions) | DVR (18–49) | DVR viewers (millions) | Total (18–49) | Total viewers (millions) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Auditions 1" | June 1, 2021 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 1.0 | 7.37 | 0.3 | 1.91 | 1.3 | 9.28 | [31] |
| 2 | "Auditions 2" | June 8, 2021 | 0.9 | 7.22 | 0.3 | 1.88 | 1.3 | 9.10 | [32] | |
| 3 | "Auditions 3" | June 15, 2021 | Tuesday 10:00 p.m. | 0.6 | 4.21 | 0.4 | 2.65 | 1.0 | 6.85 | [33] |
| 4 | "Auditions 4" | June 22, 2021 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 0.9 | 7.01 | 0.3 | 1.94 | 1.2 | 8.95 | [34] |
| 5 | "Auditions 5" | June 29, 2021 | 1.0 | 7.08 | 0.3 | 1.99 | 1.3 | 9.08 | [35] | |
| 6 | "Auditions 6" | July 6, 2021 | 0.9 | 7.24 | 0.3 | 1.94 | 1.2 | 9.17 | [36] | |
| 7 | "Auditions 7" | July 13, 2021 | 0.9 | 7.10 | 0.3 | 1.90 | 1.2 | 9.00 | [37] | |
| 8 | "Auditions 8" | July 20, 2021 | 0.9 | 6.81 | 0.3 | 1.71 | 1.1 | 8.51 | [38] | |
| 9 | "Quarterfinals 1" | August 10, 2021 | 1.0 | 7.14 | 0.3 | 1.62 | 1.2 | 8.76 | [39] | |
| 10 | "AGT: America's Wildcard6" | August 10, 2021 | Tuesday 10:58 p.m. | — | — | — | — | — | — | [40] |
| 11 | "Quarterfinals Results 1" | August 11, 2021 | Wednesday 8:00 p.m. | 0.6 | 5.67 | 0.2 | 1.25 | 0.8 | 6.92 | [41] |
| 12 | "Quarterfinals 2" | August 17, 2021 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 0.9 | 6.86 | 0.2 | 1.40 | 1.2 | 8.26 | [42] |
| 13 | "Quarterfinals Results 2" | August 18, 2021 | Wednesday 8:00 p.m. | 0.7 | 5.74 | 0.2 | 1.26 | 0.9 | 7.00 | [43] |
| 14 | "Quarterfinals 3" | August 24, 2021 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 0.9 | 6.78 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | [44] |
| 15 | "Quarterfinals Results 3" | August 25, 2021 | Wednesday 8:00 p.m. | 0.7 | 5.79 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | [45] |
| 16 | "Semi-Finals 1" | August 31, 2021 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 0.7 | 7.19 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | [46] |
| 17 | "Semi-Finals Results 1" | September 1, 2021 | Wednesday 8:00 p.m. | 0.6 | 6.10 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | [47] |
| 18 | "Semi-Finals 2" | September 7, 2021 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 0.9 | 6.90 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | [48] |
| 19 | "Semi-Finals Results 2" | September 8, 2021 | Wednesday 8:00 p.m. | 0.6 | 5.95 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | [49] |
| 20 | "Finale" | September 14, 2021 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 0.9 | 7.42 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | [50] |
| 21 | "Finale Results" | September 15, 2021 | Wednesday 9:00 p.m. | 0.7 | 6.39 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | [51] |
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