America’s Got Talent 2023: Meet the acts appearing on the premiere
America’s Got Talent season 18 premieres on Tuesday, May 30. Find out which acts will appear on the very first AGT episode of 2023.
The gang’s all here. Terry Crews hosts while Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum, Simon Cowell and Sofia Vergara sit on the judges panel. Sofia returns after skipping the winter offshoot, AGT: Champions (An NBC budget decision, perhaps. Hiring Sofia hot off of Modern Family was probably NOT cheap).
A couple of teasers: A danger act experiences a scary mishap. And, the show introduces a brand new way to award a Golden Buzzer! Plus, there is crying. LOTS OF CRYING.
The usual assortment of singers, magicians, comedians, acrobats and goof acts make up this first batch of contestants. Meet them all below.
Contestant research by Blake Busch
America’s Got Talent airs on NBC Tuesdays at 8 pm ET/PT.
Allan Reinikka – Senior Pole Dancer
Allan is a 61-year-old pole dancer from Queensland, Australia. He impressed the judges when he appeared on Australia’s Got Talent Season 10 in 2022. While he failed to make the semifinals, his audition has over 3.4 million views to date. He also has a viral video on Tik Tok with over 10 million views and 756K likes to date.
Instagram:
Tik Tok:
Australia’s Got Talent:
Viral Clip:
D’Corey Johnson – Kid singer
11 year-old D’Corey is an accomplished singer from Louisville, Kentucky. He won a part in Dionne Warwick’s Hits The Musical. He has also performed the national anthem at Daytona 500 and Tennessee Titans games as well as appeared on Fox & Friends. Publications like Billboard featured the musical. A viral video, where D’Corey sang the national anthem through the intercom at school when he was 9, paved the way for his minor famem beginning when multiple national show such as NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt featured the clip.
Instagram:
Nightly News Segment:
Featured Singing on “Hits The Musical”:
Kozo – Comedic performer
Kozo is a Japanese comedian who works as a caregiver at a facility for disabled people in his native Japan. But his dream is to be a comedic performer. His act on AGT involves goofy tricks with a remote control helicopter. In his online videos he doesn’t speak during his routines.
Mzansi Youth Choir
Mzansi Youth Choir, from South Africa, was founded in 2003. Nigerian recording artist Yemi Alade featured the group on “Rain” which has over 3.7 million views on YouTube. Additionally, Beyoncé’s 2018 Global Citizen Festival showcased Mansi on a performance of performance of “Halo.” They try to showcase South African music through “elements of traditional music, pop, and jazz.”
Instagram:
Website:
Feature On Yemi Alade’s “Rain”:
Nancy LaFancy – Dancer
A return contestant, Nance already competed on AGT Season 5 as a dancer, but all the judges buzzed her off. Additionally, she recently appeared on Let’s Make A Deal.
Orlando Leyba – Comedian
Orlando is stand up comedian, describing himself as a “positivity connoisseur.” He has his own HBO special called Adorable. Additionally, he has appeared on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon a few times and voices a character on Hulu’s animated film Luis and The Aliens. Also, he made the Top 24 on NBC’s Bring The Funny, and was a finalist in NBC’s Stand Up Showcase.
Instagram:
Website:
Most Recent Jimmy Fallon performance:
Philip Bowen – Fiddle player
Phillip, a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist (he often plays the fiddle), is “inspired by his Appalachian roots.” He has performed at places like the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville and NPR’s Mountain Stage. Additionally, he has a million followers on Tik Tok where he shows off his singing skills. But also, he plays along to songs from unexpected genres such as hard rock and hip hop. His video of “Chop Suey” has over 1.8 million views on Tik Tok. He also has an instrumental cover of “Something In The Orange” on Spotify with 940K streams.
Website:
Tik Tok:
“Chop Suey” Viral:
Shadow Ace – Shadow puppetry
NBC dropped a preview of Shadow Ace on Friday which depicted his love for Beyonce and shadow puppetry skills. Check it out here. Ace Philip José Galit, an act from the Philippines, appeared on Asia’s Got Talent where he received the Golden Buzzer and was a Season 3 Finalist (Top 6). He’s also has quite a few viral videos on Tik Tok, building up a following of 3.3 million followers. One video has hit over 98 million views.
Instagram:
Tik Tok:
Golden Buzzer Asia’s Got Talent:
Viral Video:
Steel Panther – Heavy metal hair band
Steel Panther is a comedic glam metal band. They signed a record deal with Republic back in 2008 and were on the ballot for the Grammy’s best comedy album in 2010, but they failed to get a nomination. It appears their record label dropped them between 2011 and 2014. Their song “Eyes of a Panther” has over 25 million streams on Spotify and three others have amassed over 15 million streams. Their music is often explicit. Viewer discretion is advised.
Three G – Hand balancers
Three G is a female acrobatic trio originally from Ukraine. The trio have experience touring in several European countries. Their act involves a lot of strength and skill involving balancing and tossing. They continue to add new tricks into their routines.
Trex Flips – Dinosaur gymnast
Patrick Shu is a project manager at a HVAC company. On AGT, he performs backflips and other assorted gymnastics moves in a dinosaur suit. A couple of viral videos are uploaded to YouTube
Trigg Watson – Magician
Fool Us, Masters of Illusions and and Don’t Blink have all featured this magician. Trigg was also shown on AGT in Season 16 briefly in an opening montage. It appears that on season 18 fans will get to see more of his talent. He’s a modern magician who relies on his iPad and technology rather than cards.
Instagram:
TikTok:
Website/ Opening Montage:
Fool Us Segment:
