America's Got Talent season 11

America's Got Talent
Season 11
Promotional poster for season 11, featuring (L to R) host Cannon, and judges Klum, Cowell, Mel B, Mandel.
Showrunners
  • Jason Raff
  • Sam Donnelly[1]
Hosted byNick Cannon
Judges
WinnerGrace VanderWaal
Runner-up
No. of episodes26
Release
Original networkNBC
Original releaseMay 31 (2016-05-31) –
September 14, 2016 (2016-09-14)
Season chronology
← Previous
Season 10
Next →
Season 12
Judges and Host for America's Got Talent Season 11
Howie Mandel
Mel B
Heidi Klum
Simon Cowell
Nick Cannon

The eleventh season of American talent show competition series America's Got Talent was broadcast on NBC from May 31 to September 14, 2016.[2] After the previous season, Howard Stern was replaced as a judge by the Got Talent creator, Simon Cowell.[3][4] Stern's departure removed the contractual condition he had imposed for his involvement, leading to moving live round productions to the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.[5] While open auditions were held in multiple cities, the judges' auditions were filmed within the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California, an arrangement that would persist in future seasons.

Along with those changes, the "Golden Buzzer" format was adjusted, and a planned break was made in the season's broadcast schedule between August 2–23 to avoid clashing with the network's live coverage of the 2016 Summer Olympics. The guest judges for the season's Judge Cuts stage included George Lopez, Reba McEntire, Ne-Yo and Louis Tomlinson.[6]

The eleventh season was won by singer and ukuleleist Grace VanderWaal, with mentalist duo The Clairvoyants finishing second, and magician Jon Dorenbos placing third.[7][8] During its broadcast, the season averaged around 11.44 million viewers per episode. The eleventh season became prominent in the program's history for broadcasting a stunt on live television which went wrong nearly resulted in the death of its performer.[9][10]

  1. ^ Hailu, Selome (October 28, 2024). "'America's Got Talent': Jason Raff Out as Showrunner After 19 Seasons Due to Budget Cuts". Variety. Retrieved October 31, 2024.
  2. ^ Justin Harp (March 8, 2016). "Find out when Simon Cowell makes his US TV return on America's Got Talent". Digital Spy.
  3. ^ Khatchatourian, Maane (October 22, 2015). "Simon Cowell to Judge 'America's Got Talent'". Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  4. ^ "AGT". NBC. Retrieved August 19, 2016.
  5. ^ "AGT 2016 Vote is now closed! Please come back Tuesday, July 26, to cast your first vote.'".
  6. ^ "Reba McEntire Joins 'America's Got Talent' as Guest Judge".
  7. ^ Kaur, Jaskiran (September 14, 2016). "America's Got Talent (AGT) Season 11 (2016) Winner revealed: Things to know about Grace VanderWaal". Yibada (English ed.). New York City. Retrieved September 14, 2016.
  8. ^ Eichel, Molly; Rowan, Tommy (September 14, 2016). "Jon Dorenbos takes 3rd, Grace VanderWaal wins America's Got Talent". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved September 14, 2016.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Stunt Accident 1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Stunt Accident 2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).