‘America's Got Talent’ Technical Problem Changed The Way Semifinalists Were Chosen

“America’s Got Talent” recently aired its first live elimination episode. On Wednesday night, seven acts made it through to the semifinals, while some fan favorites were sent packing.

But unlike the previous seasons, host Terry Crews announced the first six contestants who will advance to the next round all at the same time. In the past, only five contestants who received the greatest number of votes are announced first.

The sixth contestant and seventh contestant are chosen via the Dunkin Save and through the judges’ vote. But on Wednesday, judges Simon Cowell, Julianne Hough, Gabrielle Union and Howie Mandel didn’t have the chance to pick their favorite contestant.

Crews didn’t elaborate on what the technical error was, and it’s also unclear if the same process will also be done next week. But as of late, Alex Dowis, Kodi Lee, Luke Islam, Voices of Service, Messoudi Brothers and Greg Morton have all made it through.

Ansley Burns, the Emerald Belles and Sophie Pecora ranked seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively, and they were the ones who faced off in the Dunkin Save twist. At the end of the night, 13-year-old Ansley was the one who advanced to the next round.

This means that other than Sophie and the Emerald Belles, the competition also said goodbye to all-girl group GFORCE. Danger act Bir Khalsa and Carmen Carter were all sent home.

Those who made it through to the semifinals still have to wait a few weeks before they could perform on stage once again. On Tuesday, a new group of contestants who either received the golden buzzer or passed the judge cuts round will vie for America’s vote.

Meanwhile, “America’s Got Talent” Season 14 will air twice weekly until the end of the competition. According to Good Housekeeping, the additional episode per week was decided upon to make sure that all of the acts will be accommodated.

There is a total of 36 acts who made it past the judge cuts round, which means that every week, 10 contestants will perform. Every Tuesday, a wild card contestant chosen by the producers will also be revealed.