America’s Got Talent viewers are making their voices heard when it comes to changes they want to see for future seasons, with many calling for the end of Golden Buzzers.
The debate started after a user on the AGT Reddit forum suggested for the next season, the long-running competition series should do a “bare bones battlefield,” getting rid of “golden buzzers,” “sob stories,” “singing acts,” and contestants that have appeared in previous seasons.
“Let’s just have a survival of the fittest type season. Everyone for themselves,” the user wrote. “No mention of social media views and likes. No mention of personal hardships. No judge favoritism. No sappy over exaggerated reactions.”
Many fans agreed, especially when it came to the overuse of the Golden Buzzer. “The overuse of Golden Buzzers has ruined the show. What’s the purpose of voting?” said one commenter.
“I don’t mind the initial golden buzzers, but the ones in the quarter finals, I am just not understanding,” another added. “I would like to see no judges buzzing in the lives. Let the people vote with minimal input from the judges.”
The Golden Buzzer concept was introduced in Season 9, with each judge being allowed to press their Golden Buzzer once during the season to send an act straight through to the next round. This changed in Season 10, when the Golden Buzzer was upgraded to send an act straight to the live shows.
Since then, the number of Golden Buzzers has only increased. In Season 11, host Terry Crews was given a Golden Buzzer. Seasons 16 to 18 introduced a Group Golden Buzzer. Season 19 saw each judge given two Golden Buzzers for the auditions and then another Golden Buzzer to use in the Quarterfinals, which would let an act advance straight to the finale.
The currently airing Season 20 saw Crews given a second Golden Buzzer, and the judges will be able to collectively give out another Golden Buzzer in the semifinals, allowing an act to skip the voting and head directly to the live finale.
One Reddit user wrote, “The quarter finals golden buzzers need to go bye bye.”
“Agree. No reason a judge fav should just sail to the finals Let the act get there like every other act. Earn their way with votes,” said another.
Another said Crews shouldn’t have a Golden Buzzer, arguing, “There’s no reason for the host to have a buzzer. They should have a neutral presence among the cast.”
“Terry Crew has no real qualifications on giving a gold buzzer. He’s a host. And that’s all his role should be,” said one user.
Others want AGT to ban singing acts, with one Reddit commenter explaining, “I do wish we had no singers. There’s so many singing shows but none where an act like Light Balance can really go on.”
Another said they’d be fine with singers “as long as they disallow covers,” saying the singing acts should have to perform “Nothing but original music.”
“And no one who has already had a recording contact or been on other shows. They already had their shot,” added one fan.
One big issue fans expressed was the constant “sob stories,” with a Reddit user explaining, “Sob stories get soft critiques by the judges. No one wants to talk down to ppl who had it bad. But really their act and their story need to be kept separate. Just bc they had hardship doesn’t mean they are automatically a great singing group.”
The topic of sob stories heated back up after the Birmingham Youth Choir advanced to the semifinals this week, thanks to America’s votes. While many were shocked by the result, one Reddit user explained they made it through “Because it’s reality TV and a large majority of people love a feel good and/or sad/redemption story. Unfortunately that’s pretty much it.”
“I really don’t like the singing acts on AGT. There’s too many of them and they tend to be the ones with the biggest sob stories. But I guess some people like them since they get the votes,” said another.
“They should ban Choirs all together competing it’s absolutely beyond a joke at this rate. You just know they’ll get a GB and I think they should be banned,” another wrote.
Many fans said they want to see more “variety acts,” such as comedians, dancers, acrobats, etc. As one fan put it, “I prefer variety acts because there are already other shows for singers,” though they admitted “singing is still a talent, so it shouldn’t be banned.”
What changes would you like to see on AGT? Should singing acts be banned? Are there too many Golden Buzzers? Let us know your thoughts below.
America’s Got Talent, Season 20, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 8/7c, NBC
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