America's Got Talent (season 10)
The tenth season of America's Got Talent, an American talent show competition, began broadcasting in the United States during 2015, from May 26 to September 16 on NBC. Following the previous season, production staff made considerable changes in the format, the most notable being a change in the second round of auditions to a more competitive stage than before and including the involvement of a guest judge, under the title of "Judge Cuts" - the first set of guest judges for this new format included Neil Patrick Harris, Michael Bublé, Marlon Wayans, and Piers Morgan. Other changes were also made, including an amendment to the "Golden Buzzer" format introduced in the last season, and the WildCard format. The online public voting system was also amended, including being renamed to reflect the change in sponsor for the program.
As the program was entering its tenth season, production staff also compiled two specials to celebrate ten years of America's Got Talent and Got Talent respectively - "10 Years of Talent" on July 29, 2015, and "World's Got Talent" on August 5, 2015. The tenth season was won by ventriloquist Paul Zerdin, the first Golden Buzzer act to win the competition, with comedian Drew Lynch finishing in second, and mentalist Oz Pearlman placing third. During its broadcast, the season averaged around 10.28 million viewers.
Season Overview
Open auditions began in late 2014, between November and December, across the cities of Tampa, Nashville, Richmond, Chicago, St. Louis, San Antonio, Albuquerque, San Francisco, Seattle, Boise, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas; online auditions were also accepted as well. Judges' auditions took place across the same venues as last year, and across 2015 between March and May, with a special session for extreme performances held at a venue in Pomona, California. With the program entering its tenth year, production staff decided on not only incorporating a number of special compilation episodes, celebrating the wide range of talent that had appeared on America's Got Talent and across the world within the Got Talent franchise - including some of the best acts, 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 were currently doing - but also on bringing about notable changes in the format of the program for the tenth season.The producers decided on changing the second round of auditions towards a live audience format titled "Judge Cuts". Held at a fixed venue, the new format saw participants being divided into groups, with each group's participants required to each conduct a new performance before the judges, alongside a guest judge for each group, and could only secure a place in the live rounds if they gained a majority vote from the panel. Judge Cuts operated on a similar arrangement to the Judges' auditions - the main judges could stop a performance with their buzzers, the panel could give feedback on a performance once it had ended, and filming of this stage included recordings of the host in the wings of the venue's stage. As the new stage would be held over several weeks, rather than a single week, the broadcast schedule of the program had to be altered, leading to the number of quarter-finals being reduced as a result, and effectively decreasing the number of quarter-finalists the competition would have. The first use of the format saw the involvement of the following celebrities: actor Neil Patrick Harris; singer Michael Bublé; actor Marlon Wayans; and former AGT judge Piers Morgan.
Another change brought it was an amendment to the format of the "Golden Buzzer" to align its use to that by other editions in Got Talent - in short, the buzzer's use would now allow any participant to receive it to be granted an automatic place in the live rounds. The amendment in the buzzer's use by production staff took into consideration the new audition stage being introduced - while the main judges could only use the buzzer in the first stage, the guest judges could only use it the second stage for a participant within the group they each oversaw. The WildCard format from previous seasons was also changed - the judges could pick WildCard quarter-finalists from any three participants eliminated in the Judge Cuts - regardless of whether the act was televised or not - as well as a single WildCard semi-finalist from any participant eliminated in the quarter-finals. Finally, the online public voting system was also changed, not only in its name, to reflect the change of sponsor for America's Got Talent for 2015, but also in allowing the public to vote between the participants in each quarter-final who placed 6th, 7th and 8th in the main public vote respectively for a place in the semi-finals, with the judges voting on which of the two they didn't select for a final place in the next stage; the system for the semi-finals operated the same as before, but it was dropped entirely from being used in the finals. Prior to the start of the live rounds, two participants were forced to withdraw, one of whom had another engagement that would have conflicted with their involvement in the competition, leading to them being replaced by couple of entries that had been originally eliminated in the Judge Cuts.
Of the participants who auditioned for this season, 36 secured a place in the live quarter-finals, with twelve quarter-finalists in each one - amongst these included: comedian Drew Lynch, contemporary dance duo Freckled Sky, gospel singer Sharon Irving, and classical singer Arielle Baril, who had each received a golden buzzer from the main judges; magician Piff the Magic Dragon, singing duet The Craig Lewis Band, ventriloquist Paul Zerdin, and Japanese light-and-sound dance troupe Siro-A, who had each received a golden buzzer from the guest judges; and acrobatic dance duo Craig & Micheline, flyboarder Damone Rippy, and gymnastic team Showproject, who were chosen as WildCard quarter-finalists. Around 22 quarter-finalists advanced to and split between the two semi-finals - including motocross team Metal Mulisha Fitz Army, chosen as the WildCard semi-finalist - with 10 semi-finalists securing a place in the finals. The following below lists the results of each participant's overall performance in this season:
| Participant | Age | Genre | Act | From | Quarter-Final | Result |
| 3 Shades of Blue | 19-20 | Music | Acoustic Rock Band | Philadelphia | 2 | |
| Alicia Michilli | 23 | Singing | Singer | Detroit | 3 | |
| Alondra Santos | 13 | Singing | Mariachi Singer | El Monte, California | 1 | |
| Animation Crew | 25-33 | Dance | Break-dancing Group | South Korea | 2 | |
| Arielle Baril | 11 | Singing | Opera Singer | Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania | 2 | |
| Benjamin Yonattan | 14 | Dance | Contemporary Dancer | Kalamazoo, Michigan | 3 | |
| Benton Blount | 35 | Singing | Singer & Guitarist | North Carolina | 1 | ' |
| Chapkis Dance Family | 14-35 | Dance | Hip-hop Dance Group | Suisun City, California | 3 | |
| Craig & Micheline | Dance | Acrobatic Dance Duo | South Africa | 1 | ||
| DADitude! | 42-55 | Dance | Dance Group | Los Angeles | 3 | |
| Damone Rippy | 16 | Danger | Flyboarder | Austin, Texas | 2 | |
| Daniella Mass | 22 | Singing | Opera Singer | Barranquilla, Colombia | 3 | |
| Derek Hughes | 43 | Magic / Comedy | Comic Magician | Los Angeles | 2 | ' |
| DM Nation | 14-29 | Dance | Hip-hop Dance Group | Lévis, Canada | 2 | |
| Drew Lynch | 23 | Comedy | Comedian | Las Vegas | 1 | ' |
| Freckled Sky | 20, 28 | Dance | Video Projection Dance Duo | Chicago | 2 | |
| Freelusion | 27-29 | Dance | Video-mapping Dance Group | Hungary | 3 | |
| Gary Vider | 31 | Comedy | Comedian | New York City | 3 | ' |
| Ira | Singing / Variety | Singing Puppet | Los Angeles | 2 | ||
| Metal Mulisha Fitz Army | 25-30 | Danger | Motocross Team | Omaha, Nebraska | 3 | |
| Mountain Faith Band | 19-51 | Band | Bluegrass Band | Sylva, North Carolina | 3 | |
| Myq Kaplan | 36 | Comedy | Comedian | New York City | 2 | |
| Oz Pearlman | 32 | Magic | Mentalist | New York City | 3 | ' |
| Paul Zerdin | 42 | Comedy | Ventriloquist | London, United Kingdom | 1 | ' |
| Piff the Magic Dragon | 34 | Magic / Comedy | Comic Magician | London, United Kingdom | 1 | ' |
| Samantha Johnson | 26 | Singing | Singer | New Bedford, Massachusetts | 1 | |
| Selected of God | 21-52 | Singing | Gospel Choir | Detroit | 3 | |
| Sharon Irving | 29 | Singing | Gospel Singer | Chicago | 2 | |
| Showproject | 21-33 | Acrobatics | Gymnastics Team | Armenia, Czech Republic, Germany | 1 | |
| Siro-A | 23-36 | Dance | Video-mapping Dance Group | Sendai, Japan | 1 | |
| The CraigLewis Band | 30, 33 | Singing | Singing Duet | Atlanta, Georgia | 2 | ' |
| The Gentlemen | 9, 12 | Dance | Hip-hop Dance Duo | Fairfield, California | 1 | |
| The Professional Regurgitator | 52 | Danger | Regurgitator | Glasgow, United Kingdom | 3 | ' |
| Triple Threat | 21 | Singing | Singing Trio | Benton, Arkansas | 1 | |
| Uzeyer Novruzov | 39 | Acrobatics / Danger | Ladder Acrobat | Eysk, Russia | 2 | ' |
| Vita Radionova | 33 | Acrobatics | Contortionist | Ukraine | 1 |
- Ages denoted in this column pertain to a participant age in their final performance for this season.
- The ages of Craig & Micheline were not disclosed on the program.
- These participants were replacements for those who withdrew from the competition, despite securing a place in the live rounds.
- No actual information on the puppeteer for this act was disclosed by the show, other than the location they came from.
- For health and safety reasons, Metal Mulisha Fitz Army live round performances were pre-recorded at another site.
- Locations denote where members of this group came from.
Quarter-final Summary
Quarter-final 1 (August 11)
Guest Performers, Results Show: The Rockettes, Mat Franco, and OMIQuarter-final 2 (August 18)
Guest Performers, Results Show: Emily West, and William Close- Due to the majority vote for 3 Shades of Blue, Klum's voting intention was not revealed.
- For health & safety reasons, Damone Rippy's performance had to be pre-recorded at another site.
Quarter-final 3 (August 25)
- Metal Mulisha Fitz Army were later appointed the judges' WildCard semi-finalist.
Semi-final Summary
Semi-final 1 (September 1)
Guest Performers, Results Show: The Illusionists, Taylor WilliamsonSemi-final 2 (September 8)
Guest Performers, Results Show: Little Mix, and AcroArmyFinals (September 15–16)
Guest Performers, Performance show: The Rockettes, Flo Rida| Finalist | Act | Performed with | Result |
| Oz Pearlman | Mentalist | Penn & Teller and Mat Franco | ' |
| Uzeyer Novruzov | Ladder Acrobat | Freelusion | |
| Benton Blount | Singer & Guitarist | Rachel Platten | |
| Gary Vider | Comedian | Jeff Ross | |
| Piff the Magic Dragon | Comic Magician | Penn & Teller and Mat Franco | |
| Paul Zerdin | Ventriloquist | Terry Fator | ' |
| The Craig Lewis Band | Singing Duet | Yolanda Adams, and Harlem Gospel Choir | ' |
| Derek Hughes | Magician | Penn & Teller and Mat Franco | |
| The Professional Regurgitator | Regurgitator | Penn & Teller | ' |
| Drew Lynch | Comedian | Jeff Ross |
- Oz Pearlman, Piff the Magic Dragon and Derek Hughes conducted a joint routine for their second performance, and thus shared the same guest performers.
- Although they lost in the semi-finals, Freelusion were given a special invite to conduct a joint routine with Uzeyer Novruzov for his second performance.
- Drew Lynch and Gary Vider conducted a joint routine for their second performance, and thus shared the same guest performers.
Ratings
| Show | Episode title | First air date | Rating | Share | Viewers | Time slot rank | Nightly rank | Weekly rank |
| 1 | Auditions Week 1 | May 26, 2015 | 2.6 | 9 | 11.09 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Auditions Week 2 | June 2, 2015 | 2.4 | 9 | 10.84 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | Auditions Week 3 | June 9, 2015 | 2.3 | 8 | 10.44 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 4 | Auditions Week 4 | June 16, 2015 | 2.3 | 8 | 10.18 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 5 | Auditions Week 5 | June 23, 2015 | 2.6 | 10 | 11.08 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | Auditions Week 6 | June 30, 2015 | 2.5 | 9 | 10.74 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| 7 | Auditions Week 7 | July 7, 2015 | 2.3 | 8 | 10.57 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 8 | Judge Cuts Week 1 | July 14, 2015 | 2.4 | 9 | 10.82 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 9 | Judge Cuts Week 2 | July 21, 2015 | 2.3 | 9 | 10.50 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 10 | Judge Cuts Week 3 | July 28, 2015 | 2.1 | 8 | 10.33 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 11 | Judge Cuts Week 4 | August 4, 2015 | 2.2 | 8 | 10.21 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 12 | Quarterfinals Week 1 | August 11, 2015 | 2.5 | 9 | 11.43 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 13 | Quarterfinals Week 1 | August 12, 2015 | 1.6 | 6 | 8.83 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 14 | Quarterfinals Week 2 | August 18, 2015 | 2.3 | 8 | 10.86 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 15 | Quarterfinals Week 2 | August 19, 2015 | 1.6 | 6 | 9.12 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| 16 | Quarterfinals Week 3 | August 25, 2015 | 2.2 | 8 | 10.34 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 17 | Quarterfinals Week 3 | August 26, 2015 | 1.6 | 6 | 8.46 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| 18 | Semifinals Week 1 | September 1, 2015 | 2.3 | 8 | 10.55 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 19 | Semifinals Week 1 | September 2, 2015 | 1.7 | 7 | 9.29 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 20 | Semifinals Week 2 | September 8, 2015 | 2.1 | 7 | 10.53 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| 21 | Semifinals Week 2 | September 9, 2015 | 1.8 | 7 | 9.46 | 2 | 2 | 12 |
| 22 | Finals | September 15, 2015 | 2.4 | 9 | 11.33 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| 23 | Finale | September 16, 2015 | 2.1 | 7 | 9.54 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
Specials
| Show | Episode title | First air date | Rating | Share | Viewers | Time slot rank | Nightly rank | Weekly rank |
| S1 | Best of Season 10 Auditions | July 22, 2015 | 1.2 | 5 | 5.66 | 3 | 4 | 12 |
| S2 | 10 Years of Talent | July 29, 2015 | 1.6 | 6 | 5.80 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| S3 | World's Got Talent | August 5, 2015 | 1.5 | 6 | 6.99 | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| S4 | Finale Performance Recap | September 16, 2015 | 1.2 | 4 | 5.65 | 3 | 4 | 19 |