America’s Got Talent 2026 Auditions 4 Recap and Live Blog
America’s Got Talent continues tonight (June 23) as Simon Cowell, Howie Mandel, Sofia Vergara and Mel B. take their seats on the panel for the talent show’s 21st season. Terry Crews serves as host.
This season brings a new twist later on in the Judging process: A new round of competition called the Judges’ Callbacks round which will give Acts another golden opportunity to make it all the way to the Season 21 finals.
The Golden Buzzers are back, of course. All the panelists and Terry can award two buzzers to acts they feel should advance straight to the live shows. That is 10 buzzers total.
Olivia Befus – Dog act
This 17 year old loves animals. She’s been training her doggo for about 3 years. Her dog act involves teenage storytelling. They share a secret. The puppy wants to dance. Surprise! Another puppy joins the party. It’s not a spectacular act, but it is kinda cute.
AGT inspired her to train her dogs. Howie calls the act “beautiful.” Mel B. appreciates that the dogs seem to be enjoying themselves. Olivia confesses that her bond with the dogs helps her train. – 4 yeses
James & Marina – Mentalists
I love how these mentalist acts pretend that they actually possess Extra Sensory Perception, when mentalism is just a subset of magic. I mean, magicians generally don’t pretend that their tricks are real. The married couple met on a dating app. Mel is enlisted to help with the trickery. Marina can describe objects that James plucks from the hands of audience members. Hm. He’s transfering the info to her somehow. James continually insists there are no secret communication devices between the two, Uhm. There is.
Mel B. shouts “WHAT JUST HAPPENED!” She calls it one of her favorite acts of the season. Howie jokes about the dating app adding, “I loved it.” Simon wonders how they did it. “It was brilliant.” – 4 yeses
Brook Lynn – Singer
Brook is 23 and from the Netherlands. Her proud mom sits in the audience. Brook describes how anxiety kept her from singing from a young age. She sings displaying a sweet, airy tone to start with. But she also has power behind that voice. Her vocals become more powerful as the performance unfolds. The audience loves her. Mom is crying in the audience.
Sofia loved the feeling she put into it. “you have it all.” Mel B says, “Your voice sounded so beautiful.” Howie calls it “haunting.” He relates to her struggles with anxiety. Simon hopes the performance boosts her confidence. Brook reveals that her father passed away a few years ago. – 4 yeses
Kyle Johnson – Dances with puppets.
Kyle is 58 years old. Oh geez. He “dances” with giant puppets. Pretty corny! Three judges buzz him. Sofia says it was not a good surprise. Mel B. didn’t buzz. She actually liked it. – 3 nos
Grant Parsons – Stupid Human Trick
He plays the “White GIrls” song by slapping his neck – 4 nos
Micah Bean – Joke singer
He performs Britney Spears in a Heavy Metal screamo voice. INSTANT BUZZERS. The cowboy hat was a ruse! “The devil came out of your mouth,” says Sofia. 4 nos
Herwan Legaillard – Danger act (sword swallower)
The French daredevil swallows swords while hanging from silks. It’s a unique combo. I can deal with the silks. The icky sword swallowing, not so much. The big trick: Diving into a tank of water and sword swallowing underwater! That’s got to be hard–not breathing water into his lungs in the meanwhile.
The judges are on their feet. Simon was not expecting THAT. Mel is blown away. “What was that?” Sofia calls it difficult, “I could not keep my eyes away from you.” It made Simon nervous. He wants next time to be LESS scary. – 4 yeses
Madelyn Tallent & Malachi Martin – Country duo
The two are just musical friends from a small Tennessee town. They have only been together as a duo for 6 months. Both perform working class day jobs. The two sing a twangy rendition of “Counting Stars” Malachi strums away on a banjo. She’s got the lead vocals and her tone is pleasant.
Simon calls them “authentic.” He liked the song choice. Howie loves her voice, but feels they aren’t ready yet. Simon disagrees. He sees potential. Mel B notes their talent and hard work. Howie says no. Sofia says yes. Simon says yes. It’s down to Mel. She wavers, but finally says yes. – 3 yeses 1 no
Rubén Roldán Bustos – Parkour – Simon’s second Golden Buzzer
Twenty-three years old Ruben is from Spain and brings along a friend to translate for him. Sofia asks questions in Spanish. I had to look up Parkour on the Google. It’s a form of athletic training. Ruben does his thing outside in front of the theater where AGT tapes before finishing his feats of strength on stage. Making it tougher– he does it all with one leg. (The artificial leg was initially covered by his pants).
Sofia calls it amazing. He had an accident with a tractor, Ruben explains. Simon calls it “bloody fantastic.” He’s so impressed, that he presses his second golden buzzer.
Bird and Byron – Musical duo
The two were mistaken for brothers back in school in Columbus, Ohio. The two are songwriting partners. One of the partner’s mothers is cheering them from the audience. The lead singer has an impressive tenor voice. It’s evocative and powerfully soulful. His partner accompanies him on electric guitar. The two wrote the song when one of them members went through a tough time.
Howie calls it “beautiful and haunting.” Mel notes the singer has perfect pitch. Sofia says, “America is gonna go crazy with you.” Simon wants to know why America hasn’t heard from them. He calls the lead singer’s voice “sensational.” – 4 yeses
Mr. Hammerhand – Guiness record breaker attempt
Previously, he attempted to break a coconut breaking record for Guiness. He did not succeed. This time he will attempt to break a record breaking bats. A Mr. Hammerhand adjudicator is on hand. The dude is in his late sixties. He will attempt to break the most baseball bats by hand in 30 seconds. He’s using his bare hands. OUCH. He runs into trouble. It turns out…the mark to beat was 25. He had a total of 31. HE BROKE THE RECORD. Yay for him, I guess.
The judges would like to see him break another record – 4 yeses
Mackenzie Sol – Singer – Mel B’s second Golden Buzzer
American Idol fans will recognize Mackenzie from season 22 where he advanced to the Top 20. Of course, he does NOT mention Idol. The Newcastle UK singer also auditioned for X Factor UK as a 4 year old kid, but did not get passed his audition. Simon told him to come back in 12 years. Simon claims to remember him when he was four. Like he was on Idol, he’s a solid vocalist. He’s all hearthrobby. His dad cries in the audience as he sings. Aw.
The judges are on their feet. Mel is the first to speak. She calls him “extraordinarily fabulous.” She’s the first and last, because she hits the Golden Buzzer. Dad is still crying.
Patrox – Dancer
Patrox is 36 years old and is from Germany. He’s giggly and seems younger than 36. An agile hip hop dancer, he moves like a mime. Mel does not seem impressed. The moves look hard, even is somewhat artless. He finishes, seemingly. Oh, now the music kicks up and he dances the routine in reverse. It’s cartoonish and appears to be even more difficult to do. That was impressive.
Now, the judges are impressed. Howie loved it. Mel B, who can be tough on dancers, calls it “brilliant.” Sofia calls it perfect for AGT. Siimon calls it original. “That was absolutely genius,” he says. – 4 yeses
