# America's Got Talent season 12

The twelfth season of American talent show competition series America's Got Talent was broadcast on NBC from May 30 to September 20, 2017. After the previous season, Nick Cannon ended his involvement with the program after a disagreement with the network, and was replaced as host by Tyra Banks before production of the new season began. The guest judges for this season's Judge Cuts stage included Chris Hardwick, DJ Khaled, Laverne Cox and Seal.
The twelfth season was won by singing ventriloquist Darci Lynne with singer Angelica Hale finishing second, and glow-light dance troupe Light Balance placing third. During its broadcast, the season averaged around 12.66 million viewers, becoming the most watched in the program's history to date. It was dedicated to the memory of a participant who had died outside of filming, after auditioning for the competition.

## Season overview

Open auditions took place in late 2016 within Chicago, Austin, Cleveland, Jacksonville, Philadelphia, Las Vegas, San Diego, New York City, Charleston, Memphis and Los Angeles. Online auditions were also accepted. As with the previous year, the judges' auditions were filmed in March and held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Los Angeles. The Judge Cuts stage of the competition included comedian Chris Hardwick, media personality DJ Khaled, actress Laverne Cox and singer Seal as guest judges. After eight years of hosting, Nick Cannon faced criticism from NBC over a joke he made on his 2017 Showtime comedy special Stand Up, Don't Shoot, which the network deemed as potentially racist. Cannon determined it was best to leave AGT rather than face the possibility of being fired by the network, announcing his resignation from the program on February 13, 2017 (a month before production of the twelfth season began). Although the network would not accept his announcement to begin with (as Cannon was still under contract to host AGT), the network eventually agreed that his decision was the best course of action under the circumstances, and sought to find a replacement before the new season began. On March 12, television personality Tyra Banks was unveiled as the new host, prior to filming commencing.
Of the participants who auditioned for this season, thirty-six secured a place in the live quarter-finals, with twelve quarter-finalists in each one. Among these included: singing ventriloquist Darci Lynne, singer and ukeleleist Mandy Harvey, singer Christian Guardino, glow-light dance troupe Light Balance and singer Angelina Green, who had each received a golden buzzer from the main judges and host; singer Angelica Hale, singer and guitarist Chase Goehring, singer Celine Tam and soul singer Johnny Manuel, who had each received a golden buzzer from the guest judges; vocal group Final Draft, comic daredevil Bello Nock and video-mappers Oskar and Gaspar, who were chosen as Wildcard quarter-finalists. About twenty-two quarter-finalists advanced and split between the two semi-finals, including dog tricks act Pompeyo Family Dogs (chosen as the Wildcard semi-finalist), with ten semi-finalists securing a place in the finals. The table lists the results of each participant's overall performance in the season:
    Winner | Runner-up | Third place | Finalist | Semi-finalist
    Quarter-finalist | Wildcard Quarter-finalist | Wildcard Semi-finalist
    Golden Buzzer - Auditions | Golden Buzzer - Judge Cuts
| Participant | Age(s) | Genre | Act | From | Quarter-Final | Result |
| Angelica Hale | 10 | Singing | Singer | Atlanta | 1 | Runner-up |
| Angelina Green | 13 | Singing | Singer | Miami | 3 | Eliminated |
| Artyon & Paige | 9 & 8 | Dance | Dance Duo | Murrieta, California | 1 | Eliminated |
| Bello Nock | 47 | Danger | Daredevil | Sarasota, Florida | 1 | Eliminated |
| Billy & Emily England | 30 & 27 | Danger | Rollerskating Duo | Las Vegas | 1 | Semi-finalist |
| Brobots & Mandroidz | 16-24 | Dance | Dance Group | Torrance, California | 2 | Eliminated |
| Celine Tam | 9 | Singing | Singer | Hong Kong | 2 | Semi-finalist |
| Chase Goehring | 21 | Singing / Music | Singer & Guitarist | Nolensville, Tennessee | 3 | Finalist |
| Christian Guardino | 17 | Singing | Singer | Patchogue, New York | 1 | Semi-finalist |
| Colin Cloud | 30 | Magic | Mentalist | Edinburgh, Scotland | 3 | Semi-finalist |
| DaNell Daymon & Greater Works | 24-59 | Singing | Gospel Choir | Various | 3 | Semi-finalist |
| Darci Lynne | 12 | Comedy / Singing | Singing Ventriloquist | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | 1 | Winner |
| Demian Aditya | 36 | Danger | Escape Artist | Jakarta, Indonesia | 2 | Eliminated |
| Diavolo | 21-39 | Acrobatics / Dance | Acrobatic Group | Los Angeles | 3 | Finalist |
| Eric Jones | 36 | Magic | Magician | Philadelphia | 2 | Semi-finalist |
| Evie Clair | 13 | Singing / Music | Singer & Pianist | Florence, Arizona | 2 | Finalist |
| Final Draft | 22-26 | Singing | Vocal Group | Atlanta | 3 | Eliminated |
| In The Stairwell | 18-22 | Singing | A Cappella Group | Colorado Springs, Colorado | 1 | Semi-finalist |
| Johnny Manuel | 32 | Singing | Singer | Flint, Michigan | 2 | Semi-finalist |
| Junior & Emily Alabi | 31 & 27 | Dance | Salsa Duo | Los Angeles | 3 | Eliminated |
| Just Jerk | 18-27 | Dance | Dance Group | Seoul, South Korea | 1 | Eliminated |
| Kechi Okwuchi | 27 | Singing | Singer | Houston | 3 | Finalist |
| Light Balance | 22-36 | Dance | Light-Up Dance Group | Dnipro, Ukraine | 2 | Third place |
| Mandy Harvey | 29 | Singing / Music | Singer & Ukulelist | St. Cloud, Florida | 2 | Grand-finalist |
| Merrick Hanna | 12 | Dance | Dancer | Encinitas, California | 2 | Semi-finalist |
| Mike Yung | 56 | Singing | Singer | New York City | 3 | Semi-finalist |
| Mirror Image | 16 | Singing / Dance | Vocal Duo | Pittsburgh | 2 | Eliminated |
| Oscar Hernandez | 34 | Dance | Dancer | Orange County, California | 3 | Eliminated |
| Oskar & Gaspar | — | Variety | Videomapping Act | Lisbon, Portugal | 3 | Eliminated |
| Pompeyo Family Dogs | 7-35 | Animal | Dog Act | Sarasota | 2 | Semi-finalist |
| Preacher Lawson | 25 | Comedy | Comedian | Memphis, Tennessee | 1 | Finalist |
| Puddles Pity Party | 52 | Singing | Singer | Atlanta | 1 | Eliminated |
| Sara & Hero | 22 & 5 | Animals | Dog Act | North Bay, Ontario | 3 | Grand-finalist |
| The Masqueraders | 72-74 | Singing | Vocal Trio | Nashville | 2 | Eliminated |
| The Singing Trump | 56 | Singing | Singing Donald Trump Impersonator | Palm Springs, California | 1 | Eliminated |
| Yoli Mayor | 21 | Singing | Singer | Miami | 1 | Semi-finalist |
* ^1 Ages denoted for a participant(s), pertain to their final performance for this season.
* ^2 Locations for members of this group were not disclosed on the program.
* ^3 The ages of these participants were not disclosed on the program.
* ^4 The age denoted here pertains to the owner of the dogs in this act; the age range for the animal group was not disclosed by their owner.
* ^5 Sara & Hero involved a second dog in their live round performances; the latter value denotes the age of the dog Hero only.

### 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 15)

Guest Performers, Results Show: Grace VanderWaal
| Quarter-Finalist | Order | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Result (August 16) |
| Quarter-Finalist | Order | Cowell | Klum | Mel B | Mandel | Result (August 16) |
| Christian Guardino | 1 | | | | | Advanced (Online Public Vote) |
| Artyon & Paige | 2 | | | | | Eliminated |
| In The Stairwell | 3 | | | | | Advanced |
| The Singing Trump | 4 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Angelica Hale | 5 | | | | | Advanced |
| Bello Nock | 6 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Just Jerk | 7 | | | | | Eliminated (Judges' Vote Tied - Lost by Public Vote) |
| Puddles Pity Party | 8 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Preacher Lawson | 9 | | | | | Advanced |
| Yoli Mayor | 10 | | | | | Advanced (Judges' Vote Tied - Won by Public Vote) |
| Billy & Emily England | 11 | | | | | Advanced |
| Darci Lynne | 12 | | | | | Advanced |

#### Quarter-final 2 (August 22)

Guest Performers, Results Show: Circus 1903
| Quarter-Finalist | Order | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Result (August 23) |
| Quarter-Finalist | Order | Cowell | Klum | Mel B | Mandel | Result (August 23) |
| Brobots & Mandroidz | 1 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Celine Tam | 2 | | | | | Advanced |
| Mirror Image | 3 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Johnny Manuel | 4 | | | | | Advanced |
| Merrick Hanna | 5 | | | | | Advanced |
| Eric Jones | 6 | | | | | Advanced (Judges' Vote Tied - Won by Public Vote) |
| The Masqueraders | 7 | | | | | Eliminated (Judges' Vote Tied - Lost by Public Vote) |
| Light Balance | 8 | | | | | Advanced |
| Evie Clair | 9 | | | | | Advanced (Online Public Vote) |
| Demian Aditya | 10 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Pompeyo Family Dogs | 11 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Mandy Harvey | 12 | | | | | Advanced |
* ^6 Due to a technical issue, Light Balance's performance was based on their earlier dress rehearsal for the quarter-final.
* ^7 Demain Aditya's performance suffered from technical difficulties during the live broadcast, due to a fault in the participant's equipment for his routine.
* ^8 Pompeyo Family Dogs were later appointed as the judges' WildCard semi-finalists.

#### Quarter-final 3 (August 29)

Guest Performers, Results Show: Mat Franco, Piff the Magic Dragon, and Jon Dorenbos
| Quarter-Finalist | Order | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Result (August 30) |
| Quarter-Finalist | Order | Cowell | Klum | Mel B | Mandel | Result (August 30) |
| DaNell Daymon & Greater Works | 1 | | | | | Advanced (Won Judges' Vote) |
| Junior & Emily Alabi | 2 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Final Draft | 3 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Oscar Hernandez | 4 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Angelina Green | 5 | | | | | Eliminated (Lost Judges' Vote) |
| Colin Cloud | 6 | | | | | Advanced (Online Public Vote) |
| Mike Yung | 7 | | | | | Advanced |
| Oskar & Gaspar | 8 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Sara and Hero | 9 | | | | | Advanced |
| Chase Goehring | 10 | | | | | Advanced |
| Diavolo | 11 | | | | | Advanced |
| Kechi Okwuchi | 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 (September 5–6)

Guest Performers, Results Show: The Clairvoyants
| Semi-Finalist | Order | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Result (September 6) |
| Semi-Finalist | Order | Cowell | Klum | Mel B | Mandel | Result (September 6) |
| Yoli Mayor | 1 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Eric Jones | 2 | | | | | Eliminated (Lost Judges' Vote) |
| DaNell Daymon & Greater Works | 3 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Preacher Lawson | 4 | | | | | Advanced |
| Johnny Manuel | 5 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Billy & Emily England | 6 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Evie Clair | 7 | | | | | Advanced (Online Public Vote) |
| Sara & Hero | 8 | | | | | Advanced |
| Chase Goehring | 9 | | | | | Advanced (Won Judges' Vote) |
| Darci Lynne | 10 | | | | | Advanced |
| Mike Yung | 11 | | | | | Eliminated |

#### Semi-final 2 (September 12)

Guest Performers, Results Show: Absinthe
| Semi-Finalist | Order | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Result (September 13) |
| Semi-Finalist | Order | Cowell | Klum | Mel B | Mandel | Result (September 13) |
| Celine Tam | 1 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Colin Cloud | 2 | | | | | Eliminated (Lost Judges' Vote) |
| Christian Guardino | 3 | | | | | Eliminated |
| In the Stairwell | 4 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Merrick Hanna | 5 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Mandy Harvey | 6 | | | | | Advanced |
| Pompeyo Family Dogs | 7 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Diavolo | 8 | | | | | Advanced (Won Judges' Vote) |
| Kechi Okwuchi | 9 | | | | | Advanced (Online Public Vote) |
| Light Balance | 10 | | | | | Advanced |
| Angelica Hale | 11 | | | | | Advanced |
* ^9 Due to the majority vote for Diavolo, Klum's voting intention was not revealed.

### Finals (September 19–20)

    Winner | Runner-up | 3rd place | Top 5
| Finalist | Performed with (2nd Performance) | Result (September 20) |
| Angelica Hale | Kelly Clarkson | 2nd |
| Chase Goehring | James Arthur | Finalist |
| Darci Lynne | Terry Fator | 1st |
| Diavolo | N/A | Finalist |
| Evie Clair | James Arthur | Finalist |
| Kechi Okwuchi | Kelly Clarkson | Finalist |
| Light Balance | Derek Hough | 3rd |
| Mandy Harvey | Shania Twain | Grand-finalist |
| Preacher Lawson | N/A | Finalist |
| Sara & Hero | N/A | Grand-finalist |
* ^10 Angelica Hale and Kechi Okwuchi conducted a joint routine for their second performance, and thus shared the same guest performers.

## Ratings

The following ratings are based upon those published by Nielsen Media Research after this season's broadcast:
| Show | Episode title | First air date | Timeslot (EDT) | Rating (18–49) | Share (18–49) | Viewers (millions) | Nightly Rank | Weekly Rank |
| 1 | Auditions Week 1 | May 30, 2017 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 2.7 | 11 | 12.32 | 1 | 3 |
| 2 | Auditions Week 2 | June 6, 2017 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 2.7 | 11 | 12.53 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | Auditions Week 3 | June 13, 2017 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 2.6 | 11 | 12.70 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | Auditions Week 4 | June 20, 2017 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 2.6 | 11 | 12.74 | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | Auditions Week 5 | June 27, 2017 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 2.5 | 10 | 12.36 | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | Auditions Week 6 | July 11, 2017 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 2.5 | 10 | 12.59 | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | Judge Cuts 1 | July 18, 2017 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 2.5 | 11 | 12.57 | 1 | 1 |
| 8 | Judge Cuts 2 | July 25, 2017 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 2.6 | 11 | 13.08 | 1 | 1 |
| 9 | Judge Cuts 3 | August 1, 2017 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 2.8 | 12 | 13.33 | 1 | 1 |
| 10 | Judge Cuts 4 | August 8, 2017 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 2.7 | 11 | 13.32 | 1 | 1 |
| 11 | Quarterfinals, Week 1 (Performances) | August 15, 2017 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 2.8 | 11 | 13.44 | 1 | 1 |
| 12 | Quarterfinals, Week 1 (Results) | August 16, 2017 | Wednesday 8:00 p.m. | 2.1 | 9 | 10.89 | 1 | 2 |
| 13 | Quarterfinals, Week 2 (Performances) | August 22, 2017 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 2.6 | 10 | 12.76 | 1 | 1 |
| 14 | Quarterfinals, Week 2 (Results) | August 23, 2017 | Wednesday 8:00 p.m. | 2.0 | 9 | 10.84 | 1 | 2 |
| 15 | Quarterfinals, Week 3 (Performances) | August 29, 2017 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 2.6 | 11 | 13.13 | 1 | 2 |
| 16 | Quarterfinals, Week 3 (Results) | August 30, 2017 | Wednesday 8:00 p.m. | 1.9 | 8 | 11.07 | 1 | 3 |
| 17 | Semifinals, Week 1 (Performances) | September 5, 2017 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 2.6 | 10 | 13.29 | 1 | 3 |
| 18 | Semifinals, Week 1 (Results) | September 6, 2017 | Wednesday 8:00 p.m. | 2.1 | 8 | 11.99 | 1 | 6 |
| 19 | Semifinals, Week 2 (Performances) | September 12, 2017 | Tuesday 9:00 p.m. | 2.3 | 9 | 11.57 | 1 | 3 |
| 20 | Semifinals, Week 2 (Results) | September 13, 2017 | Wednesday 8:00 p.m. | 2.1 | 8 | 11.59 | 1 | 2 |
| 21 | The Finals | September 19, 2017 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | 3.0 | 12 | 14.70 | 1 | 4 |
| 22 | Season Finale | September 20, 2017 | Wednesday 8:00 p.m. | 3.0 | 11 | 15.64 | 1 | 2 |
Specials
| Show | Episode title | First air date | Timeslot (EDT) | Rating (18–49) | Share (18–49) | Viewers (millions) | Nightly Rank | Weekly Rank |
| S1 | Best of Season 12 Auditions | July 13, 2017 | Thursday 8:00 p.m. | 1.3 | 6 | 7.10 | 2 | 10 |
| S2 | Road to Finals | August 9, 2017 | Wednesday 8:00 p.m. | 1.3 | 6 | 7.01 | 2 | 8 |

## Incident

During the 2017 season of America's Got Talent, the program paid tribute to American physician Brandon Rodgers, who auditioned for a place in the competition but died following a fatal accident after conducting his performance, on 11 June 2017. His performance was not shown by producers during the audition episodes, as it was felt unwise to do so without consent from his family, but was later aired as a tribute during the Judge Cuts episode that was broadcast on July 11.