Overall Thoughts on America's Got Talent Season 13
*SPOILER WARNING*Coming into the thirteenth season of America's Got Talent, I definitely had my fair share of worries. After all, season twelve was a total bust, with too many good acts getting kicked out early on, singers receiving way too much of a focus, and Tyra Banks being a very lackluster host, especially in comparison to Nick Cannon. Needless to say, I wasn't expecting this season to be much better. However, not only was this a good year, I would consider this to be one of the, if not the best season of the show.
The first topic I would like to bring up is that there were not as many singers this season, at least compared to last year. Now, I'm not an advocate of banning singers from AGT like other fans on the internet, but even I will admit that season twelve's over-saturation of singers was a little ridiculous, with half of the finals lineup being singers (and their voices weren't even that distinguishable to be honest). With season thirteen, while there were definitely a handful of singers, they were knocked out in the semi-finals, and the ones that did advance to the finals each had a unique style to differentiate themselves from the others, with Daniel's Operatic voice, Michael's soft rock vibes, Glennis' powerhouse vocals, and Courtney bringing classic rock to the show.
Another Huge issue I had with the twelfth season of AGT was that they got rid of too many good acts early on, such as Bello Nock, Just Jerk, and Puddles. Of course, season thirteen still had its fair share of upsets (Mochi and Hans especially hurt), but when an act went through, I could see a case for them deserving their spot, with a few exceptions (specifically PAC Dance Team in the Quarterfinal and Makayla Phillips in the semifinal). Also most of the acts that went further and further showed growth in their performances and each contestant in the finals seemed like they had potential to be the winner, which brings me to final reason as to why this season was a massive step up from twelve.
The biggest problem that I had with last year's season, as well as some of the previous seasons, was how predictable everything was. Darci Lynne performed a mind-blowing act. She got the golden buzzer. Her audition was trending on YouTube. She kept being the show's closers and she ended up winning. Never. Woulda. Guessed. The same thing happened with Grace Vanderwaal the season before, so I was ready to see the formula again this year. Starting out, the prediction you'd make based on the formula would be that Courtney Hadwin was going to be the winner. After all, she did something completely unexpected, she got a golden buzzer from Howie, her audition was trending on YouTube, and she was a closer for the quarter and semifinal. However, when she didn't advance over Michael Ketterer, I was completely floored. Right when I thought I had figured out how the show works, they throw this massive curve-ball, and decide to go with something else.
That wasn't the only major twist, though. They've been happening all throughout the live shows. Some of the big surprises that hapened before the finals included Flau'jae's early departure, Aaron Crow's advancement to the semifinals, Daniel Emmet dodging so many bullets and going to the finals, and the judges actually picking a decent wildcard spot in the semifinals with Front Pictures. The finals however, just kept dropping bombshell after bombshell. With the aforementioned elimination of Courtney, Samuel J Comroe making it to the final five, and Shin Lim beating out the seemingly unstoppable Zucaroh and taking home the gold, this season definitely kept me on my toes, which is what I really like to see from America's Got Talent.
Of course, while I did love what season thirteen had to offer, there is still quite a bit of room for improvement. First off, Tyra still sucks as a host. She's constantly messing up lines, gets way too nosy with the other people's business, like forcing Joseph O'Brien to say his crush's name, and her overall delivery is way too sporadic and obnoxious. I don't care if she picks good golden buzzer acts, I still miss Nick Cannon.
Another issue I had this year was that there were still predictable moments. Sure I was constantly holding my breath at the end of the season, but the audition and Judge Cut portions are too formulaic. In the auditions, the acts that get the golden buzzer are the ones who are performing at the end of the episodes. As for Judge Cuts, the middle act gets the golden buzzer, and if an act gets montaged, then they're basically gone. If the old Vegas Week segment came back, then this problem wouldn't exist. Unfortunately, I don't picture that happening anytime soon.
The last subject matter that I will bring up here isn't really a problem I personally have with the show, but a lot of other people do and, to an extent, I can see where they're coming from. I'm talking about how more international contestants are coming onto the show. In recent years, lots of acts from all over the world have been coming to America's Got Talent to expand their audiences and try to go for the million, and this season had quite a few, with fourteen of the top thirty-six acts coming from other countries. Some people don't like the fact that a show called America's Got Talent isn't featuring American only acts, but I personally never had a problem with this. For some people, competing on talent shows is just their thing, which is fine by me.
Overall, season thirteen of AGT was a very satisfying one. While not perfect, the live shows made the whole trip worth it. There was a good amount of variety this year, each act had some great highlights and everyone in the finals were strong contenders, and the unexpected twists made everything that much more fun. Congratulations to Shin Lim for winning the show. Not only were you the first non golden buzzer winner, but you stayed true to yourself this whole run and gave us a spectacular show every time. I was rooting for you the whole time and I'm glad everything worked out the way it did. Stay awesome man.
Thank you so much for reading, PoisonSlapping 💜