America's Got Talent season 4


The fourth season of American talent show competition series America's Got Talent was broadcast on NBC from June 23 to September 16, 2009. Following the previous season, Jerry Springer left the show due to other commitments, and was replaced as host by Nick Cannon. A number of changes were also made to the program before filming commenced, which included replacing the "boot camp" stage with a round similar in format to that used by Britain's Got Talent, and changing the buzzer format to match that being used by the Got Talent franchise. In addition, the episodes for results in each live round of the competition were also modified. They were broadcast over a one-hour period, and would feature performances by guest stars.
The fourth season was won by country singer Kevin Skinner, with opera singer Bárbara Padilla finishing in second, and percussion group Recycled Percussion placing third. During its broadcast, the season averaged around over 11.9 million viewers, and was the first in the program's history to be aired in high definition.
WWW nbc.com/Americas_Got_Tale...

Season overview

Auditions for the fourth season's competition took place across Winter until mid-Spring 2009, with auditions expanding to more cities. Filming for the audition episodes focused on those held in the cities of New York, Houston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, Tacoma, and Seattle. Auditions were also held in Boston, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C. but were not included in the televised episodes. Prior to auditions taking place, Jerry Springer announced he was unable to continue hosting AGT due to his talk show schedule, in addition to summer theater commitments he had. As a result, the network recruited Nick Cannon to be his successor.
The format for the second stage of auditions changed by removing the "boot camp" portion that had been used in the previous two seasons, in favor of using the selection process from Britain's Got Talent, under the title of "Vegas Verdicts". Instead, judges reviewed the tapes of participants who had made successful auditions, to determine who would advance into the live rounds. This stage would continue to divide participants into groups, allowing the judges to debate among themselves about which group of participants should earn a place in the live rounds, before bringing back each group to inform them of their decision about their progress in the competition. In some cases, participants were required to do a second performance to help the judges make their final decisions. The format for the buzzers in the live rounds was also altered to match that of the format across the Got Talent franchise, in that participants receiving buzzes from all the judges had to stop immediately, rather than being given a little more time to perform.
Two issues arose during this season during the competition. The first was the intervention of executive producer Simon Cowell, who felt "too much talent" had been eliminated during the new "Vegas Verdicts" stage. The judges decided to bring back several of the eliminated acts as Wildcards for the quarter-finals. The second was the judges' inability to determine which two acts they favored and would advance beyond the first semi-final. Eventually they opted to put both through without a vote in the second semi-final.
Forty-eight of the participants who auditioned for the season secured a place in the live quarter-finals, with twelve quarter-finalists performing in each show. About twenty of these advanced and were split between the two semi-finals, with ten semi-finalists securing a place in the live final, which was a single stage rather than multiple rounds in previous seasons. Here are the results of each participant's overall performance during the season:
ParticipantAge GenreActFromQuarter-FinalResult
24-35AcrobaticsAcrobatic GroupOrlando4
23Singing / MusicViolin TrioLas Vegas2
Anthony & Matt24 & 22Singing / DanceSinger & Tap DancerNew York City4
13DanceDancerOrlando1
'36SingingOpera SingerHouston4'
Beale Street Flippers 20-26AcrobaticsAcrobat GroupMemphis, Tennessee2
Breaksk821-30DanceDance GroupKokomo, Indiana1
BRI17Singing / MusicSinger & PianistLas Vegas3
Carol Loo63DanceDancerJersey City, New Jersey2
Charles DeWayne21Singing / MusicSinger & PianistLa Verne, California2
Coney Island Chris42Danger / ComedySideshow PerformerNaugatuck, Connecticut4
Dave Johnson30Singing / ComedyComedy SingerRenton, Washington3
Diva League 20-44DanceDance GroupWashington, D.C.1
Drew Stevyns 26Singing / MusicSinger & GuitaristSykesville, Maryland4'
Drew Thomas Magic & Illusion40 MagicMagicianOrlando1
Eleisha Miller8Singing / MusicSinger & PianistAmarillo, Texas2
EriAm Sisters11-16SingingVocal TrioSeattle4
Erik & Rickie8DanceBallroom DuoSeattle4
Fab Five24-35DanceClogging GroupMorgan, Utah2'
FootworKINGz16-24DanceDance GroupChicago3
G Force8-11Singing / MusicBandAmherst, Ohio3
Grandma Lee75ComedyComedianJacksonville, Florida1'
Hairo Torres23Dance / AcrobaticsContortionist DancerGrants Pass, Oregon3'
Ishaara18–23DanceDance GroupBerkeley, California4
Jay Mattioli 27MagicMagicianManassas, Virginia3
Jeffrey Ou18MusicPianistCarrollton, Texas3
Kevin Skinner35Singing / MusicSinger & GuitaristMayfield, Kentucky1'
Lake Houston Dance 9-14DanceDance GroupHouston1
Lawrence Beamen34SingingSingerWalnut Creek, California3'
Manuela Horn36MusicYodellerSeattle1
Marcus Terrell & The Serenades22-28SingingVocal GroupKansas City, Missouri3
Mario & Jenny34 & 33VarietyJuggling DuoLas Vegas3
Mia Boostrom16Singing / MusicSinger & PianistNorth Dighton, Massachusetts4
Mosaic30-34SingingA Cappella GroupLas Vegas1
Pam Martin's Top Dog54 & 6AnimalDog ActGarland, Texas4
Paradizo Dance29 & 37AcrobaticsAcrobatic DuoNew York City2
Pete Peterkin54ComedyImpressionistNew York City2
Pixie Mystère9-11Dance / AcrobaticsContortionist Dance GroupCape May, New Jersey3
Platt Brothers22-27AcrobaticsAcrobat TrioSan Diego, California1
Recycled Percussion22-39MusicPercussion GroupGoffstown, New Hampshire4'
SQ Entertainment 19-32DanceDance GroupBoston2
Team Acrodunk23-45AcrobaticsBasketball Stunt TeamHouston1
The Lollipop Girls 24-40DanceDance GroupSan Diego4
The Texas Tenors34-44SingingVocal TrioHouston2'
The Voices of Glory9-16SingingVocal TrioHighland, New York2
Thia Megia14SingingSingerRedwood City, California1
Tony Hoard & Rory54 & 7AnimalDog ActNew Castle, Indiana2
U4ria Dance Crew 16-23DanceDance GroupCoral Springs, Florida3

  • Ages denoted for a participant, pertain to their final performance for this season.
  • The ages of Drew Thomas' assistants and Marcus Terrell's backing group were not disclosed during the season's broadcast.

Quarter-finals summary

Quarter-final 1 (August 4)

Guest Performers, Results Show: Terry Fator and Mariah Carey

Quarter-final 2 (August 11)

Guest Performers, Results Show: LMFAO and Penn and Teller.

Quarter-final 3 (August 18)

Guest Performers, Results Show: Ashley Tisdale and Daughtry

Quarter-final 4 (August 25)

Guest Performer, Results Show: Reba McEntire

Semi-finals summary

Semi-final 1 (September 1)

Guest Performers, Result Show: Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog, and David Hasselhoff
  • Both acts were advanced into the next stage, after the judges could not decide on who to vote for advancing further in the competition. This decision meant no Judges' Vote was held in the next semi-final.

Semi-final 2 (September 8)

Guest Performer, Results Show: Cast of musical Jersey Boys.

Final (September 14)

Guest Performers, Results Show: Thelma Houston, Shakira, Rascal Flatts, cast members of Cirque Du Soleil, Leona Lewis, and Susan Boyle.
FinalistOrderResult ---
FinalistOrderResult The Voices of Glory1'
Hairo Torres2---
Lawrence Beamen3---
Bárbara Padilla4'---
Fab Five5---
The Texas Tenors6'---
Drew Stevyns7---
Grandma Lee8---
Kevin Skinner9'---
'10'---