Spoilers ahead for the second week of America's Got Talent live quarterfinals, with the results revealed on August 27 and episode streaming next day with a Peacock subscription.
It's hard to predict the direction of America's Got Talent's later stages when audiences voting from home take over from the judges who gets to advance. Season 20 is only two weeks into the live quarterfinals of the 2025 TV schedule, and I lost one of my favorites to make AGT history before the semi-finals. After one of the groups that advanced after the latest episode, however, I can imagine the show making history with another type of performance, and I'd be on board.
I Was Rooting For Schuler King
I'll be the first to admit that I can be kind of set in my ways when it comes to America's Got Talent. Other than exceptions like Season 19 winner Richard Goodall and Season 14's Kodi Lee, I usually don't root for singers, because singing-centric competition shows already exist with The Voice and American Idol. Plus, eight of the nineteen AGT champions so far have been singers. Kid performers tend to not win my votes either, and I'll usually go for a magician like Season 13's Shin Lim or acrobat before a stand-up comic.
Shuler King changed that in Season 20, and I found myself rooting for him right from the audition stage. He was even funnier in the first week of live quarterfinals, as far as I'm concerned. Take a look:
King made it to the Top 3 when the audience got to vote. That meant an elimination, ending his run as AGT's only comic in the quarterfinals with a shot at the $1 million grand prize and Las Vegas stage show. He could have been the first comedian in America's Got Talent history to win the top prize, without even having the benefit of a golden buzzer. Alas, it wasn't in the cards this year for Howie Mandel to see a comic come out on top. History could still be made, though!
A Choir Has Never Won AGT
I'll be honest – I usually try not to get too invested in even the best choirs that come onto America's Got Talent, because choirs never win. Sure, there wasn't a dry eye in the house when Mzansi Youth Choir honored the late AGT great Nightbirde by performing her song in Season 18, and I was as relieved as anybody in AGT: Fantasy League when Sainted Trap Choir got the last-minute clearance for Prince's "Purple Rain." I love a good choir, but they never win.
As of the second night of live quarterfinals results, however, Leo High School Choir has a shot. They're not the first singing group to make it this far in a season of AGT, and I don't even necessarily think that they're the best choir in the history of the show. But they're definitely great, and very lovable. On America's Got Talent, the story behind an act can be as important as the level of talent, and I'd say they have a good story. Could they be the first choir to win a season of AGT?
Well, it's much too soon to say, and I would have predicted Shuler King to make it farther than the teen singers if you'd asked me right after the auditions stage. Still, I think Leo High School Choir had my favorite on-stage celebration of any performers who got the best kind of news from Terry Crews this year so far. It was certainly an improvement from the devastation last week when the AGT producers were very "mean" – to quote Simon Cowell – in how they eliminated some performers. For now, it's fun to at least root for them. Why not, after I lost my frontrunner?
If nothing else, I'm convinced at this point that I'd love to see history made on America's Got Talent for its milestone 20th season. Apologies to all the singers still in the running! Keep tuning in to NBC on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET for quarterfinals episodes of AGT, and Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET for the results. You can also stream any episodes you might have missed with a Peacock subscription.
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