The 7-week season will see contestants from the previous seasons of 'AGT' franchise around the world competing for the winning title.
- Jan 8, 2019
AceShowbiz - "America's Got Talent" returned with "America's Got Talent: The Champions" on Monday, January 7. Featuring Simon Cowell, Melanie Brown, Heidi Klum and Howie Mandel as the judges, the 7-week season will see contestants from the previous seasons of "AGT" franchise around the world competing for the winning title. For this season, "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" star Terry Crews will serve as the host instead of Tyra Banks.
The first contestant to take the stage was Bianca Ryan, the winner of "AGT" in 2006. Bianca, who was only 11 years old when she auditioned with "And I Am Telling You", returned for the new show with a rendition of "Say Something" by A Great Big World featuring Christina Aguilera.
"You truly are a champion," Howie raved, while Mel called her "amazing." Simon added, dubbing her charming and her performance a great start to the show.
The next performer was mentalist The Clairvoyants, who were the runner-ups in 2016's "AGT". Amelie van Tass and Thommy Ten returned to the stage, bringing an even bigger and better act. The act showed Amelie guessing a bunch of stuff cleverly, prompting Simon to say, "You set the standard."
Following next was Sara & Hero. After making into the finals in 2017's "AGT", Sara and her dog attempted to impress everyone with another mesmerizing act. It was a rather mediocre performance, but Simon couldn't help but gush over her dog. "Your dog is just adorable," he said.
Ladder Balancer Uzeyer Novruzov from "AGT" 2015 was back to redeem himself. He succesfully carried out his act this time, fortunately. Heidi called him a mixture of Charlie Chaplin and Evil Knievel.
Stand-Up comedian Vicki Barbolak from the last season of "AGT" was also among the acts on "AGT: The Champions". The 60-year-old took the stage to joke about Beverly Hills women and their "rescue" dogs.
"Russia's Got Talent" 2014 winner Alex Magala showed off his sword-swallowing skills that night. "AGT: The Champions" was not the only "AGT" show he had appeared on as he previously wowed everyone "Britain's Got Talent", "Italia's Got Talent" and "America's Got Talent". Alex admitted that the act he was about to do was something he had never done before. Heidi said it was "difficult to watch" while Mel called him "bloody crazy." Simon then quipped that he loved that he was just "millimeters away from killing himself."
After the scary act, viewers were offered a performance by dancing/singing troupe Justice Crew. The winner of "Australia's Got Talent" in 2010 revealed they wanted to conquer America now that they reached success in their home country. However, it seems like it won't be easy for them since the judges appeared not to be satisfied with their performance.
Susan Boyle, the runner up of "Britain's Got Talent" 2009, is here! Her performance was undoubtly one of those who were anticipated by many. Singing "Wild Horses" from one of her albums, she prompted everyone to give her a big standing ovation. "I can't think of any other contestant that defined this show other than you," Simon told her. Howie added, "You are what this show is." And with that, Mel hit her golden buzzer for Susan!
Up next was Sofie Dossie, a teen contortionist/hand-balancer from "America's Got Talent" 2016. She took to stage to perform her precise and artful act which Terry dubbed the "most athletic things I've ever seen in my life." Simon loved her performance, saying, "That was incredible. By far the best performance we've seen from you."
Rounding out the night was Preacher Lawson. The comedian, who came in 2nd place while competing in 2017's "America's Got Talent", returned with some jokes about Vegan as well as about his ex-white girlfriend. He was excellent as Mel said he was her second choice for Golden Buzzer.
It was later time to reveal the results of superfans' votes. Bianca Ryan, Preacher Lawson and Sofie Dossi were announced as the Top 3, and the winner was Preacher Lawson! With that, he and Susan Boyle advanced to the finals while the rest contestants that night were eliminated.
