It may be called “America’s Got Talent,” but none of the current judges are originally from the US.
Howie Mandel hails from Canada, Heidi Klum was born and raised in Germany, Simon Cowell is from the UK, and Sofía Vergara emigrated to the US from Colombia.
According to Mashable, when the social-media platform was still big in 2008, “AGT” hopefuls could record a video and post it to MySpace during the audition window to try and land a spot on the show.
NBC Universal Television’s chief marketing officer at the time, John Miller, said he hoped the partnership would find talented individuals who the station “might not have reached through the traditional audition process.”
Prospective contestants can’t use the site to audition anymore, but they can submit video entries.
Contestants may think they’re instantly changing their lives when they win, but a disclaimer that appears at the end of each episode describes the reality of the show’s million-dollar prize.
It reads, “The prize, which totals $1,000,000, is payable in a financial annuity over 40 years, or the contestant may choose to receive the present cash value of such annuity.”
According to Forbes, that means the winner can either choose to receive $25,000 a year for 40 years, or they can opt for a lesser lump sum, which was worth around $300,000 when the article was written in 2011.
In either case, that amount is before taxes, so the winner ends up getting even less.
Although most of the “AGT” winners have been singers and musicians, the second most popular talent is actually ventriloquism.
So far, three of the 17 regular-season winners have been ventriloquists: Terry Fator on season two, Paul Zerdin on season 10, and Darci Lynne Farmer on season 12.
Since “AGT” premiered in 2006, it’s had five different celebrity hosts.
Regis Philbin kicked things off on season one, Jerry Springer took over for seasons two and three, Nick Cannon had the longest run from season four to season 11, Tyra Banks performed the duties on seasons 12 and 13, and Terry Crews has been the show’s host since season 14.
On season one, David Hasselhoff, Brandy Norwood, and Piers Morgan judged the competition.
Since then, Sharon Osbourne, Mandel, Howard Stern, Klum, Mel B, Cowell, Julianne Hough, and Gabrielle Union have also acted as judges.
Currently, on season 18, the panel consists of Mandel, Klum, Vergara, and Cowell.
On season five, a 10-year-old opera singer named Jackie Evancho performed such a stunning rendition of “O Mio Babbino Caro” that she had to prove to audiences the following night that she wasn’t lip-syncing to a track.
She performed an on-the-spot vocal exercise that quickly had everyone convinced of her talent.
Some of the acts on “AGT” are dangerous, and they don’t always go according to plan.
For example, on season 11, contestant Ryan Stock was accidentally shot in the neck with a flaming arrow by his fiancée AmberLynn Walker during their act.
Although he thankfully only walked away with a minor injury, the duo was eliminated from the show.
The “AGT” Golden Buzzer has become an important part of the show, but it didn’t even exist for the first eight seasons.
When it was introduced on season nine, it was used to save an act by overriding a fellow judge’s “no” or breaking a tie, according to Zap2it.
Since then, the “AGT” judges have had the ability to use the Golden Buzzer once per season to send a standout auditionee straight to the live shows.
Unlike some other reality competition shows, there’s no age requirement to compete on “AGT,” so there have been a few young contestants who’ve taken home the prize.
The youngest person to win “AGT” also happened to be the show’s very first winner, Bianca Ryan. She was 11 when she sang her way to the grand prize.
Since then, two 12-year-old performers also won: Grace VanderWaal on season 11 and Farmer on season 12.
According to NBC, there are over 70 “Got Talent” varieties across the globe, including “Britain’s Got Talent,” “Asia’s Got Talent,” and “Australia’s Got Talent.”
As more countries created their versions, it even broke the Guinness World Record for the most successful reality TV format in 2014.
