America's Got Talent (season 4)


The fourth season of America's Got Talent, an American talent show competition, began broadcasting in the United States during 2009, from June 23 to September 16 on NBC. Following the previous season, Jerry Springer was forced to leave the program due to other commitments, leading to him being replaced as host by Nick Cannon, with no further changes being required, in regards to the judging panel.
Alongside the change in host, production staff made a number of new changes to the program, which included replacing the "bootcamp" stage with an audition round similar in format to that used by Britain's Got Talent for selecting live round participants, titled "Vegas Verdicts", and airing Results episodes for live rounds the day after their respective Performance episodes, with each broadcast in a one-hour timeslot and featuring a selection of guest performers. This season featured unique moments that had different impacts on the competition for 2009 - Simon Cowell was forced to question some of the acts that were eliminated from auditions, leading to some of these being invited back as Wildcard acts in the quarter-finals, while the judges held no vote in one of the semi-finals due to having been undecided over two acts in another and opting to send both through.
The fourth season was won by Country singer Kevin Skinner, with opera singer Bárbara Padilla finishing in second, and percussion group Recycled Percussion placing third. During its broadcast, the season averaged around 11.91 million viewers, and was the first in the program's history to be aired in high definition.

Season Overview

Auditions for the fourth season's competition took place across Winter - mid-Spring 2009, with production staff expanding the audition sites to a greater number of cities. Filming for the audition episodes focused on those held within the cities of New York, Houston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, Tacoma, and Seattle; auditions were also held in Boston, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C., but production staff opted to not include these in the final edits of these episodes. Prior to auditions taking place, NBC received word from Jerry Springer that his work schedule for 2009 would make him unable to commit to hosting the program that year - alongside working on his talk show, he had also signed up to take part in summer theatre productions to help further his acting skills. As a direct result, a search was made for a successor, with the network eventually recruiting Nick Cannon as his successor.
Production staff decided to alter the program's format with regards to the second stage of auditions. The change was aimed at ditching the "bootcamp" format that had been used in the previous two seasons, in favor of using the selection process from Britain's Got Talent, under the title of "Vegas Verdicts" - judges would now review the tapes of participants who had made successful auditions, to determine who would advance into the live rounds. This stage would continue to divide participants into groups, allowing the judges to debate amongst themselves about which group of participants should earn a place in the live rounds, before bringing back each group to inform them of their decision about their progress in the competition; in some cases, some participants were required to do a second performance to help the judges make their final decisions. The format for the buzzers in the live rounds was also altered to match that of the format across the Got Talent franchise, in that participants receiving buzzes from all the judges had to stop immediately, rather than being given a little more time to perform.
The fourth season saw a number of issues arise that had to be dealt with during production of the episodes. The first use of the "Vegas Verdicts" stage for the first season forced executive producer Simon Cowell to question the judges on some of their choices made in this stage. After voicing his concerns that "too much talent" had been eliminated, the judges were prompted to bring back a number of eliminated acts and appoint them as Wildcards for the quarter-finals at his instruction. During the semi-finals for this year's competition, the judges were faced with an inability to determine which of two acts would advance into the final from the first semi-final, which eventually led to the decision that both would advance, while the judges' vote in the second semi-final would not occur as a direct result.
Of the participants who auditioned for this season, 48 secured a place in the live quarter-finals - including those originally eliminated in the Vega Verdicts stage before Cowell's intervention - with twelve quarterfinalists in each one. Around 20 of these advanced to and were split between the two semi-finals, with 10 semi-finalists securing a place in the live final, which was a single stage rather than multiple rounds in previous seasons. The following below lists the results of each participant's overall performance in this season:
ParticipantAge GenreActFromQuarter-FinalResult
24–35AcrobaticsAcrobatsOrlando, Florida4
23, 23, 23Singing / MusicSinging Violinist TripletsLas Vegas2
24, 22Dance / MusicTap dancer & GuitaristNew York City4
13Dance / MusicDancer & PianistOrlando, Florida1
'36SingingOpera singerHouston4'
Beale Street Flippers 20–26AcrobaticsFlippersMemphis, Tennessee2
Breaksk821–30DanceRollerskating Dance TroupeKokomo, Indiana1
BRI17Singing / MusicSinger & PianistLas Vegas3
Carol Loo63DanceDancerJersey City, New Jersey2
Charles DeWayne21Singing / MusicSinger & PianistLa Verne, California2
Coney Island Chris42Danger / ComedyComic StuntmanNaugatuck, Connecticut4
David Johnson30Singing / ComedyComic singerRenton, Washington3
Diva League 20–44Dance / VarietyDrag Dancers & Lip-synchersWashington, D.C.1
Drew Stevyns 26Singing / MusicSinger & MusicianSykesville, Maryland4'
Drew Thomas Magic & Illusion40 MagicMagician & IllusionistOrlando, Florida1
Eleisha Miller8Singing / MusicSinger & PianistAmarillo, Texas2
EriAm Sisters11, 14, 16SingingSinging TrioSeattle4
Erik & Rickie8, 8DanceBallroom DancersSeattle4
Fab Five24-35Dance / VarietyClogging Dance TroupeMorgan, Utah2'
FootworKINGz16-24DanceDance TroupeChicago3
G Force11, 9, 8Singing / MusicGirl Rock BandAmherst, Ohio3
Grandma Lee75ComedyStand-up ComedianJacksonville, Florida1'
Hairo Torres23Variety / DanceContortionist & BreakdancerGrants Pass, Oregon3'
Ishaara18–23DanceBollywood Dance TroupeBerkeley, California4
Jay Mattioli 27MagicMagician & IllusionistManassas, Virginia3
Jeffrey Ou18MusicClassical PianistCarrollton, Texas3
Kevin Skinner35Singing / MusicSinger & MusicianMayfield, Kentucky1'
Lake Houston Dance 9–14DanceDance troupeHouston1
Lawrence Beamen34SingingBass SingerWalnut Creek, California3'
Manuela Horn36Singing / VarietyYodeller & SingerSeattle1
Marcus Terrell & The Serenades22 Vocal GroupSingerKansas City, Missouri3
Mario & Jenny34, 33VarietyJugglersLas Vegas3
Mia Boostrom16SingingSingerNorth Dighton, Massachusetts4
Mosaic30–34SingingCappella Vocal GroupLas Vegas1
Pam Martin's Top Dog54AnimalDancing DogsGarland, Texas4
Paradizo Dance37,29AcrobaticsAcrobatic PerformersNew York City2
Pete Peterkin54ComedyImpressionistNew York City2
Pixie Mystère9–11Variety / DancingContortionist Dance TroupeCape May, New Jersey3
Platt Brothers22–27Acrobatics / ComedyComic AcrobatsSan Diego, California1
Recycled Percussion22–39MusicJunkyard Percussion GroupGoffstown, New Hampshire4'
SQ Entertainment 19–32DanceDance GroupBoston2
Team Acrodunk23-45AcrobaticsAcrobatic Basketball DunkersHouston1
The Lollipop Girls 21–40Dance / VarietyBurlesque Dance TroupeSan Diego, California4
The Texas Tenors34, 35, 44SingingCountry & Classical Vocal GroupHouston2'
The Voices of Glory16, 13, 9SingingSibling TrioHighland, New York2
Thia Megia14SingingSingerRedwood City, California1
Tony Hoard & Rory54AnimalDog Frisbee-catching ActNew Castle, Indiana2
U4ria Dance Crew 16–23DanceDance TroupeCoral Springs, Florida3

Quarter-final 1 (August 4)

Guest Performers, Results Show: Terry Fator and Mariah Carey

Quarter-final 2 (August 11)

Guest Performers, Results Show: LMFAO and Penn and Teller.

Quarter-final 3 (August 18)

Guest Performers, Results Show: Ashley Tisdale and Daughtry

Quarter-final 4 (August 25)

Guest Performer, Results Show: Reba McEntire

Semi-final Summary

Semi-final 1 (September 1)

Guest Performers, Result Show: Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog, and David Hasselhoff
Guest Performer, Results Show: Cast of musical Jersey Boys.

Final (September 14)

Guest Performers, Results Show: Thelma Houston, Shakira, Rascal Flatts, cast members of Cirque Du Soleil, Leona Lewis, and Susan Boyle.
FinalistOrderActResult ----
FinalistOrderActResult The Voices of Glory1Sibling Trio5th
Hairo Torres2Contortionist & Breakdancer8th----
Lawrence Beamen3Bass Singer9th----
Bárbara Padilla4Opera Singer2nd----
Fab Five5Clogging Dance Troupe6th----
The Texas Tenors6Country & Classical Vocal Group4th----
Drew Stevyns7Singer & Guitarist10th----
Grandma Lee8Stand-up Comedian7th----
Kevin Skinner9Singer & Musician1st----
10Junkyard Percussion Group3rd----

Ratings