Host(s) Nick Cannon Origin Suffern, New York | Broadcaster NBC Genre(s) Singer | |
 | ||
Broadcast from May 31 – September 14, 2016 Judges Howie Mandel
Mel B
Heidi Klum
Simon Cowell | ||
Season eleven of the reality competition series America's Got Talent was ordered on September 1, 2015. The season premiered on NBC on Tuesday, May 31, 2016. Nick Cannon returned for his eighth and final season as host. Howie Mandel returned for his seventh season as a judge, while Mel B and Heidi Klum returned for their fourth season. Simon Cowell replaced Howard Stern as the fourth judge. The live shows began on July 26, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles instead of Radio City Music Hall in New York from previous years. Due to the 2016 Summer Olympics broadcast schedule on NBC, the show took a hiatus from August 9–17.
Contents
- Season changes
- Preliminary auditions
- Golden buzzer
- Judge Cuts
- Round 1
- Round 2
- Round 3
- Round 4
- Quarterfinals
- Week 1 July 2627
- Week 2 August 23
- Week 3 August 2324
- Semifinals
- Week 1 August 3031
- Week 2 September 67
- Finals
- Contestants who appeared on other seasons or shows
- International broadcasts
- References
Dunkin' Donuts sponsored the show for a second season, and this season again featured the golden buzzer for each judge and Cannon. Four guest judges joined the panel for the judge's cuts: George Lopez, Reba McEntire, Ne-Yo, and Louis Tomlinson. Each judge was given a golden buzzer.
Grace VanderWaal was announced as the winner on September 14, 2016, making her the second female act and the second child act to win the show since season 1. Mentalist duo, The Clairvoyants, placed second, marking the first time that females placed in the top two positions. Magician Jon Dorenbos, the NFL Long Snapper for the Philadelphia Eagles, placed third. Comedian Tape Face was named the most memorable act of this season.
Season changes
On October 22, 2015, it was announced that creator Simon Cowell would replace Howard Stern as a judge for season 11. On January 12, 2016, it was announced that Mel B, Heidi Klum, and Howie Mandel would all return as judges, with Nick Cannon returning as host.
The live shows will also move from New York back to Los Angeles, due to Howard Stern's departure. The live shows will be held at the Dolby Theatre.
This season will be the first time in the American version where the host, Nick Cannon, will also have the opportunity to use the golden buzzer. This is similar to the UK version of the series, Britain's Got Talent, where together the co-hosts are also allowed to press the golden buzzer for an act.
The position the judges sit at the judging table was flipped. From left to right (as seen from the audience's perspective), the order is: Simon Cowell, Heidi Klum, Mel B and Howie Mandel. This is likely because of the fact that Simon, who joined this season, has always been on the farthest left (from the audience's perspective) whenever he's on the judging panel.
Preliminary auditions
Auditions in front of the judges began on March 3, 2016 at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California. The premiere aired on May 31, 2016.
The season had preliminary open call auditions in Detroit, New York, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, San Jose, San Diego, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Orlando, and Dallas. As in years past, hopeful contestants could also submit online auditions.
Golden buzzer
This season again featured the golden buzzer, which allowed each judge (and host Nick Cannon) to send an act straight to the live shows. Mel B was the first judge to press it, using it for 13-year-old opera singer Laura Bretan, who performed "Nessun dorma". Howie Mandel was second to use it, for 12-year-old singer/songwriter/ukelele player Grace VanderWaal, after she performed an original song titled "I Don't Know My Name" in the second episode of auditions, Heidi Klum used her golden buzzer for 20-year-old singer/crooner Sal Valentinetti, who performed "My Way" by Frank Sinatra. Simon Cowell used his golden buzzer for 16-year-old Calysta Bevier, who performed "Fight Song" by Rachel Platten. All of the golden buzzers had been used for a singer until week 6 of auditions, when Cannon used his golden buzzer for Dorothy Williams, a 90-year-old burlesque dancer. This was the first season in which Cannon was given a golden buzzer.
Judge Cuts
The Judge Cuts began on Tuesday, July 12, 2016 and ended on Wednesday, July 20, 2016. Like the previous season, one guest judge joined the judges' panel each show and was given one golden buzzer opportunity to send an act straight to the live shows. Twenty acts were shown each week and seven advanced, including the one that received the guest judge's golden buzzer. Guest judges were not given a red buzzer to use. Any act that received all four red buzzers was immediately eliminated from the competition. The four guest judges were George Lopez, Reba McEntire, Ne-Yo, and Louis Tomlinson. This season, there were two Judge Cuts shows per week, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Consequently, the Judge Cuts ended in two weeks rather than the four weeks they have taken in earlier seasons. This change was made to avoid competition with NBC's upcoming Olympic Games broadcast.
After the Judge Cuts, three wildcards were selected to compete in the live shows: FLIP, Sila Sveta, and Steven Brundage.
Round 1
Guest judge: Ne-Yo
Date: July 12, 2016
This was the first Judge Cuts not to feature any acts getting four red buzzers.
Round 2
Guest judge: Reba McEntire
Date: July 13, 2016
Round 3
Guest judge: George Lopez
Date: July 19, 2016
Round 4
Guest judge: Louis Tomlinson
Date: July 20, 2016
This was the only episode of Judge Cuts this season in which acts received four red buzzers.
^1 Because Brown was on stage during Armando's act, Tomlinson pressed her buzzer.
Quarterfinals
The live quarterfinals were held at the Dolby Theatre, starting on July 26, 2016. They featured the nine golden buzzer acts, the 24 acts passed through during the Judge Cuts round, and three wildcard acts chosen by the producers and judges. Twelve acts performed each week. Seven acts made it through to the semi-finals, while five were eliminated.
Week 1 (July 26–27)
Guests: Mat Franco, Paul Zerdin
^1 After Mandel's vote tied the Judges' Choice, Deadly Games was announced to have received more of America's votes than Hara, and advanced to the semi-finals.
^2 In the middle of the Dunkin' Save vote during the results show, Deadly Games's picture was portrayed as Daniel Joyner, bringing Deadly Games's voting percentage to 0%. It was later fixed.
Week 2 (August 2–3)
Guests: Fitz and The Tantrums featuring Team iLuminate
^1 After Cowell's vote tied the Judges' Choice, Kadie Lynn Roberson was announced to have received more of America's vote than ThroWings, and advanced to the semifinals.
^2 Cowell pressed his buzzer after his comments on ThroWings. Cowell later stated that he did press his buzzer after the performance due to safety reasons.
Week 3 (August 23–24)
Guests: Recycled Percussion, Michael Phelps
Semifinals
The live semifinals started on August 30, 2016. They feature the 21 acts voted to the semifinals, plus the judges' semifinal wildcard pick. Each week, eleven acts will perform. Five will go through, while six will be eliminated. There was one buzzer pressed in the semi-finals.
Week 1 (August 30–31)
Guests: The Illusionists
Week 2 (September 6–7)
Guests: Andra Day, Blue Journey
^1 After Mandel's vote tied the Judges' Choice, Viktor Kee was announced to have received more of America's votes than Steven Brundage, and advanced to the finals.
Finals
The performances took place on September 13, 2016, where 10 acts performed. Every performance received a standing ovation from every judge. No acts were buzzed.
The season finale took place on September 14, 2016. During the finale results, the top 5 acts were revealed first; then they were eliminated in reverse ranking from fifth place to third place. Grace VanderWaal was announced the winner at the end of the finale. She won the million-dollar prize and is set to headline at the PH Showroom at the Las Vegas Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino on October 27, 28, 29, and 30. 2016.
Guests: Pitbull, LunchMoney Lewis, Paula Abdul, Stevie Nicks, Il Volo
Contestants who appeared on other seasons or shows
International broadcasts
In Indonesia, the eleventh season of the show has currently been broadcast by NET. since October 22, 2016 every Saturday and Sunday at 10.00 PM WIB. But, since Monday, October 31, in addition to the weekend slot, the show has also been broadcast every Monday to Friday at 5.00 PM WIB as the replacement of the currently concluded TV drama, the second season of Kesempurnaan Cinta, which was concluded on Friday, October 28, 2016.