# America's Got Talent season 18

The eighteenth season of the American talent show competition series America's Got Talent premiered on NBC on May 30, 2023. It concluded on September 27, 2023.
The season was won by dog act Adrian Stoica and Hurricane, with magician Anna DeGuzman finishing second, and dance group Murmuration placing third. During its broadcast, the season averaged around 5.47 million viewers.

## Production

On March 3, 2023, it was announced that the entire main cast from the previous season would return for the new season. On March 30, 2023, it was announced that the season would premiere on May 30, 2023.

## Season overview

For the first time in the show's history, the audience used the Golden Buzzer for Mzansi Youth Choir. This occurrence follows the sixteenth season of Britain's Got Talent to use this addition.
Just like the previous season, during the final qualifying round results show on September 20, an Instant Save vote was held for viewers to send a final wildcard into the finals. The four acts included in this vote were acts that were eliminated in the live shows, with each act selected by one of the judges; Mandel selected Avantgardey, Klum selected Herwan Legaillard, Vergara selected Gabriel Henrique, and Cowell selected Chioma & the Atlanta Drum Academy. Avantgardey ultimately won the public vote, taking the last spot in the season's finals.
    Winner | Runner-up | Third place | Finalist | Qualifier
    America's Instant Save | Golden Buzzer Audition
| Participant | Age(s) | Genre | Act | From | Qualifier | Result |
| 82nd Airborne Chorus | 20-33 | Singing | Choir | Fort Bragg, North Carolina | 5 | Finalist |
| Adrian Stoica and Hurricane | 45 & 9 | Animals | Dog Act | Turin, Italy | 1 | Winner |
| Ahren Belisle | 28 | Comedy | Comedian | North Bay, Ontario, Canada | 2 | Finalist |
| Alfie Andrew | 12 | Singing | Singer | Manchester, England | 2 | Eliminated |
| Andrew Stanton | 42 | Danger | Sword Swallower | Las Vegas | 2 | Eliminated |
| Anna DeGuzman | 24 | Magic | Magician | Bergenfield, New Jersey | 4 | Runner-up |
| Avantgardey | 18-27 | Dance | Dance Group | Osaka, Japan | 5 | Finalist |
| Barry Brewer Jr. | 40 | Comedy | Comedian & Pianist | Chicago | 3 | Eliminated |
| Brynn Cummings | 12 | Comedy / Magic | Ventriloquist & Magician | Paw Paw, Michigan | 1 | Eliminated |
| Chibi Unity | 16-25 | Dance | Dance Group | Niigata, Japan | 4 | Finalist |
| Chioma & the Atlanta Drum Academy | 6-14 | Music | Percussion Group | Atlanta | 2 | Eliminated |
| D'Corey Johnson | 12 | Singing | Singer | Louisville, Kentucky | 4 | Eliminated |
| Dani Kerr | 24 | Singing / Music | Singer & Guitarist | Statesville, North Carolina | 2 | Eliminated |
| Eduardo Antonio Trevino | 11 | Singing | Mariachi Singer | Humble, Texas | 5 | Eliminated |
| Erica Coffelt | 36 | Dance | Dancer | Reno, Nevada | 2 | Eliminated |
| Eseniia Mikheeva | 7 | Dance | Dancer | Moscow | 5 | Eliminated |
| Freedom Singers | 22-65 | Singing | Vocal Group | Los Angeles | 4 | Eliminated |
| Gabriel Henrique | 27 | Singing | Singer | Minas Gerais, Brazil | 5 | Eliminated |
| Grace Good | 30 | Acrobatics | Aerialist & Hula Hooper | Las Vegas | 5 | Eliminated |
| Herwan Legaillard | 33 | Acrobatics / Danger | Aerialist & Sword Swallower | Paris | 3 | Eliminated |
| John Wines | 59 | Music | Electric Guitarist | Dorset, England | 1 | Eliminated |
| Justin Jackson | 33 | Dance | Tap Dancer | Montréal, Québec, Canada | 3 | Eliminated |
| Kylie Frey | 28 | Singing / Music | Singer & Guitarist | Opelousas, Louisiana | 4 | Eliminated |
| Lachuné | 31 | Singing | Singer | Fort Worth, Texas | 5 | Eliminated |
| Lambros Garcia | 10 | Dance | Dancer | Glen Head, New York | 1 | Eliminated |
| Lavender Darcangelo | 27 | Singing | Singer | Fitchburg, Massachusetts | 1 | Finalist |
| Mandy Muden | 61 | Comedy / Magic | Comic Magician | London | 5 | Eliminated |
| Mariandrea | 14 | Acrobatics / Dance | Dancer & Contortionist | Mexico | 4 | Eliminated |
| Maureen Langan | 62 | Comedy | Comedian | Manhattan, New York | 1 | Eliminated |
| Mitch Rossell | 35 | Singing / Music | Singer & Guitarist | Chattanooga, Tennessee | 1 | Eliminated |
| MOS | 20-27 | Music | Brass Band | Japan | 3 | Eliminated |
| Murmuration | 12-25 | Dance | Dance Group | Nîmes, France | 2 | Third place |
| Mzansi Youth Choir | 19-23 | Singing | Choir | Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa | 3 | Finalist |
| Oleksandr Leshchenko & Magic Innovations | 34 | Dance | Multimedia Dancer | Kyiv, Ukraine | 1 | Eliminated |
| Orlando Leyba | 45 | Comedy | Comedian | Miami | 4 | Eliminated |
| Phil Wright & Parent Jam | 36 | Dance | Dance Group | Los Angeles | 3 | Eliminated |
| Philip Bowen | 38 | Music | Violinist | Detroit | 3 | Eliminated |
| Puppet Simon & the Cowbelles | — | Comedy/Singing | Puppet Act | Farmersville, California | 4 | Eliminated |
| Putri Ariani | 17 | Singing / Music | Singer & Pianist | Yogyakarta, Indonesia | 3 | Grand-finalist |
| Ramadhani Brothers | 26 & 36 | Acrobatics | Acrobatic Duo | Dar es Salaam, Tanzania | 5 | Grand-finalist |
| Ray Wold & Mom | 64 & 85 | Danger | Danger Act | Las Vegas | 1 | Eliminated |
| Roland Abante | 45 | Singing | Singer | Santander, Philippines | 4 | Eliminated |
| Ryland Petty | 10 | Magic | Magician | Cannock, United Kingdom | 2 | Eliminated |
| SAINTED Trap Choir | 21-44 | Singing | Trap Choir | Charlotte, North Carolina | 1 | Eliminated |
| SangSoon Kim | 28 | Magic | Magician | Seoul, South Korea | 5 | Eliminated |
| Shadow Ace | 26 | Variety | Shadow Artist | Calatagan, Batangas, Philippines | 4 | Eliminated |
| Sharpe Family Singers | 14-57 | Singing | Vocal Group | Basking Ridge, New Jersey | 2 | Eliminated |
| Steel Panther | 51-57 | Singing / Music | Band | Hollywood, Los Angeles, California | 2 | Eliminated |
| Summer Rios | 19 | Singing | Singer | Brunswick, Ohio | 3 | Eliminated |
| Three G | 19-24 | Acrobatics | Acrobatic Trio | Lutsk, Ukraine | 2 | Eliminated |
| Trailer Flowers | 27 & 28 | Singing / Music | Vocal Duo | Wildwood, Missouri | 5 | Eliminated |
| Trigg Watson | 33 | Magic | Magician | Los Angeles | 3 | Eliminated |
| True Villains | 28-36 | Singing / Music | Band | Nashville | 1 | Eliminated |
| Warrior Squad | 14-30 | Acrobatics | Acrobatic Group | Gurgaon, India | 3 | Eliminated |
| Zion Clark | 25 | Acrobatics | Acrobat | Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania | 4 | Eliminated |

### Qualifiers summary

    Buzzed Out | Advanced to Finals | Eliminated (Top 3) | Eliminated (Top 5)

#### Qualifier 1 (August 22)

Guest Performer, Results Show: Craig Robinson, Aidan Bryant, The Pack Drumline, Human Fountains, Light Balance, Kodi Lee
| Participant | Order | Buzzes | Buzzes | Buzzes | Buzzes | Result (August 23) |
| Participant | Order | Cowell | Vergara | Klum | Mandel | Result (August 23) |
| True Villains | 1 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Lambros Garcia | 2 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Mitch Rossell | 3 | | | | | Eliminated (Top 3) |
| Oleksandr Leshchenko & Magic Innovations | 4 | | | | | Eliminated (Top 5) |
| Adrian Stoica and Hurricane | 5 | | | | | Advanced |
| SAINTED Trap Choir | 6 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Brynn Cummings | 7 | | | | | Eliminated (Top 5) |
| John Wines | 8 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Maureen Langan | 9 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Ray Wold & Mom | 10 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Lavender Darcangelo | 11 | | | | | Advanced |

#### Qualifier 2 (August 29)

Guest Performer, Results Show: Shin Lim
| Participant | Order | Buzzes | Buzzes | Buzzes | Buzzes | Result (August 30) |
| Participant | Order | Cowell | Vergara | Klum | Mandel | Result (August 30) |
| Chioma & the Atlanta Drum Academy | 1 | | | | | Eliminated (Top 3) |
| Sharpe Family Singers | 2 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Three G | 3 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Erica Coffelt | 4 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Alfie Andrew | 5 | | | | | Eliminated (Top 5) |
| Ahren Belisle | 6 | | | | | Advanced |
| Dani Kerr | 7 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Ryland Petty | 8 | | | | | Eliminated (Top 5) |
| Andrew Stanton | 9 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Steel Panther | 10 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Murmuration | 11 | | | | | Advanced |

#### Qualifier 3 (September 5)

Guest Performer, Results Show: Detroit Lions Cheerleaders, Chapel Hart
| Participant | Order | Buzzes | Buzzes | Buzzes | Buzzes | Result (September 6) |
| Participant | Order | Cowell | Vergara | Klum | Mandel | Result (September 6) |
| Warrior Squad | 1 | | | | | Eliminated (Top 3) |
| Trigg Watson | 2 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Summer Rios | 3 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Phil Wright & Parent Jam | 4 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Philip Bowen | 5 | | | | | Eliminated (Top 5) |
| Mzansi Youth Choir | 6 | | | | | Advanced |
| Justin Jackson | 7 | | | | | Eliminated |
| MOS | 8 | | | | | Eliminated (Top 5) |
| Barry Brewer Jr. | 9 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Herwan Legaillard | 10 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Putri Ariani | 11 | | | | | Advanced |

#### Qualifier 4 (September 12)

Guest Performer, Results Show: Drake Milligan
| Participant | Order | Buzzes | Buzzes | Buzzes | Buzzes | Result (September 13) |
| Participant | Order | Cowell | Vergara | Klum | Mandel | Result (September 13) |
| Zion Clark | 1 | | | | | Eliminated (Top 5) |
| Puppet Simon & the Cow Belles | 2 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Roland Abante | 3 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Mariandrea | 4 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Kylie Frey | 5 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Chibi Unity | 6 | | | | | Advanced |
| Freedom Singers | 7 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Orlando Leyba | 8 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Anna DeGuzman | 9 | | | | | Advanced |
| D'Corey Johnson | 10 | | | | | Eliminated (Top 5) |
| Shadow Ace | 11 | | | | | Eliminated (Top 3) |

#### Qualifier 5 (September 19)

Guest Performer, Results Show: Reba McEntire, Sofie Dossi
| Participant | Order | Buzzes | Buzzes | Buzzes | Buzzes | Result (September 20) |
| Participant | Order | Cowell | Vergara | Klum | Mandel | Result (September 20) |
| Eduardo Antonio Trevino | 1 | | | | | Eliminated (Top 5) |
| Grace Good | 2 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Lachuné | 3 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Eseniia Mikheeva | 4 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Mandy Muden | 5 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Avantgardey | 6 | | | | | Eliminated (Top 5) |
| Trailer Flowers | 7 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Ramadhani Brothers | 8 | | | | | Advanced |
| Gabriel Henrique | 9 | | | | | Eliminated (Top 3) |
| Sangsoon Kim | 10 | | | | | Eliminated |
| 82nd Airborne Chorus | 11 | | | | | Advanced |
* ^1 Mandel pressed Klum's buzzer during Trailer Flowers' performance instead of his own. Mandel proceeded to claim he would never press his buzzer during the semi-finals, despite video shown afterwards showing him pressing Klum's buzzer.
* ^2 Avantgardey was brought back as a Wildcard act for the Finals.

### Finals (September 26–27)

Guest Performers, Results Show: Mayyas
    Winner | Runner-up | 3rd place | Top 5
| Finalist | Performed with (2nd Performance) | Result (September 27) |
| 82nd Airborne Chorus | N/A | Finalist |
| Adrian Stoica and Hurricane | Cat Cora | 1st |
| Ahren Belisle | N/A | Finalist |
| Anna DeGuzman | Jason Derulo | 2nd |
| Avantgardey | N/A | Finalist |
| Chibi Unity | Thirty Seconds to Mars | Finalist |
| Lavender Darcangelo | Diane Warren | Finalist |
| Murmuration | Jason Derulo | 3rd |
| Mzansi Youth Choir | Jon Batiste | Finalist |
| Putri Ariani | Leona Lewis | Grand-finalist |
| Ramadhani Brothers | Thirty Seconds to Mars | Grand-finalist |
* ^1 Anna DeGuzman and Murmuration conducted a joint routine for their second performance, and thus shared the same guest performer.
* ^2 Chibi Unity and Ramadhani Brothers conducted a joint routine for their second performance, and thus shared the same guest performer.

## Ratings

Viewership and ratings per episode of America's Got Talent season 18 :
| No. | Title | Air date | Timeslot (ET) | Rating (18–49) | Viewers (millions) |
| 1 | "Auditions 1" | May 30, 2023 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 0.7 | 6.11 |
| 2 | "Auditions 2" | June 6, 2023 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 0.7 | 6.14 |
| 3 | "Auditions 3" | June 13, 2023 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 0.6 | 5.96 |
| 4 | "Auditions 4" | June 20, 2023 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 0.7 | 5.99 |
| 5 | "Auditions 5" | June 27, 2023 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 0.7 | 5.90 |
| 6 | "Auditions 6" | July 11, 2023 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 0.6 | 5.61 |
| 7 | "Auditions 7" | July 18, 2023 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 0.6 | 5.63 |
| 8 | "Simon's Most Memorable Auditions" | July 25, 2023 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 0.4 | 4.83 |
| 9 | "Auditions 8" | August 1, 2023 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 0.6 | 5.65 |
| 10 | "Auditions 9" | August 8, 2023 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 0.6 | 5.68 |
| 11 | "Road to Lives" | August 15, 2023 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 0.5 | 4.40 |
| 12 | "Qualifiers 1" | August 22, 2023 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 0.6 | 5.82 |
| 13 | "Qualifiers 1 Results" | August 23, 2023 | Wednesday 8:00 p.m. | 0.5 | 4.88 |
| 14 | "Qualifiers 2" | August 29, 2023 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 0.6 | 5.51 |
| 15 | "Qualifiers 2 Results" | August 30, 2023 | Wednesday 8:00 p.m. | 0.5 | 5.00 |
| 16 | "Qualifiers 3" | September 5, 2023 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 0.5 | 5.56 |
| 17 | "Qualifiers 3 Results" | September 6, 2023 | Wednesday 8:00 p.m. | 0.5 | 5.22 |
| 18 | "Qualifiers 4" | September 12, 2023 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 0.6 | 5.70 |
| 19 | "Qualifiers 4 Results" | September 13, 2023 | Wednesday 8:00 p.m. | 0.4 | 5.08 |
| 20 | "Qualifiers 5" | September 19, 2023 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 0.6 | 5.48 |
| 21 | "Qualifiers 5 Results" | September 20, 2023 | Wednesday 8:00 p.m. | 0.5 | 5.33 |
| 22 | "Finale Performances" | September 26, 2023 | Tuesday 9:00 p.m. | 0.6 | 5.54 |
| 23 | "Countdown to the Finale" | September 27, 2023 | Wednesday 8:00 p.m. | 0.4 | 4.08 |
| 24 | "Finale Results" | September 27, 2023 | Wednesday 9:00 p.m. | 0.5 | 5.36 |