'America's Got Talent' celebrates 15 year anniversary with tributes to Regis Philbin and many throwback moments
'America's Got Talent' broadcast a special 15th-anniversary edition of its talent show on Tuesday night as the judges reminisced and waxed eloquent on all the treasured highlights from the competition's storied history. As the show's host Terry Crews revealed, the show was looking back at a long and cherished timeline that included five hosts, 12 different judges, over 200,000 auditions, and over 2B views combined.
Some of the hosts who have featured included the late great TV personality Regis Philbin, who hosted the inaugural season of the show back in 2006, alongside judges like Piers Morgan, Brandy Norwood and David Hasselhoff. Other hosts since then have included the tabloid talk show host Jerry Springer for two seasons, the recently fired 'Wild N Out' star Nick Cannon, who hosted America's Got Talent for 8 seasons, and then the popular African-American supermodel Tyra Banks, who hosted for two seasons as well. Terry Crews is the latest host, bringing his warmth, energy and infectious smile to the big television stage since Season 14 of the show began. As a final flourish, 'America's Got Talent' also took a look back at 15 of their most viral and memorable moments since they first began airing on the NBC network.
This included the likes of the levitating magician Special Head, which made Howie Mandel remark that he felt like he was looking at a mirror after a sedative. However, the 111M views that Special Head garnered was merely the 15th most popular viral appearance on the show as the show counted down to its most spectacular performances of all time.
We saw the incredible talents of the card illusionist Shin Lim as well as the mesmerizing dance crew Light Balance, whose synchronized visual flair prompted Tyra Banks to run from the wings and give them the golden buzzer. Tyler Butler-Figueroa's amazing violin playing also earned him the golden buzzer from Simon Cowell, while helping him triumph over his bullies in the process. Also appearing were the dance crew from India, V Unbeatable, who were the semi-finalists in Season 14, and later claimed the top spot during the run on 'AGT: The Champions 2'. Of course, angelic voices like the Celine Dion-loving Celine Tam and Season 14 champion Kodi Lee also deserved a place in the rundown, including the R&B, rap and soul sensation whom we all know as the superstar Kehlani today.
There were plenty of candid words from the judges as well, as Sofia Vergara revealed how difficult and stomach-churning it was to interact with the sword swallower, Brett Loudermilk, who unwittingly made Vergara a viral phenomenon after she became too squeamish to pull a sword out of his mouth. Similarly, Howie Mandel claimed that his participation with the sword-wielding danger act Aaron Crow nearly cost his marriage dearly, even though the silent Crow went on to do pretty well for himself after freaking audiences out by chopping a pineapple in half as it sat on Mandel's head - while Crow was blindfolded, no less.
Speaking of silent, the creative mime act Tape Face proved to be a huge hit with the judges, as Simon said that it was silly but also really hilarious. The show also showed that Simon's opinion was the one that really mattered, as many contestants agreed that it was his unbiased, honest and often brutal judgments that really counted towards building up the show's credibility.
Another lighthearted moment included the judges remarking on how Heidi Klum always perked up when there were fit, shirtless males on stage. But we also got to see Heidi kissing a pig on stage, so clearly the German supermodel knows how to enjoy herself while judging the popular talent competition. All in all, it proved to be a glorious recap of the best moments from 'America's Got Talent', and we can't wait to see who triumphs in Season 15 of the show this time around.