Spoiler alert! This story discusses the sixth night of auditions on America’s Got Talent Season 21. The episode is available to stream with a Peacock subscription July 15 if you need to catch up.
All of the Golden Buzzers for America’s Got Talent Season 21 are now accounted for, as Sofía Vergara awarded the 10th and final ticket to the live shows on Night 6 of auditions, which aired July 14 on the 2026 TV schedule. The judges were pretty heavy on the red X’s until Veronika Goroshkova stunned them with an aerial pole routine that even Simon Cowell admitted was “perfection.”
For her audition, Ukraine native Veronika Goroshkova asked the judges to move their chairs aside, as a long, metal pole dropped from the ceiling. The aerialist proceeded to swing around, climb, twist and stretch into incredible splits without a net or any safety device between her and the audience below. The act ended with a long slide down the pole that left everyone in the auditorium (and myself!) breathless.
Check out her stunts below:
When Veronika Goroshkova introduced herself to Simon Cowell and the gang, she mentioned that her dream was to compete in the Olympics someday, and it sounds like Cowell thinks she has the chops, as he told her:
You know what’s interesting? You mentioned the Olympics. That felt like a gold medal performance in every way. Everything about your showmanship, it was so difficult. I loved the way you put the stage there so we felt we were watching things from a different perspective. I mean, you see how hard and dangerous this is. I mean it was, I think that was perfection.
Simon Cowell wasn’t the only one with gold on his mind, but Sofía Vergara attempted a fake-out before sending the confetti falling. She told the pole artist:
I was really, really into it, I have to say, but I mean we were at a weird angle to look at it. We’ve seen a lot of these kind of acts, but I don’t know why I have this feeling that I’m gonna do this right now.
It was understandably a huge moment for Veronika Goroshkova and her mother, who’s also her coach. The aerialist has already performed with Cirque du Soleil’s Mad Apple, and next she’s headed for the live shows, where she’ll undoubtedly scare the heck out of the judges one more time.
Talking to the artist backstage, Sofía Vergara said:
I was like, ‘How is this happening in front of our eyes?’ It’s so dangerous. It’s like, I’ve never seen it like that. And she was doing it with a smile, and making it look like it was so easy. But I know it wasn’t. I know it takes years and years of preparation to be this good.
The Golden Buzzer was well-deserved, in my opinion, but that means there will be no free tickets for the final night of AGT Season 21 auditions. The season started out strong with a whopping three Golden Buzzers in the premiere, and save for a few red buzzers along the way, the contestants never really took their foot off the gas.
Mel B fawned over a singer who we will be hearing from again, and Simon Cowell used a Golden Buzzer on a “bloody fantastic” parkour routine. Tragedy has also struck Season 21, however, as Jeff Williams, a member of Chicago’s Jesse White Tumbling Team, died in a car crash one night after his team’s auditions aired. No doubt the tumblers will be paying tribute to the 34-year-old when they perform again.
The final round of auditions kicks off at 8 p.m. ET Tuesday, July 21, on NBC.
