Host(s) Nick Cannon Website Official Website | Broadcaster NBC | |
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Broadcast from June 1 – September 15, 2010 Judges Piers Morgan
Sharon Osbourne
Howie Mandel Origin Hancock County, Mississippi | ||
The fifth season of America's Got Talent, an American television reality show talent competition, premiered in the United States on the NBC network and on Canada's Global on June 1, 2010. Soul singer Michael Grimm was named the winner on September 15, 2010, beating 10-year-old classical crossover singer Jackie Evancho. Piers Morgan and Sharon Osbourne returned as judges. After four seasons on the show, David Hasselhoff left to host a new show and was replaced by Howie Mandel.
Contents
- Selection process
- Preliminary auditions
- Las Vegas Week
- Advanced
- Rejected
- Quarterfinals
- Top 48 Week 1
- Elimination table Week 1
- Top 48 Week 2
- Top 48 Week 3
- Elimination table Week 3
- Top 48 Week 4
- Elimination table Week 4
- Week 5 YouTube Special
- Elimination table Week 5
- Week 6 Wild Card Show
- Elimination table Week 6
- Semifinals
- Round 1
- Round 1 elimination table
- Round 2
- Round 2 elimination table
- Top 10
- Finals
- Round chart
- Contestants who appeared on other shows
- Production
- References
Selection process
The season 5 selection process appears to carry over that of the past two seasons, but the Las Vegas Round was changed to that of the second and third seasons, which gave the performers a second chance to showcase their act. Instead of an audition consisting of performers who submitted their acts on Myspace, as has been done in previous seasons, the year contained a quarterfinal made up of twelve acts who submitted their auditions on YouTube (eleven selected by the judges and one selected by online voters). Because of the inclusion of an additional quarterfinal, only four acts were selected to move on each week, instead of five. Additionally, there was also a separate wild card show (the first since season 1), consisting of acts brought back by the judges to perform after being originally eliminated in either Las Vegas Week or previous quarterfinals. The semifinal consisted of 24 acts this year. Ten of the 24 passed through to the Top 10 round, from which six were eliminated by public voting, leaving four to compete in the finals.
Preliminary auditions
The fifth season of America's Got Talent, premiered on NBC on June 1, 2010.
This season, auditions were held in six major U.S. cities: Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Universal Orlando Resort, Portland, and Chicago. Host Nick Cannon and judges Piers Morgan and Sharon Osbourne returned to the show. Howie Mandel joined the show, taking the place of David Hasselhoff as the third judge.
The auditions lasted for ten episodes and 88 acts advanced.
Las Vegas Week
From 70,000 nationwide auditions, the judges advanced the top 108 acts to Las Vegas to compete head to head for a spot in the Top 48. On their way to Las Vegas, the judges reviewed the audition tapes and divided the contestants into 3 groups. Not all groups that were shown to have passed the preliminary auditions were shown in the Las Vegas Week episodes.
Those in Group A were referred to as "the judges' favorites," and performed on Day 1 of Las Vegas (Episode 511).
Those in Group B, were not seen as favorites by the judges and were declared "standby acts." These acts performed for 11 remaining spots after Group A (Episode 512).
The auditions of the Group C acts were declared by the judges to be the best and these acts moved on to compete in the live shows directly without performing in Las Vegas.
Advanced
Rejected
Advanced
Rejected
Advanced
Quarterfinals
The quarterfinals began on July 13, 2010 and concluded on Wednesday, August 18 with the Wild Card episode results. Twelve acts performed each week. A two-hour performance episode each Tuesday was followed by a one-hour results show the following day, where four of the twelve acts from the previous night remained in the competition instead of five, due to the inclusion of one more quarterfinal consisting of acts who auditioned on YouTube.
Top 48 (Week 1)
The performance episode aired on July 13, 2010, 2 hours.
The results episode aired July 14, 2010 (1 hour) and included performances by the cast of Rock of Ages (with Dee Snider making a guest appearance).
Elimination table, Week 1
Top 48 (Week 2)
The performance episode aired on July 20, 2010, 2 hours.
The results episode aired on July 21, 2010 (1 hour) and included performances from the cast members of Cirque Du Soleil and Train.
Top 48 (Week 3)
The performance episode aired on July 27, 2010, 2 hours.
The results episode aired on July 28, 2010 (1 hour) and featured performances by Mike Posner and the JabbaWockeeZ.
Elimination table, Week 3
Top 48 (Week 4)
The performance episode aired on August 3, 2010, 2 hours.
The results show aired on August 4, 2010 (1 hour) and featured performances by Taio Cruz and Bret Michaels.
The contestants this week were treated to an advance screening of the movie The Other Guys and a meeting with its co-stars Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg.
Elimination table, Week 4
Week 5: YouTube Special
The performance episode aired on August 10, 2010, 2 hours.
The results show aired on August 11, 2010 (1 hour) and featured performances from YouTube sensations Lin Yu Chun and Evolution of Dance, as well as a performance from Season 1 alumni David and Dania: Quick Change.
This special quarterfinal featured acts who submitted their auditions via YouTube.
Elimination table, Week 5
Week 6: Wild Card Show
The performance episode aired on August 17, 2010. These acts had been eliminated but were called back by the judges for another chance. The episode was the first in the history of Talent that did not feature at least one act that incorporated live singing in their performance.
The results show aired on August 18, 2010 and included performances by singer LeAnn Rimes and magician Criss Angel.
Elimination table, Week 6
Semifinals
The semifinals began on Tuesday, August 24. Unlike the quarterfinals, five acts are to make it through each round instead of four; the other seven will be eliminated. The rest of the format is the same as the previous weeks of competition.
Round 1
The first episode of the semifinals was aired on Tuesday, August 24, 2010, 2 hours.
The results aired on Wednesday, August 25, 2010 (1 hour) and featured performances from Jimmy Fallon, Kylie Minogue, and Season 4 alumni Recycled Percussion.
Round 1 elimination table
Round 2
The second episode of the semifinals aired on Tuesday, August 31, 2010, 2 hours.
The results aired on Wednesday, September 1, 2010 (1 hour) and featured performances from the cast members of Le Rêve and Jason Derülo. The host of the America's Got Talent Live Tour Jerry Springer also made an appearance.
Round 2 elimination table
Top 10
For the Top 10, there was no Judge's Choice.
The Top 10 performance episode aired on Tuesday, September 7, 2010, for 2 hours and featured a performance from Enrique Iglesias. Prior to the episode, the contestants got to meet with and have a dinner and drinks with the judges, who offered advice to the contestants.
The results show aired on Wednesday, September 8, 2010 (1 hour) and featured performances from Sarah McLachlan and the cast of American Idiot, determining who made the top four spots in the finals. Singing sensation Susan Boyle, who was a contestant on the third series of Got Talent's sister show Britain's Got Talent, was scheduled to perform at the results show but was not able to. The producers of the show had not been given the rights to the song from Lou Reed, and Boyle was pulled from the episode at the last minute.
This was the season's only live show without any buzzes.
Finals
The Finals aired on Tuesday, September 14, 2010, 1 hour.
The season finale aired on Wednesday, September 15, 2010, 2 hours and featured performances from Usher, the Goo Goo Dolls, the cast members of Cirque du Soleil, David Copperfield, and a surprise performance from T-Pain. Finalists performed with their favorite singers: Prince Poppycock sang a duet with Donna Summer, Michael Grimm with Jewel, Jackie Evancho with Sarah Brightman and Fighting Gravity performed with Lionel Richie joining in singing.
The show's two part finale, overall, averaged 15.3 million viewers. The performance show averaged 14.6 million viewers, and the season finale averaged 16.4 million viewers, making it the most-watched episode in the history of Talent to date.
Round chart
The following is the list of the 48 official quarterfinalists. It also includes the 12 contestants that were picked from the YouTube auditions and the five acts that were originally eliminated in Las Vegas, but were brought back to compete in the Wild Card Episode.
Italic indicates the act was picked from a YouTube audition and was not featured in the preliminary auditions or Las Vegas Week, therefore, the quarterfinals were their debut to the competition.
Contestants who appeared on other shows
Production
This is the first season with Deal or No Deal game show host and comedian Howie Mandel judging on the show, replacing former judge David Hasselhoff.
The show is once again hosted by Nick Cannon with Sharon Osbourne and Piers Morgan as judges.
Piers Morgan announced on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on July 27, 2010 that he signed a three-year contract to stay on Talent.