The competition is heating up on America's Got Talent now that Season 19 has reached the quarterfinals stage, and the addition of some extra golden buzzers in this round likely doesn't make the experience any less stressful for the contestants. Fortunately for me, my Season 19 favorite was advanced in the first quarterfinals results episode (available streaming via Peacock Premium subscription) of the 2024 TV schedule, but the biggest takeaway might not be that Richard Goodall is moving forward. Based on some comments from Simon Cowell, is another spinoff season on the way?
Janitor-turned-AGT singer Richard Goodall made a strong impression with his performance of "Don't Stop Believin'" in his audition, followed by his quarterfinals rendition of Michael Bolton's "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" which earned him plenty of applause. Simon Cowell had a critique for Goodall's song choice as well as some compliments, and I wasn't too worried after the performance about whether he would get enough votes to advance.
While Cowell didn't come out and say anything about a different show in the following results episode, he does have a history of teasing acts that will return in a spinoff. This time around, he had some encouraging words for singer LiV Warfield, who had already proven herself as a musician when singing backup for Prince. She was eliminated from Season 19 after the quarterfinals audience vote, with Cowell dropping these comments after host Terry Crews announced Hypers Kids Africa rather than Warfield would be advancing:
I'm disappointed. However, I think genuinely regardless, I really believe great things are gonna happen for you, because all of you are so amazing. I have a feeling we're going to be seeing each other again.
That could just mean that Simon Cowell is interested in making connections for LiV Warfield to continue advancing in the music industry, but my mind immediately leapt to "spinoff" after he commented in this way to the singer. After all, in addition to Cowell hinting at past offshoot shows before they were officially announced, AGT has plenty of spinoffs already.
In fact, as of Season 19 of the original, the franchise on the U.S. side of the pond also consists of America's Got Talent: Fantasy League, America's Got Talent: The Champions, America's Got Talent: All-Stars, and America's Got Talent: Extreme. While I think it's safe to rule out Warfield competing in a future season of the action-packed Extreme – which only ran for one season of four episodes anyway – I could see her being brought back for one of the others, if not for a brand-new spinoff that hasn't been done before.
AGT: Fantasy League is the most recent spinoff, and had the added novelty of former judge Mel B returning to the table alongside Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum, and Simon Cowell. It gave the judges the option to bring back past favorites as well as compete against each other. At the time of writing, Fantasy League has not yet been renewed for a second season. If it is renewed, I could see LiV Warfield as a good fit there, if not an as-yet-unannounced show.
Whether the franchise is expanding again or not, Season 19 is far from over. Keep tuning in to NBC on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET for the quarterfinals performances and then Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET for the results.
