America's Got Talent (season 13)
The thirteenth season of American talent show competition series "America's Got Talent" was broadcast on NBC from May 29 to September 19, 2018. The season saw no major changes to the program, with the guest judges for this season's Judge Cuts stage including Ken Jeong, Olivia Munn, Martina McBride and Chris Hardwick. The thirteenth season was won by close-up magician Shin Lim, with acrobatic group Zurcaroh finishing second, and electric violinist Brian King Joseph placing third. During its broadcast, the season averaged around 11.15 million viewers. Season overview. Open auditions were  held in late 2017 within Orlando, Cincinnati, Savannah, Milwaukee, Houston, Las Vegas, New York City, Nashville and Los Angeles (while accepting online auditions). As with the previous year, the judges' auditions were held and filmed in March at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Los Angeles. The Judge Cuts included actor Ken Jeong, actress Olivia Munn, singer Martina McBride and comedian Chris Hardwick. There were no major changes made to the process, but Simon Cowell halted the performances of two singers during the Judge Cuts, asking them to sing a different song because he disliked their original choice. 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: acrobatic Zurcaroh, singer Michael Ketterer, singer Courtney Hadwin, singer Amanda Mena and singer Makayla Phillips, who had each received a golden buzzer from the main judges and host; choir Voices of Hope, choir Angel City Chorale, ballroom dancers Quin and Misha and rapper Flau’jae, who had each received a Golden Buzzer from the guest judges; opera singer Daniel Emmet, novelty water-spitting act Human Fountains and multimedia performance group Front Pictures, who were chosen as  Wildcard quarter-finalists. About twenty-two quarter-finalists advanced and were split between the two semi-finals, including Front Pictures chosen again by the judges (as their Wildcard semi-finalist), with ten semi-finalists securing a place in the finals. The following below lists the results of each participant's overall performance in this season: Quarter-finals summary. Quarter-final 1 (August 14). Guest Performer, Results Show: Darci Lynne Quarter-final 2 (August 21). Guest Performers, Results Show: The Illusionists, and Light Balance Quarter-final 3 (August 28). Guest Performers, Results Show: Cast of Semi-finals summary. Semi-final 2  (September 11). Guest Performers, Results Show: BTS and cast of A Magical Cirque Christmas Finals (September 18-19). Guest Performers, Finale: Kiss Ratings. The following ratings are based upon those published by Nielsen Media Research after this season's broadcast: Specials