America's Got Talent season 19 premiere- Recap and more details explored

America's Got Talent season 19 premiered on Tuesday, May 28, 2024, at 8 pm ET through NBC. The premiere of the show was two hours long with judges Simon Cowell, Sofía Vergara, Heidi Klum, Howie Mandel, and host Terry Crews returning for the new season at the show’s home base: Pasadena Civic Auditorium, LA.

This season, the judges have two Golden Buzzers and janitor Richard Goodall won Heidi Klum's first Golden Buzzer with his performance at the premiere and won everyone’s hearts.

NBC described the America’s Got Talent season 19 premiere as:

"Season 19 breaks the mold with a history-making amount of Golden Buzzers up for grabs."

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America's Got Talent season 19 premiere: Recap

This season, the judges can give out the most Golden Buzzers in the show's history, with each judge having the ability to give two. Terry will get one; hence, the total will be nine.

Talking about the Golden Buzzers on America’s Got Talent, Howie shared in an interview with US Magazine:

"There are moments where you just go, ‘Wow,’ and your jaw just drops on that desk and you don’t know how to express it and the power of being able to say, ‘Wow,’ with your hand on a Golden Buzzer and push somebody right to the Live Shows was amazing."

The premiere started with the first act, a group of Los Osos High School students. They presented their dance route to a megamix of Usher tracks. Sofia’s reaction was that it was perfect, and they were "really feeling it."

Heidi said it was a kaleidoscope. It was a yes for the student group for the next round of America’s Got Talent.

The next performance on America’s Got Talent was a two-year-old baby named Dev, who came with his dad, Dwayne. They were there to solve math equations. Dev solved a simple multiplication problem, followed by a double-digit addition and more complicated problems. Sofia found it "most fascinating" and gave them a yes for the next round.

Next was Sam Huang, a Taiwanese magician who shocked the audience and the judges when he magically made his fingers disappear. Simon called the act "The most crazy close-up magic."

The judges’ yes was far already given before the performance could end.

Season 19’s first-ever dog act was Daisy May and Clifford from Chicago. While Daisy May described Clifford as an “agility dog,” it refused to perform any tricks. Simon’s answer was no.

The next performance was a stand-up comedy set by Learnmore Jonasi from Zimbabwe. He shared stories about cell phone services, social media usage, and traffic lights from his perspective in America. Judges gave him a standing ovation.

Learnmore also shared,

"Taking 14 hour bus trips to go perform for five minutes and then having to take 14 hour bus trips back home."

He got the golden buzzer from Terry.

Up next was ballet dancer Ashlee Montague from Washington, who came from New York City. While she started her performance, Simon didn’t look interested, but everything changed as soon as she walked across bottle tops.

While the crowd was roaring, Ashlee had tears in her eyes, and Sofia remarked, "it was not easy." All four judges gave Ashlee an instant yes.

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America’s Got Talent premiere: Additional performances

• Country singer Reyna Roberts from Nashville: Yes
• Flexibility specialist Arshiya: Yes
• Chris Ivan from Portland: No
• Tonikaku from Japan: Yes

The last performance on America’s Got Talent was by Richard Goodall, a 55-year-old middle school janitor. His “big dream” of being a professional singer was a Don’t Stop Believing performance. He received a standing ovation from the judges and massive applause from the audience.

All the judges were stunned by this performance, and Richard received reviews including "Spectacular and an amazing surprise," from Sofia. and "Really, really feel something," from Heidi, followed by a golden buzzer.

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Fans can watch America’s Got Talent season 19 on Tuesdays at 8 pm ET on NBC.