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When we first heard about the newest season of America’s Got Talent, we pretty much flipped out. Bringing back all the best acts to form a super competition called America’s Got Talent: The Champions sounds like a show fit to blow our minds, and we couldn’t wait to see all our old favorites take the stage again. But with performers from all over the globe, not everyone is familiar with every act — so we decided to put together a little refresher course to get hyped for the show. Check out the gallery to see all the acts returning for AGT: The Champions.
Meet the Week 1 Champions on ‘America’s Got Talent.’
This season, some of the the fiercest acts in the history of America’s Got Talent and Got Talent shows across the globe are back to compete against the best-of-the-best.
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Meet Justice Crew from ‘Australia’s Got Talent.’
The dance crew won Season 4 of Australia’s Got Talent, but the members are actually from both Australia and New Zealand. Lukas “Wild Rok” Bellesini, Paul “Paulie” Merciadez, John Pearce, Lenny Pearce, Samson Smith and Solo Tohi make up the group today, though when they appeared on AGT, Emmanuel Rodriguez, Omar Kamara, Anastasios Tass Repousis were also members. They originally started as two different crews back in 2009, then found fame on TV in 2010.
That same year, the dancers also became musicians, releasing singles like “And Then We Dance” and “Dance With Me.” They even performed with One Direction during the Australian leg of their Up All Night Tour. You can check out some of their past dances in their music videos or on YouTube here and here.
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Meet Sofie Dossi from ‘America’s Got Talent.’
Contortionist Sofie Dossi was 14 when she appeared on Season 11 of America’s Got Talent. In her audition video, she shocked the judges when she balanced on her hands, bent her legs over her back, and used her feet to feed herself an apple. A gymnast and dancer, she got started when she found a contortion video online and was inspired to give it a shot herself. During her audition, she used a set of canes to balance that her father had made himself.
During Judge’s Cuts on her season in 2016, Sofie was one of the performers who merited a press of the Golden Buzzer. Guest judge Reba McEntire did the honors, and eventually the teen made it to the finals, finishing in the Top 10. You can check out some of her insane performances on YouTube here.
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Meet Preacher Lawson from America’s Got Talent.’
Preacher Lawson had audience and judges both cracking up on Season 12 of America’s Got Talent. The comedian was 25 when he first auditioned the day before his birthday back in 2017, but he started working on his act when he was just 16. After moving around a lot as a kid, he made fast friends by being funny, and he put that to work later on in life.
The funny man made it to the Top 10 on his season, joking about being a motorcycle driver, getting catfished, and dealing with today’s smart phones. He’s one of the most popular comedians to have competed in the show, and fans can’t wait to see him back. You can check out some of his act from his season here, here, and here.
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Meet Susan Boyle from ‘Britain’s Got Talent.’
If you haven’t already heard of Susan Boyle, we just don’t know what to tell you. The Scottish singer made worldwide news when she first audition on Britain’s Got Talent during Season 3 in 2009. Her rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” blew the judges away, including Simon Cowell, and brought the entire audience to their feet. She went on to snag the runner-up position, and released her first studio album in November that year. The record was the UK’s best-selling debut album in history.
She’s since released six more studio albums, and was even voted the seventh most influential person in the world by Time Magazine in 2010. Her story even inspired a musical about her life, I Dreamed a Dream, which opened in 2012, and she was nominated two Grammys — the Best Pop Vocal Album in 2011 for I Dreamed a Dream and Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for The Gift in 2012. You can check out some of her best moments here.
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Meet Bianca Ryan from ‘America’s Got Talent.’
Way back in Season 1 of America’s Got Talent, Bianca Ryan was just 11 when she auditioned for the show, but her rendition of “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” seriously impressed the judges. The preteen had appeared before on Star Search when she was just 8 years old, but when she came on AGT, she was able to nab the first place spot.
After winning the competition in 2006, she went on to release her first album, Bianca Ryan, later that year, which included covers and original songs. In 2015, she released a music video for her original song, “Alice,” which featured Dance Moms star Chloe Lukasiak dancing. After undergoing two vocal surgeries in 2016, she’s back to sing again. You can check out some of her AGT performances here and here.
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Meet Uzeyer from ‘America’s Got Talent.’
A ladder acrobat, Uzeyer Novruzov appeared on America’s Got Talent in 2015 during Season 10. The Russian free ladder climber graduated from the State College for Circus and Variety Arts in Moscow in the late ’90s, and started performing in the United States in 2002. He’s appeared in Cirque du Soleil and paid homage to Charlie Chaplin in his act.
The performer made it to the Top 10, but may be best remembered for his heart-stopping fall during semi-finals. He proved that he was able to get back on the ladder again in the next round, and continued to wow audience. You can see some of his act here and here.
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Meet Vicki Barbolak from ‘America’s Got Talent.’
Comedian Vicki Barbolak made it to the Top 10 on Season 13 of America’s Got Talent, cracking up audiences and judges. The 60-year-old’s set was raunchy, including jokes about conjugal visits at a men’s prison, ill-fitting bras, and boxed wine. She’s been performing comedy for over 20 years, having started when she was 38, and has also become a writer and actor.
She’s fresh off the 2018 season of the series and ready to show the rest of the champions what she’s got. You can check out some of her act from AGT on YouTube here.
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Meet The Clairvoyants from ‘America’s Got Talent.’
On Season 11, The Clairvoyants are made up of Austrian couple Thommy Ten and Amélie van Tass. In their audition, a blind-folded Amélie correctly identified objects that Thommy had asked audiences to produce and that he was holding all the way across the room. Their mentalist act won them the runner-up spot in 2016.
The couple seemed to be able to read each other’s minds, not to mention the minds of audiences members and judges. They’ll bound to wow audiences again when they step back on stage. You can check out some of their previous performances on YouTube here.
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Meet Sara and Hero from ‘America’s Got Talent.’
Sara and her dog, Hero, competed on Season 12 of America’s Got Talent, and so wowed Simon Cowell with her audition that he convinced two of the other judges to vote her through. The Canadian performer owned her own dog-training business for more than five years, teaching basic obedience, agility, and complicated tricks.
Considered one of the top trick dog instructors in the world, she nabbed fifth place on her season.
Hero is a border collie who became the youngest champion trick dog, and he currently knows hundreds of different tricks. During their time on the show, Sara and Hero were also joined by another dog, Loki, and later on a third dog, Marvel. You can check out some of their incredible tricks on YouTube here and here.
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Meet Alex Magala from ‘America’s Got Talent.’
But he’s not just from AGT, where he competed on Season 8. The sword-swallower also appeared on Season 10 of Britain’s Got Talent, as well as France’s Got Talent, Ukraine’s Got Talent, Italy’s Got Talent, Slovakia’s Got Talent, Romania’s Got Talent, and he even won Russia’s Got Talent. From Moldova, he’s an experience aerialist and pole dancer, and wowed Britain’s Got Talent in an act where he swallowed a sword, climb a pole, and dropped head first towards the ground, catching himself with his legs just inches before the hilt of the sword hit the floor.
After finishing as a quarter-finalist on America’s Got Talent, he’s back to wow the judges again — and see if he can’t nab a second winning title. You can check out his BGT performances on YouTube here and here.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2Fq7_mt-cc
Meet the Week 2 Champions on ‘America’s Got Talent.’
Week 2 brings back even more of your favorite contestants, plus some incredible talented foreign performers who you may not have met just yet.
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Meet Piff the Magic Dragon from ‘America’s Got Talent.
Piff the Magic Dragon was 34 when he competed in Season 10 of America’s Got Talent and made it all the way to the Top 10 of the show. Back in 2015, he debuted his comedy magic act during auditions by inviting Heidi Klum on stage to help him perform a card trick where he transformed the card he’d puled from the deck into the card she’d selected.
In the next round, he was joined on stage by Mr. Piffles, the “world’s only magic performing chihuahua,” who helped him complete tricks for Heidi and Howie Mandel throughout the season. He was also known for eating snacks while the judges were making their decisions, and even gave his ham and cheese sandwich to guest judge Neil Patrick Harris after the magician scored a press of the Golden Buzzer from the actor. He’s performed with magicians Penn & Teller and all over the globe. You can check out some of his magical moves on Youtube here.
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Meet Viktor Kee from ‘America’s Got Talent.’
Ukrainian-born juggler Viktor Kee wowed the judges on Season 11 of America’s Got Talent, making it to the Top 10 with his impressive act. He started learning how to juggle when he only 6 years old, honing his skills in circus school before he eventually attended the Professional Circus School in Kiev in 1989.
Viktor was 45 when he competed on the show in 2016, facing off against some of his fellow Champions like Sofie Dossi and The Clairvoyants. In dramatic makeup and costumes, the performer seemed to combine ballet and juggling, performing tricks where he juggled around his back, while spinning, and while laying down, and redefined what juggling looked like for most audiences. You can watch some of his AGT performances here.
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Meet Cristina Ramos from ‘Spain’s Got Talent.’
Singer Cristina Ramos went viral after she started off her performance on Season 1 of Spain’s Got Talent by singing opera before ripping off the skirt of her gown and belting AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell” instead. When introducing herself to the judges, she said she was performing because her husband had pretty much tricked her into it, but it was clear she was ready for to have some star power. The singer, then 37, went on to win the whole competition.
According to her website, the singer has since won Mexico’s version of The Voice and performed all over the world, including at events for brands like Cartier and Porsche. She’s released singles “Loca” and “We Can Not Know.” You can check out some of her Spain’s Got Talent performances here and here.
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Meet Light Balance from ‘America’s Got Talent.’
Innovative dance crew Light Balance first took the AGT stage during Season 12, though they’d previously appeared on Britain’s Got Talent in 2014. The Ukrainian-based light up troupe combined cleverly lit costumes with their dance moves to show audiences a routine unlike anything else. Host Tyra Banks was so enamored with their act that, during their audition, she came out on stage to press the Golden Buzzer, sending them straight to quarterfinals.
Formed in 2012, the group placed eighth on BGT and went on to snag the third-place spot on AGT in 2017. Since then, the crew, ages 21-38 when we first met them on stage, has also performed on Broadway with their neon-lit moves and acrobatics. You can check out some of their AGT performances here.
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Meet Ashleigh and Sully from ‘Britain’s Got Talent.’
Simon Cowell was delighted by Ashleigh Jade Butler and her dog, Pudsey, when they danced together on Season 6 of Britain’s Got Talent. The trainer was just 16 when she entered the competition in 2012, and she and her pooch went on to win the show. After snagging first-place, they went on to perform for Queen Elizabeth II twice and act as judges on a British talent show called That Dog Can Dance!. The pup even inspired Simon to produce a movie he starred in called Pudsey The Dog: The Movie.
Sadly, however, Pudsey was diagnoised with terminal leukemia in 2017, and Ashleigh made the difficult decision to put him down. She’s since started performing with one of her other dogs, Sully, and the two are excited to take the Champions stage. You can check out some of Ashleigh and Pudsey’s performances here and here.
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Meet Deadly Games from ‘America’s Got Talent.’
Alfredo and Anna Silva, also known as Deadly Games from AGT, had the audience screaming in horror during their Season 11 audition. The husband-and-wife duo had been together for eight years by the time they performed their knife-throwing act for the judges, and they’d clearly built up plenty of trust. Their act didn’t just involved knives, though — it also involved fire, crossbows, and whips.
During the show, the Las Vegas based couple brought their 2 year old daughter to watch them perform their death-defying stunts. Together, they combine Alfredo’s knife-throwing with his Russian wife’s dancing, an their act took them to the Semifinals. Now, they’re returning to see if they can make it even further, competing once again against more acts from their season. You can watch their performances from AGThere.
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Meet Darci Lynne from ‘America’s Got Talent.’
Ventriloquist Darci Lynne competed on Season 12 of America’s Got Talent at just 12 years old. From Oklahoma City, OK, she received her first puppet at age 10 after seeing a ventriloquist perform at a church event, and started practicing the talent to overcome her shyness. On the show, she performed with Petunia, a rabbit puppet, and together they sang in their audition. The performance was so impressive that it pushed Mel B to press the Golden Buzzer.
With a goal of helping keep ventriloquism alive, the performer introduced more puppets over the season. And by the finale, she was scoring first place and her own headlining show in Vegas as one of the youngest winners and the third ventriloquist to take the title. You can check out her performances from AGThere.
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Meet DDF Crew from ‘Holland’s Got Talent.’
Formed in 2003, DDF Crew is a Flemish double-dutch group that went on to compete on Season 5 of Holland’s Got Talent in 2012. The four members are brothers Benjamin Mahy, Loïc Mahy, and Simon Mahy, who founded the group, as well as their friend Andy Van Beneden. By the time they competed on the show, they’d already performed in 35 countries and been featured in a music video.
With their high-energy routines that mixes break dancing with double dutch, they went on to win their season of HGT, and they also competed on Belgium’s Got Talent in 2016. Now, they’re bringing their routine to America for the Champions competition. You can check out some of their HGT performances here and here.
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Meet Taylor Williamson from ‘America’s Got Talent.’
The 26-year-old stand-up comedian started performing when he was still in high school, and had already made a name for himself before he competed on Season 8 of America’s Got Talent. After growing up in California, Taylor Williamson shared his act at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Canada and was the youngest comedian to perform on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. He also competed on Last Comic Standing‘s final season, finishing as a semifinalist.
On AGT, he cracked jokes about his grandma being a murderer and his own parental instincts. His awkward persona fed into his act as he made fun of himself, his dating life, and his finances. The judges and the audience went wild for his act, and the comedian scored second place in 2013. You can watch some of his performance on YouTube here and here.
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Meet Courtney Hadwin from ‘America’s Got Talent.’
13-year-old Courtney Hadwin amazed the judges with her big voice on Season 13 of America’s Got Talent. From Hartlepool, England, the teen had previously competed on the UK TV show The Voice Kids, finishing in the Top 6. On AGT, she was equally impressive, blowing away Howie Mandel so much during her audition that he pressed the Golden Buzzer, sending her straight to the quarterfinals.
As a performer, she seemed to favor songs with soul, belting out Otis Redding’s “Hard to Handle” and James Brown’s “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag.” The singer finished in the Top 10 of her season, and in December 2018 she scored her own record deal to boot. You can check out some of her AGT performances here and here.
