America's Got Talent (season 10)

Changes

Among the changes for the season are more extreme acts, an enhanced Golden Buzzer, and new elements in the boot camp round. The live shows began on Tuesday, August 11 and the later rounds returned to Radio City Music Hall.

Some auditions were held outdoors to showcase big danger acts. Acts both in the theater and outdoors were filmed in the Fairplex in Pomona, California.

The Golden Buzzer was also enhanced this year with an act going straight through to the live shows should a judge hit the buzzer (the same format as that of Britain's Got Talent, rather than a free pass to boot camp in the previous season). Like the previous season, the Golden Buzzer could only be used once by each judge and by each guest judge.

The enhanced bootcamp round began July 14, 2015, to determine which acts would become a part of the Top 36 to perform for America's vote. Unlike previous seasons, the live shows will only feature 36 acts instead of the normal 48. The bootcamp round also lasted several weeks compared with just one week in previous seasons. Celebrity guest judges were featured to assist the regular judges with their decision, including Neil Patrick Harris, Michael Bublé, Piers Morgan, and Marlon Wayans.

A special two hour retrospective aired on July 29 this season to celebrate the ten years of AGT. The show featured some of the best acts of the series, the most heartwarming stories, the oddest personalities, and the biggest show-stopping moments from the last 10 years, as well as updates on what some of these acts are currently doing.

Preliminary auditions

Producer auditions began on November 2, 2014 in Tampa, Florida. Other auditions sites include Nashville, Richmond (New York), Chicago, St. Louis, San Antonio, Albuquerque, San Francisco, Seattle, Boise, Los Angeles, Las Vegas. Online auditions were also accepted. Auditions in front of the judges were held March 2–9 at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. They continued at the Manhattan Center in New York City and the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. A special "extreme" audition session was held outside at the Fairplex in Pomona, California.

Golden Buzzer acts

Each of the four judges had one chance to use the Golden Buzzer. Mandel was the first one whose use of the Golden Buzzer was aired, doing so on stuttering comedian Drew Lynch. Contemporary dance duo Freckled Sky became the second Golden Act whose performance was aired, with Stern using the Golden Buzzer on them. Brown was the third judge seen using the Golden Buzzer, this time on gospel singer Sharon Irving. Klum was the last to utilize the Golden Buzzer, with 11-year-old opera singer Arielle Baril being its recipient.

The guest judges each also had one chance to use the Golden Buzzer on any act during their participation without consultation from the regular panel. Like the Golden Acts selected by the regular judges, the Golden Acts chosen by the guest judges also went straight to the live rounds. On the July 14 episode, Neil Patrick Harris used his golden buzzer on magician Piff the Magic Dragon. On the July 21 episode, Michael Bublé used his golden buzzer on singing duo The CraigLewis Band, although he was initially hesitant to do so. Marlon Wayans used his buzzer on ventriloquist comedian Paul Zerdin on the July 28 episode. Japanese light-and-sound dance troupe Siro-A became the last Golden Buzzer act of the season when former judge Piers Morgan used the Golden Buzzer on them.

Freckled Sky was eliminated in the quarterfinals after losing the Judges' Choice to the rock band 3 Shades of Blue. Arielle Baril, Sharon Irving and Siro-A were all eliminated in the semifinals.

Judge Cuts

The Judge Cuts began on Tuesday, July 14, 2015. This round replaces the "Vegas Week" or "Judgment Week" rounds that were used in previous seasons. As noted above one guest judge joined the judges' panel in each week. Each guest judge 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 one from 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 to be immediately eliminated from the competition.

Week 1

Guest judge: Neil Patrick Harris

Week 2

Guest judge: Michael Bublé

Week 3

Guest judge: Marlon Wayans

Week 4

Guest judge: Piers Morgan

Quarterfinals

The live quarterfinals began on August 11 and were broadcast live from Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Each week, twelve acts performed and seven advanced. One or more guest artists or acts performed during each results show.

The four judges were still able to press the red buzzers to show disapproval of an act. If any act received all four buzzes, their performance would be ended prematurely, but the act would not necessarily be eliminated immediately. The golden buzzer did not appear in the live rounds. This season marked the first time Mel B and Heidi used their buzzers in the live rounds. This season also marked the first time an act received four 's during a live round in America's Got Talent history. Season 10 also has the least amount of Quarter Finals in America's Got Talent history. Previous years have had 4 Quarter Finals while this season only had 3.

The Dunkin' Save, originally called the Snapple Save, was continued from the previous season. Each week during the quarterfinals, the acts with the 6th, 7th and 8th most votes were subject to a new vote during the live results shows to send one of them to the semifinals. Out of the remaining two acts, one was selected by the judges to move on to the next round. In the event of a tie, the act with the most votes from the previous night would move on.

Week 1 (August 11–12)

Guests: The Rockettes, Mat Franco, OMI

Week 2 (August 18–19)

Guests: Emily West, William Close

^1 Klum's voting intention was not revealed.

Week 3 (August 25–26)

Guests: Le Rêve

^1 Though they were eliminated in the quarterfinals, Metal Mulisha Fitz Army were the judges' wildcard pick, and they came back for the first week of the semifinals.

^2 DADitude! is the first act to get 4 Xs during the live rounds. This is also the first time that Heidi has buzzed an act during the live shows.

Semifinals

The live semifinal round began on September 1 at Radio City Music Hall in NYC, with two weeks of competition. Because only 22 acts advanced to the semifinals, eleven acts perform each week, and five acts advance each week. Special guest acts or artists will perform each week during the live results shows.

The four judges will still be able to press the red buzzers to show disapproval of an act. If any act receives all four buzzes, their performance would be ended prematurely, but the act would not necessarily be eliminated immediately.

The Dunkin' Save continued into the semifinals, with the three acts in danger of elimination being those voted in 4th, 5th, and 6th place.

Week 1 (September 1–2)

Guests: The Illusionists, Taylor Williamson

^1 After Mandel's vote tied the Judges' Choice, The CraigLewis Band went through to the finals on account of gaining more votes than Samantha Johnson during the previous night's voting.

Week 2 (September 8–9)

Guests: Little Mix, AcroArmy

^1 After Stern's vote tied the Judges' Choice, Gary Vider went through to the finals on account of gaining more votes than Freelusion during the previous night's voting.

Top 10 (finals)

The live finale took place at Radio City Music Hall in NYC on September 15 with the live results show taking place on September 16. The finale spanned only one week with the top 10 acts performing one more time before a winner was selected. The judges had the option to use their buzzer, though none of them did so. Five acts advanced into the top 5.