America’s Got Talent 2025: Mel B Shocks With Early Golden Buzzer for Rapper Mama Duke
America’s Got Talent Season 20 live shows continued on Tuesday night (Aug 26) with a second week of Quarterfinal performances, including viral sensation, Mama Duke. She received Mel B.’s Golden Buzzer, which sent her straight through to the finals. (Read our Recap)
Typically, the Golden Buzzer is chosen near the middle of the show. But on Monday night it was a bit shocking when Mel pushed it on just the 2nd act of the night.
In the rapper/singer’s package, she shared that she’s held several jobs, from store manager and barista to her current job as a youth development leader at a YMCA. She says, “It made me comfortable with myself” when she discovered music at a younger age. Mama was in complete awe to see her audition song “Feels So Good To Be You” shoot up the iTunes charts to number 4 after it aired. Afterward, the MLB invited her to perform at the All-Star game. For the next round, she decided to perform another original.
Mama introduced the song with a dramatic rap intro which featured comments from the judges from her audition. Next, she launched into a fierce rap verse. It felt natural and almost freestyle. The performance continued with a refrain “Welcome to the Mama Duke Show.”
She was full of energy and possessed great flow. I’m not sure how America would receive this more rap forward song–less pop than her audition. Nevertheless, it was still a solid showing for her even if the song lacked cohesion, somewhat.
Mel B. pushes the Golden Buzzer for Mama Duke
Simon Cowell said, “I loved your audition, but this may have actually been better.” He added that she has “it.” Howie Mandel observed about the audience noise, “I can’t hear because they love you so much.” He noted her “authenticity” and called her a “star.” Sofia Vergara described her writing as “clever.” She said, “I don’t think we’ve had anyone like you on this stage”. Mel said, “I loved you the first time, and I love you even more right now.” She continued, “Missy Elliott better be watching out for you because you are coming right now.” Then, Mel pushed the Golden Buzzer!
The Golden Buzzer felt premature given Mama performed in only the seconds slot of the night. Although the performance was good, it wasn’t flawless. Either way, she is a solid entertainer and still a worthy finalist.
One act that also did really well and may have had a shot at the golden buzzer had they aired earlier in the night included my favorite act of the evening, Unreal who brought it with a unique dance routine that combined dance, contortion, and humor. Jonglissimo also continued to take juggling to the next level, and their colorful performance this week was nothing short of amazing. Voters will hopefully send both acts to the Semifinals.
Two other worthy acts were Duo Stardust who fuse roller skating and acrobats in a cool way, and Bay Melnick Virgolino, a musical prodigy who nailed every bit of his guitar performance even if his vocals may have been a bit lacking.
