America’s Got Talent is changing up the live shows. Instead of three rounds, including the Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Finale, as the show has done traditionally, there will be only TWO rounds. The next round is called “Qualifiers.” Eleven acts will perform live from the Pasadena Civic Center in Pasadena, California. On Wednesday, TWO acts will advance to the “final round of the show” based on America’s vote.
The information comes from official NBC schedule releases. The results release does not mention either an instant save or a judges save.
NBC press release describes the AGT Qualifiers
“QUALIFIERS 1” – 08/09/2022 (08:00PM – 10:01PM) (Tuesday) : Live from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, eleven performers take the stage as judging is turned over to the American viewing audience to vote their favorite performers into the final round. Viewers can vote by using the “AGT” Official App or going to NBC.com.
“QUALIFIERS 1 RESULTS” – 08/10/2022 (08:00PM – 09:01PM) (Wednesday) : Two acts from the previous night’s show will move on to the final round of competition.
Fewer rounds, fewer chances to see fan-favorite acts
For the last several seasons, 36-44 contestants would move on to the Live Shows, with 11 0r 12 acts competing over the course of 3-4 weeks. Seven acts would advance each week to the semi-finals. The semifinals followed, with eleven acts each of two weeks. Five acts from each week would advance to the finale.
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The Wednesday result show would feature a “save.” Viewers instantly voted an act to save, while the judges panel picked another. But with only two acts advancing each week, will there be a save?
However, this season, it appears that 55 acts will compete over five weeks of live shows. Two contestants will advance each week to the finale. That’s six weeks of live shows, same as last season.
Update: NBC confirms the format changes and the 55 acts going through to the Live shows. There will be only two Wildcard saves this season. The first will choose the 55th contestant for the lives. In the second, fans will choose an 11th act to go to the lives from 4 judges picks.
On results night, one act will go through based on viewer votes alone, the other the judges will choose from the 2nd, 3rd and 4th place finishers.
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Another format change means the finale acts will only perform 3 times. In the old format, final acts performed four times. And back when contestants performed for the judges cuts, a finalist would perform 4 or five times, depending on if they were a golden ticket holder or not.
Fewer Round also give more AGT acts a chance to compete
I’ve said this before. America’s Got Talent used to be a competition. But now, it’s a variety show, with a competition element tacked on. This season, the auditions went on for NINE weeks. So many acts, how would the show cut down to only 36? Cutting out a round, and expanding the semi-finalists makes sense, in terms of showcasing as much talent as possible.
Next week, NBC will air the last of the America’s Got Talent auditions. The episode will end with judges Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum, Sofia Vergara and Simon Cowell deliberating over which acts to send to the next round.
