America's Got Talent (season 9)
| Broadcast from | May 27 – September 17, 2014 |
|---|---|
| Judges |
Howie Mandel Howard Stern Mel B Heidi Klum |
| Host(s) | Nick Cannon |
| Broadcaster | NBC |
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| Origin | Johnston, Rhode Island |
| Genre(s) | Magician |
| Emily West | |
Season nine of the reality competition series America's Got Talent premiered on May 27, 2014 and was won by magician Mat Franco. Nick Cannon returned for his sixth season as host. This is Howie Mandel's fifth season, Howard Stern's third season, and Mel B and Heidi Klum both returned for their second season on the judging panel.
The live shows were shot from Radio City Music Hall in New York. The season ended on September 17, 2014. Emily West took second place while Acro Army, a gymnastics group, took third place.
This season saw only one judge use their buzzer in the live shows, when Stern buzzed rollerskater, Juan Carlos, in the second quarterfinal. The season had fewer buzzes than any other, in the series.
On April 8, 2014, NBC announced that America's Got Talent returned to Radio City Music Hall for the live shows, which began on July 29. The Las Vegas rounds were eliminated. Instead, the "bootcamp" round of auditions was held in New York City in front of a live studio audience. Stern confirmed on his radio show that after three acts were taped during "Judgement Week", producers scrapped the live audience concept. Others asserted that the reason was because the show was having a hard time filling seats. Also in this season came the initiation of a "golden buzzer"—which was also unveiled on Season 8 of Britain's Got Talent. Each judge was permitted to press the buzzer only once during the season to have an act go through to the next round, typically used when there is a tie. This is regardless of the other judges' opinions. However, rather than sending acts straight through to the live shows as in Britain's Got Talent, an act on which the Golden Buzzer was used would only be given a free pass to the next round of the competition, Judgment Week. That format was added in the next season.
Forty-eight acts were sent through to the live shows. The judges chose 47 of these acts, with the last contestant chosen by the general public. For the last slot, contestants uploaded their audition videos to the Today website, and the top 3 performed on Rockefeller Plaza. Viewers voted for their favorite act to be sent straight to the live shows.
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