America’s Got Talent judge Howie Mandell was seriously unhappy with fellow judge Simon Cowell for a moment there on Tuesday’s show.
It happened just after Japanese group Airfootworks finished its act of dance and acrobatics. (Watch it in the video below.) When host Terry Crews asked Cowell to weigh in, the Brit had an odd response: “I am just about to get myself fired,” he said, before standing up and reaching for the night’s only Live Show Golden Buzzer.
“I feel like I’ve been abused!” Mandel said.
The problem was that it wasn’t Cowell’s buzzer to give. Each of the judges — Mandel and Cowell, as well as Sofia Vergara and Heidi Klum — have been allotted just one Golden Buzzer for this round of competition, which runs for four weeks. Last week was Sofia’s turn, and his week was Mandel’s choice.
Crews pointed out that, actually, Mandel had just beat Cowell to the buzzer.
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Mandel said he chose to throw his support behind the members of the group and send them straight to the finals because of both their athleticism and their creativity.
As for Cowell, “I just couldn’t help myself!” he said.
Cowell is responsible for the judges having more buzzers than ever in season 19. He slammed two in one season (one night, actually) — something that wasn’t allowed up to that point — on the second round of auditions in June. Each of the other judges was given a second buzzer, too.
As for the other 10 acts on Tuesday’s live show, they included daredevil ballerina Ashlee Montague, who balanced atop bottles; heavy-metal guitarist Nini; and Sky Elements, the memorable drone act that enchanted the judges in their first performance.
Schumacher, the two men who disguised themselves to form one giraffe in the auditions, also returned to the stage as a dog and then a horse.
Vergara, who gave them her Golden Buzzer in their first appearance, laughed much of the time.
I would give you another Golden Buzzer if I could, but I don’t have one!” she said.
Cowell gave them an “X,” saying he had hoped they would get better.
Aside from Airfootworks, the 10 other acts on the second of four live show of the quarterfinals will need to be one of the three highest vote-getters to move on to the semifinals.
Votes can be cast on the app or at the AGT website. Results of tonight’s show will be revealed during a live results show Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. Central on NBC.
The 12 acts who survive the fan vote move on to live semifinals, where they will compete for six spots in the finale. The final round will consist of those six acts as well as the four Live Show Golden Buzzer recipients in one show on Tuesday, Sept. 17, before a new champion is named on the Sept. 24 episode.
