America's Got Talent (season 2)
The second season of America's Got Talent, an American talent show competition, began broadcasting in the United States during 2007, from June 5 to August 21 on NBC. The success of the first season led to the network commissioning additional episodes. As part of the new season that was commissioned, production staff made changes to the format that involved the inclusion of a "bootcamp" stage of auditions, and amendments to the involvement of the judges and the use of their buzzers to match that with other editions across the Got Talent franchise. Although it was intended to debut in January 2007, the network decided to focus the program for its Summer 2007 schedule, and thus allocated the slot to.
While Piers Morgan and David Hasselhoff returned as judges, Regis Philbin did not return for the new season as host, and was replaced by tabloid talk show host Jerry Springer, while Brandy Norwood was unable to return due to an ongoing lawsuit against her at the time, and was replaced by Sharon Osbourne as a result. The second season was won by singing ventriloquist and impressionist Terry Fator, with singer and guitarist Cas Haley finishing in second place, and singing beatboxer Butterscotch placing third.
Season Overview
Following the success of the first season of America's Got Talent, NBC opted to commission further seasons of the program for its foreseeable future. As part of the network's original plan for the second season, the new episodes that were commissioned were intended for broadcast in the network's Winter 2007 schedule and with the results of each live round aired on the same day. However, executives and researchers raised concerns that such a decision would place America's Got Talent in a direct competition for viewing ratings with the sixth season of American Idol, due to aired around the same period. NBC eventually dropped the plan, and set the program up for its Summer schedule that year, allocating the arranged broadcasting slot to.The second season saw a considerable change in the format of the program to match a more standardized arrangement being used across the Got Talent franchise. The most notable change made was that the filmed auditions being split into two stages, with the first taking place across a selection of cities, and the second stage operating in Las Vegas under a "bootcamp" format and titled "Las Vegas Callbacks". The second stage's rules focused on those who made it through the first stage being placed into one of two groups - "music" and "variety" - and having to successfully impress the judges across two rounds of performances, each three minutes in length and conducted without interruptions from the judges. The other noted change was to incorporate the live round rules for judges used on other editions of Got Talent, particularly Britain's Got Talent: judges now primarily gave feedback on a performance when it had ended, but the public remained in control of who moved on to the next stage in the semi-finals; and performances could now be stopped with buzzers, much like in the auditions, although with participants given the courtesy of a little more time to perform before eventually stopping. Other than these changes, the second season did not incorporate the use of Wildcard acts.
Auditions took place during Spring 2007, with the producer auditions conducted within the cities of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Dallas. Following the previous season, prior to filming taking place, production staff had to locate replacements amongst the stars that fronted the program - Regis Philbin decided not to return for undisclosed reasons, leading to Jerry Springer taking over as host of America's Got Talent; while Sharon Osbourne was brought in to replace Brandy Norwood, after she was forced to drop out due to a difficult legal matter she was dealing with.
Of the participants who auditioned for this season, 20 secured a place in the two live semi-finals, with 10 in each moving on to compete against each other in two knock-out finals before four were left to compete in a grand-final round. The following below lists the results of each participant's overall performance in this season:
| Participant | Genre | Act | Semi-final | Result |
| Boy Britney | Dance | Dancing Impersonator | 2 | |
| Butterscotch | Singing | Singing Beatboxer | 1 | ' |
| Cas Haley | Singing / Music | Singing Guitarist | 2 | ' |
| Jason Pritchett | Singing / Music | Singing Guitarist | 2 | ' |
| Jonny Come Lately | Music | Rockabilly Band | 1 | |
| Johnny Lonestar | Variety | Western Arts Performer | 1 | |
| Julienne Irwin | Singing | Singer | 1 | ' |
| Kashif | Dance | Dancer | 1 | |
| Kevin James | Magic | Magician | 1 | |
| Manuel Romero | Singing | Singer | 1 | |
| Popovich Comedy Pet Theater | Comedy / Animal | Comic Animal Act | 2 | |
| Robert Hatcher | Singing | Singer | 1 | ' |
| Sideswipe | Variety / Dance | Martial Arts Dance Group | 1 | ' |
| Southern Girl | Singing | Vocal Group | 2 | |
| Terry Fator | Comedy / Singing | Singing Impressionist & Ventriloquist | 2 | ' |
| The Calypso Tumblers | Acrobatics | Tumbler Acrobatic Group | 2 | |
| The Duttons | Music | Family Country Band | 2 | |
| The Fault Line | Singing / Music | Rock Vocal Group | 2 | |
| The Glamazons | Singing / Variety | Burlesque Vocal Group | 1 | ' |
| The 2nd Story Guys | Dance / Variety | Stilt Dance Group | 2 |