The seventh season of American
talent show competition series ''
America's Got Talent'' was broadcast on
NBC from May 14 to September 13, 2012. After the previous season,
Piers Morgan
Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan (; O'Meara, born 30 March 1965) is an English journalist and media personality. He began his career in 1988 at the tabloid ''The Sun (United Kingdom), The Sun''. In 1994, at the age of 29, he was appointed editor of ...
left the program due to other commitments; he was replaced by the producers with
Howard Stern. However, this change involved moving the venue for the live rounds of the competition from Los Angeles to
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...
, which increased the size of the audience that attended each live episode.
Along with a visual makeover of the program to improve its presentation on television, a planned break was included with the broadcast schedule between July 24 and August 14, to avoid clashing with the network's live coverage of the
2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
.
The seventh season was won by dog tricks act
Olate Dogs, with stand-up comedian
Tom Cotter finishing in second, and earth harpist William Close placing third. During its broadcast, the season averaged around over 10.05 million viewers, but drew controversy for a participant who made claims that were later refuted after the broadcast of their audition.
Season overview
Auditions for the seventh season's competition took place during Winter until mid-Spring 2012, with the main auditions being filmed in
New York,
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
,
Tampa Bay,
Austin,
St. Louis and
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
. Additional auditions were held in
Washington, D.C., and
Charlotte, but were not filmed.
After the conclusion of the sixth season's broadcast,
Piers Morgan
Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan (; O'Meara, born 30 March 1965) is an English journalist and media personality. He began his career in 1988 at the tabloid ''The Sun (United Kingdom), The Sun''. In 1994, at the age of 29, he was appointed editor of ...
began contemplating his involvement with ''America's Got Talent'', due to his increasing work schedule on other projects by that time. In November 2011, despite having signed a three-year contract the previous year, Morgan quit the show in order to focus on his commitment to producing ''
Piers Morgan Tonight'' for
CNN. Due to Morgan's departure, radio personality
Howard Stern was chosen to replace him in December. Since Stern had commitments to his
SiriusXM radio show in New York that he could not abandon, filming of the live rounds moved from Los Angeles, opting for using the
New Jersey Performing Arts Center in
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...
. However, Stern was able to handle the involvement of the "Vegas Verdicts" segment without any issue.
While the use of the Performing Arts Center meant that audiences attending live rounds could be much larger than in previous years, the change in venue also allowed executive producer
Simon Cowell
Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality and businessman. He has judged on the British television talent competition shows ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003), ''The X Factor (British TV series), The X Factor UK ...
to have the program undergo a significant "top-to-bottom makeover" of its presentation. Among these included new graphics, a new intro and a new theme song for ''America's Got Talent'', along with an update to set pieces. A significant change was the appearance of the judges' desk, which was re-modeled to appear similar in design to that used on ''
Britain's Got Talent''. In addition to these changes, the
2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
was taken into consideration, since the sporting event would receive live coverage from the network. Episode scheduling had to include a two-week hiatus between July 27 until August 12, as to avoid ''America's Got Talent'' clashing with its live broadcast.
Of the participants who auditioned for this season, sixty-two secured a place in the six live quarter-finals, with twelve in each round. The sixth quarter-final consisted of two participants selected from those that failed to reach the live rounds, along with ten quarter-finalists that had been eliminated in their respective rounds. About twenty-three quarter-finalists advanced and were split between the two semi-finals, with an additional semi-finalist being added in at the last minute. Six semi-finalists secured a place in the finals, which consisted of a single stage and not multiple rounds as in previous seasons. The following below lists the results of each participant's overall performance in this season:
: , , , ,
: ,
Wildcard Quarter-finalist
* Ages denoted for a participant(s), pertain to their final performance for this season.
* These participants were entered into the Wildcard quarter-final after losing their initial quarter-final.
Quarter-finals summary
:
Buzzed Out ,
Judges' choice ,
: ,
Quarter-final 1 (July 2)
Guest Performers, Results Show: Cast of
Cirque du Soleil: Zarkana, and
will.i.am
Quarter-final 2 (July 10)
Guest Performers, Results Show:
Gavin DeGraw
Gavin Shane DeGraw (born February 4, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter. DeGraw rose to fame with his song "I Don't Want to Be" from his debut album ''Chariot (album), Chariot'' (2003); the song became the main theme song for The WB/The CW, ...
, and TRACES
Quarter-final 3 (July 17)
Guest Performers, Results Show:
Ashleigh and Pudsey, and
Havana Brown
Quarter-final 4 (July 24)
Guest Performers, Results Show:
Cher Lloyd
Cher Lloyd (born 28 July 1993) is an English singer. She participated on the The X Factor (UK series 7), seventh series of the television talent show ''The X Factor (UK TV series), The X Factor'' in 2010, where she finished in fourth place. F ...
, and the cast of ''
Once''
* For health & safety reasons, David Smith had to perform outside the studio; the judges were required to view the performance in person, and used hand-carried signs in place of their buzzers.
Quarter-final 5 – YouTube Round (August 14)
Guest Performers, Results Show:
Gabby Douglas,
Karmin,
The Crazy Nastyass Honey Badger
* Due to complications, Cast In Bronze had to perform outside the studio; the judges were required to be in person to view the performance, and used hand-carried signs in place of their buzzers.
Quarter-final 6 Wild Card Round (August 21)
Guest Performers, Results Show:
Owl City
Owl City is an American electronic music project created in 2007 in Owatonna, Minnesota. It is one of several projects by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Adam Young (American musician), Adam Young, who created the project while exp ...
&
Carly Rae Jepsen, and cast of ''
Bring It On''
Semi-finals summary
:
Buzzed Out ,
Judges' choice ,
: ,
Semi-final 1 (August 28)
Guest Performers, Results Show:
Neon Trees, and
Steve Harvey
Broderick Stephen Harvey Sr. Also aired August 16, 2015. (born January 17, 1957) is an American comedian, television host, actor, writer, and producer. He hosts ''The Steve Harvey Morning Show'', ''Family Feud'', ''Celebrity Family Feud'', '' ...
Semi-final 2 (September 4)
Guest Performers, Results Show:
Train
A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...
, Nathan Burton, and Haunted by Heroes with
Dee Snider
* Due to live coverage of the
NFL game between the
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...
and the
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...
, the results episode was aired the day after to avoid conflicting with it.
Finals (September 12)
Guest Performers, Results Show:
Justin Bieber
Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the U ...
,
Big Sean,
Green Day
Green Day is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Rodeo, California, in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong and bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, with drummer Tré Cool joining in 1990. In 1994, their majo ...
,
Joan Rivers
Joan Alexandra Molinsky (June 8, 1933 – September 4, 2014), known professionally as Joan Rivers, was an American comedienne, actress, producer, writer and television host. She was noted for her blunt, often controversial comedic persona that w ...
,
OneRepublic
OneRepublic is an American pop rock band from Colorado Springs, Colorado, formed in 2002. The lineup currently consists of Ryan Tedder (lead vocals, piano), Zach Filkins (guitar, viola), Drew Brown (musician), Drew Brown (guitar), Brent Kutzle ( ...
,
Ne-Yo
Shaffer Chimere Smith (born October 18, 1979), known professionally as Ne-Yo ( ), is an American singer and songwriter. Regarded as a leading figure of Contemporary R&B#2000s, 2000s R&B music, he is the recipient of numerous accolades, includi ...
,
Flo Rida
Tramar Lacel Dillard (born September 16, 1979), known professionally as Flo Rida ( ), is an American rapper and singer. His 2007 debut and breakout single "Low (Flo Rida song), Low" was number one for 10 weeks in the United States and broke the ...
,
Frankie J
Francisco Javier Bautista Jr. (born December 7, 1975) better known by his stage name Frankie J, is a Mexican-American singer and former member of the musical group Kumbia Kings.
Born in Mexico, he grew up in San Diego and became a freestyle art ...
,
Blue Man Group
Blue Man Group is an American performance art company formed in New York City in 1987. It is known for its stage productions that incorporate many kinds of music and art, both popular and obscure. Its performers, known as Blue Men, have their ...
, and Burton Crane
: , ,
Ratings
The following ratings are based upon those published by
Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...
after this season's broadcast:
Controversy
''America's Got Talent'' faced controversy during its seventh season when it emerged that one of its participants had made a false claim that hadn't been properly checked.
Minnesota National Guard sergeant Tim Poe, who made an audition for the season, claimed that an audible stutter he had was the result of an injury he sustained while operating with a military unit serving the
War in Afghanistan
War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to:
*Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC), the conquest of Afghanistan by the Macedonian Empire
* Muslim conquests of Afghanistan, a series of campaigns in ...
. Although he provided evidence to back his claim, both the
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City.
Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
and Minnesota National Guard refuted the documentation he provided, making clear that his condition could not be verified as occurring during his service in Afghanistan. Although Poe advanced no further, production staff would have had to face the question of disqualifying him from advancing into later stages for submitting a lie that had been broadcast on national television.
References
{{America's Got Talent, state=expanded
2012 American television seasons
America's Got Talent seasons
Events in Newark, New Jersey
2010s in Newark, New Jersey
2012 in New Jersey