America’s Got Talent announced earlier this year that it would be changing its Golden Buzzer rule, and now viewers have seen precisely what led to that decision.
On Tuesday’s (June 4) episode, which saw the second round of auditions, Simon Cowell broke the rules by using his Golden Buzzer twice. The previous rules stated that a judge could hit the Golden Buzzer once per season to send an act directly to the Live Shows.
Cowell ignored that rule on Tuesday night when he used his Golden Buzzer twice, first for the incredible singer Liv Warfield and then again later in the episode for the group Sky Elements.
The Dallas-based entertainment group directed the judges outside for their performance, which involved an impressive light show with choreographed drones.
Cowell was so mind-blown by the performance that he hit his Golden Buzzer for the second time that evening. This confused fellow judges Heidi Klum, Howie Mandel, and Sofía Vergara.
“You already did it!” Mandel shouted at Cowell.
“That’s his second one!” Mandel continued, turning his attention to the crew.
A production team member had to come over and ask Cowell what he was doing. “I just thought, why not? I mean, there’s nothing in the rules that says we couldn’t,” the long-time judge said.
Except, there was a rule, which Cowell had to be reminded of. However, the situation was put right when it was decided that this season, each judge would receive two Golden Buzzers.
It was announced back in March that the 19th season of AGT would allow the judges two Golden Buzzers, with Cowell telling People, “In the first two days, we’ve used more Golden Buzzers than we’ve ever used. That’s got to be a good sign!”
In a recent interview, Preston Ward from Sky Elements also told People, “I love that we were the ‘first’ second one. We have been the first of many things, so it’s exciting to get to add this to our list of firsts!”
What do you think about the new Golden Buzzer rule? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
America’s Got Talent, Season 19, Tuesdays & Wednesdays, 8/7c, NBC