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Moving into the second phase, AGT season 18 aired its first round of qualifiers on August 23, 2023. From eleven contestants showcasing their talents to the judges, two came shining through, securing their spot in the finals. Based on the viewers' votes, Heidi Klum's golden buzzer singer, Lavender Darcangelo, along with Adrian Stoica and Hurricane, the nine-year-old Border Collie, made it to the finals.
Competing with them were nine other AGT contestants, showcasing a broad range of talents, from ventriloquism and dance to stand-up comedy and even an act that set the stage on fire, quite literally. Judges Heidi Klum, Sofia Vergara, Simon Cowell, and Howie Mandel took the panel, but it was America's votes that ultimately decided the fate of the participants.
Lavender Darcangelo, Adrian Stoica and Hurricane: AGT 18's finalists
AGT season 18's qualifying rounds brought together fifty-five of America's most talented teams/individuals put into five groups of eleven each. These contestants then displayed their talents in live shows, where the viewers voted to decide which two participants from each round made it through to the finals.
The qualifiers will air over a period of five weeks, hosted by Terry Crews, with judges Simon Cowell, Heidi Klum, Howie Mandel, and Sofia Vergara on the panel.
1) Lavender Darcangelo
Lavender Darcangelo, the 27-year-old autistic and blind singer, blew the socks off judge Heidi Klum, who hit the coveted golden buzzer for her. Lavender performed a rendition of Out Here On My Own by Irene Cara in the auditions and made audiences feel every word with her soul-touching voice and effortlessly flowing notes.
She spoke about having a lot of dreams, including starting her own school to teach students things they were curious about, the kind she believes she would've excelled in. Her backstory about being adopted by her singing coach and his husband brought many to tears.
Howie Mandel responded to her backstory:
"Wow. That's actually a beautiful story and you have beautiful dreams and we can't wait to hear you."
After receiving great praise and a standing ovation from the crowd and all four AGT judges, Lavender was already on cloud nine. Howie went on to describe the audience's reaction to her.
Simon said:
"This is an audition I'll never forget. It was amazing."
To ensure Lavender never forgets this day either, Heidi gave her a well-deserved golden buzzer moment, showering her in gold confetti. With this, Lavender made it straight through to the qualifying round.
Performing the classic song I Wanna Know What Love Is by Foreigner for her live show hit the right chord with the voters. The auditorium was mesmerizingly illuminated, with the audience's phone flashlights swaying along with the beats of the music.
Lavender performed on a stage color designed perfectly to match her name. Midway through her performance, she added an extra element to truly make it feel like a concert, with lavender confetti pouring down on the crowd.
Heidi, highly impressed by her performance, called out to AGT viewers to send in their votes for Lavender and it worked! She was the first person to make it to the final round.
2) Adrian Stoica and Hurricane
The proud father of nine dogs, Adrian Stoica brought his most talented nine-year-old Border Collie, Hurricane, to show off some of her well-practiced tricks. He described the act as simply "playing with Hurricane."
The judges and audience were not prepared to be that impressed by the performance but then went on to give it high praises, as it deserved. Some even called it one of the best dog acts they've witnessed on AGT in a while. What played out then was a wholesome, entertaining skit between Adrian and Hurricane, with a Meghan Trainor track playing in the background.
Hurricane showcased many tricks, from recognizing that an alarm means it's time for his human to wake up, to snatching his remote and throwing it in the bin. Adrian put on a bit of him trying to exercise with Hurricane getting in the way, until she stood stable on Adrian's feet, high off the ground, stunning the judges.
This comedic AGT performance helped them make it to the qualifying round. Here the pair were seen enjoying a nice day mowing the lawn, to the a mixtape of tracks. Hurricane held up the mower, standing on her hind legs, and then went on to inspect the device, and the dump cut leaves on Adrian. The audience was already cheering but got significantly louder when Hurricane started twirling around and long-jumping over Adrian.
A successful feat indeed, the amusing performance booked them a ticket to the AGT finals!
AGT season 18: Who else made it to the qualifiers?
The first round of qualifiers had eleven competitors fighting for a place in the finals. While America's votes got Lavender and Adrian through, the others weren't so lucky. The list of fellow competitors included stand-up comic Maureen Langan, ventriloquist Brynn Cummings, fire starter Ray Wold, dancer Lambros Garcia, Oleksandr Leshchenko & Magic Innovation the dance group, the choir Sainted, singer Mitch Rossell, guitarist John Wines, and the band True Villains.
AGT will return with round 2 of qualifiers on August 29, 2023, at 8 PM ET on NBC.
