10 Moments From ‘AGT’ Season 13 We Will Remember Forever
Justin Lubin/NBC Reading Time: 4 minutes
To close out our coverage of America’s Got Talent 2018, we’re taking a look back at some of the most memorable moments and performances of Season 13.
1. Courtney Hadwin Bursts Onto The Scene
Lots of young female singers have competed on AGT, but we can safely say none of them were quite like Courtney Hadwin. Her audition took the show’s judges and audience by surprise, and she became an immediate fan-favorite when her audition went viral after she received Howie Mandel‘s golden buzzer.
loading="lazy"
2. Duo Transcend’s Scary Drop
There’s always a risk when it comes to the danger acts, but that didn’t stop people from absolutely freaking out when Tyce Neilsen accidentally dropped (or, rather, neglected to catch) his wife, Mary Wolfe, at the end of their trapeze performance in Judge Cuts. Fortunately, Mary had a safe landing on the mat that was onstage, and the judges liked the rest of the act so much they sent them forward to the live shows anyway!
loading="lazy"
3. Battle Of The Choirs
Even though lots (and I do mean lots) of singers have received the golden buzzer over the years, the honor had never gone to a choir. Until this season, that is, when BOTH Voices Of Hope and Angel City Chorale were sent straight through to the live shows during Judge Cuts by Ken Jeong and Olivia Munn, respectively.
loading="lazy"
loading="lazy"
4. Yumbo Dump’s Dolphin Love Story Warms The Judges’ Cold Hearts…And Wins The Internet
loading="lazy"
Yumbo Dump became a rare example of an act to have red buzzers from the judges retracted (in their case, by Simon Cowell and Mel B) proving that love conquers all. Or at least dolphin love does. (And we’d be remiss not to include the clip which resulted the infamous awkward transition that went viral on Twitter.)
NBC solemnly announces death of Sen. John McCain.
Wait for it. pic.twitter.com/xAqZ3HtvHa
— Rob Beschizza (@Beschizza) August 26, 2018
5. The Sacred Riana’s Controversial Commerical Cut
This was Season 13, so of course we needed a few scares thrown into the live show mix! The horror illusionist was another polarizing act this season, but many fans rallied behind her when they believed her quarter-finals performance cut to commercial before it was finished. Turns out the abrupt end was intentional, but that revelation just seemed to raise more questions about the act than it answered.
loading="lazy"
6. Zurcaroh’s Grand Return
We watched Zurcaroh receive their golden buzzer from host Tyra Banks in the season premiere, but didn’t get to see the acrobatic group again until the last week of quarter-finals nearly three months later. We didn’t know what exactly to expect from them as a follow-up, but they managed to top their first performance (and then some) with this hauntingly beautiful re-creation of the story of Adam and Eve. (I have to say, this was my personal favorite performance of the season.)
loading="lazy"
7. BTS Guest Stars And The Crowd Goes Wild
Okay, so BTS didn’t actually compete on the season, but their guest appearance on the September 12 results show was wildly well received. (I think the crowd was cheering more for them than any of the actual contestants!)
loading="lazy"
8. Lindsey Stirling Duets With Brian King Joseph
Speaking of amazing guest performances, it was so cool to see Lindsey Stirling back on AGT! Despite being trashed by then-judge Piers Morgan and eliminated relatively early on during her season, Lindsey has wound up as one of this show’s most successful alumni. Seeing her violin duet with finalist Brian King Joseph (and Duo Transcend in the background!) was such a special moment. Lindsey Stirling is proof you don’t need to win AGT – or even makes the finals – to have a great post-show career.
loading="lazy"
9. Shin Lim’s Winning Performance
loading="lazy"
Over the course of the season, we got to see Shin Lim really grow as an artist and performer. In his earlier performances, he stuck to his signature performance qualities of not talking and keeping the focus on the cards being manipulated. However, at the advice of Simon Cowell, Shin started adding a wider variety of elements to his later acts via talking more and mixing up the type of card tricks he was doing. It all culminated in his final performance of the competition, which incorporated piano playing and floating cards. Just goes to show that even after you are crowned as one of the world’s best in your craft, like Shin was before AGT, there is always room to improve and evolve your act.
10. Shin Lim Becomes The AGT Season 13 Champion
loading="lazy"
What made the endgame of Season 13 extra-exciting was that – unlike the past couple of years – no one was really running away with the competition by the time we got to the finals. This meant a good chunk of the top 10 had a decent shot at taking it home, and we got some very strong performances from a lot of the acts. In the end, the voters chose card magician Shin Lim as their champion, with several other variety acts taking up the other top spots.
