“America’s Got Talent” season 20 continues tonight on NBC, as Week 8 of “AGT” 2025 has something special in store. We won’t see any new acts tonight on “America’s Got Talent.” Instead, NBC and the “AGT” judges — Simon Cowell, Howie Mandel, Sofia Vergara, and Melanie “Mel B” Brown — will be looking at the best Golden Buzzer moments from the past 20 seasons. It will be a night of familiar faces, as we relive some amazing performances from “AGT” past.
Golden Buzzer Celebration
“AGT” has aired seven episodes of auditions this season. NBC typically airs a new episode every Tuesday night at 8/7c, but that is not technically the case tonight.
While this week’s episode of “America’s Got Talent” season 20 is new, it won’t feature any new auditions. Instead, the network will be celebrating the 20th season of the reality competition show with a look back at some of the best Golden Buzzer moments.
July 22 Live Recap – Week 8
Things kick off with the judges talking about the Golden Buzzer, with Simon saying it’s their version of a gold medal. Howie said it’s everything.
1. Grace VanderWaal
Up first is Grace VanderWaal, who happened to audition during Simon’s first season as a judge. Mel B said she’s proof of how someone’s life can change being on this show. Of course, she comes out with her ukelele and sang an original song. Howie said so many of us feel the same way as what the lyrics of this song says. He said how can someone with that amount of talent not get the Golden Buzzer, which he did give it to her.
Grace went on to win her season. Now, she is an accomplished model, singer, and actor.
2. The Mayyas
This is Sofia Vergara’s most memorable Golden Buzzer moment. They are dancers, and something that was difficult for them to do as Arab women. They said they wanted to hypnotize the judges with their dance, and that is exactly what they did. Sofia said they were all mesmerized and they couldn’t believe what they were seeing. She said from the moment they started dancing, she knew they were going to be her Golden Buzzer.
After The Mayyas won, they happened to get a call from Beyoncé. They received many calls after the show and have been enjoying life after the “AGT” win.
3. Schumacher
Sometimes it’s acts that are random and weird, but the audience falls in love, and it makes the judges want to hit their Golden Buzzer for them. They appeared during season 19 and were definitely funny and different. Sofia said she still doesn’t know what made her hit the buzzer for them, but she did it.
Amazing Stories
Simon said sometimes you need amazing stories to get that Golden Buzzer on “AGT,” which is what these next ones were all about. We start with Simon’s first ever Golden Buzzer, which went to Calysta Bevier. He said she was frail, but something amazing about her.
Then we saw Tyler Butler-Figueroa, who talked about being bullied at school. Simon wanted to show those bullies something, as he hit the Golden Buzzer for them. After another amazing moment with Sara James, we then saw Simon change the game for “America’s Got Talent.” Sky Elements was an amazing drone group, who Simon said just had to get a Golden Buzzer. However, he had already used his one for the season. He broke the rules and gave it to them anyway, which then prompted the “AGT” judges to all get two Golden Buzzers each season.
4. Victory Brinker
Victory happens to be the youngest act to ever get the Golden Buzzer at 9 years old. Simon was shocked when she started singing opera. Howie said they were blown away by her power, sound, and control. The audience was amazed, but Simon said they weren’t giving her a yes that night. Instead, all of the judges and Terry Crews came together and gave her a Golden Buzzer together.
5. Brandon Leake
He was the only act to get a Golden Buzzer with no audience. Because of Covid, no audience was in attendance. Simon said it was difficult enough to do it without people there, but Brandon amazed them. He said he didn’t like poetry, but there was something about Brandon. He was a poet, but he went on to win “AGT.”
6. AIRFOOTWORKS
This was the first act to ever get a Golden Buzzer on a live show. The judges fell in love with them, and it turned into a battle between Simon and Howie on who hit the buzzer first. A sudden replay was done, and it was Howie who snuck in and got it first, and he got to claim them as his Golden Buzzer act.
First Host to Hit Golden Buzzer
The first Golden Buzzer hit by a host was for Nick Cannon, who gave it to dancer Dorothy Williams. Then we see more acts that got Golden Buzzers from Terry Crews, including Learnmore Jonasi and the Detroit Youth Choir. The choir happened to be Crews’ first Golden Buzzer as host of “AGT.” The energy that choir brought, how could he not hit it, right? It changed all of their lives forever and they went back to Detroit and got a $1 million endowment.
7. Kodi Lee
He happens to be the most viewed Golden Buzzer performer of all time with over 570 million views. When he hit the “AGT” stage, Simon was hoping this would be something special. Not many dry eyes in the house for this one. Simon said he was going to remember this moment forever. Gabrielle Union was the judge to give him the Golden Buzzer this time around, and he went on to win the show.
8. Darci Lynne
She was just 12 years old when she came onto the show. Darci Lynne was very shy, but her mom got her the doll, and she self-taught herself ventriloquism. Mel B said she never knows when to hit the Golden Buzzer; you just have to know you want more and more of it. You hit that Golden Buzzer to let the acts know how special they are, so she hit it for Darci Lynne, who went on to win the show and even sold over 100,000 tickets to her shows in Vegas.
Season 20 Golden Buzzers
Terry Crews said this anniversary season of “AGT” has had some amazing Golden Buzzer moments. From The Funkateer Dancers and Duo Stardust to Charity Lockhart, the acts have been amazing and wowing both the judges and the audience.
We see more “AGT” 2025 auditions that got a Golden Buzzer. Up first were the Messoudi Brothers, who shocked and scared everyone with their stripping and juggling knives act. Then we saw Jessica Sanchez make her way back to “AGT” after auditioning on the first season of the show and making it to the semifinals that season. Simon said Light Wire didn’t give the judges much description of what they were going to be doing, but then they hit the stage, and he just had to give them the Golden Buzzer. He is excited to see what they do on the live shows.
The season 20 Golden Buzzers continue, as we see Howie give one of his to Jourdan Blue, a street performer from New Orleans. He said he wasn’t going to give a Golden Buzzer to a singer this season, but then Jourdan took the stage and he had to. Another choir with a Golden Buzzer performance, this time the Birmingham Youth Fellowship Choir getting the Golden Buzzer from Simon. The BoykinZ brought a different vibe and sound to the stage, which was enough to get Terry to hit the buzzer for them this season.
9. Nightbirde
She is a singer and said she has been dealing with cancer for the past few years. Simon asked how she is doing now and said the cancer is in her lungs, bones, and spine. She wants people to know that she is more than just the bad things that have happened to her. Nightbirde sang an original song and had such an amazing sound.
She auditioned on season 16 of the show, and the audience was just silent for her performance. They erupted in cheers afterwards, and Simon was just blown away by her, which led to him giving her the Golden Buzzer.
Nightbirde made it to the live shows, but she was not well enough to perform and had to withdraw. Simon said if she were able to perform, she would have won that season. She lost her long fight with cancer in February 2022 at the age of 31.
Two years later, Mzansi Youth Choir hit the stage and they performed Nightbirde’s original song for their audition. Simon, who became very close with Nightbirde before she passed away, was brought to tears over this emotional performance. While the judges were out of Golden Buzzers at the time, they switched up the rules and allowed the audience to give them one, and they moved on to the live shows.
That is the end of tonight’s special episode of “AGT,” so leaving us with tears in our eyes. Come back next week, as the season 20 auditions.
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AGT Live Recap & Spoilers – 7/22/2025