Season 18 of America's Got Talent is winding down, and the last night of qualifiers was set to determine the final performers who would have one last chance to vie for the $1 million prize and Las Vegas stage show. The September 19 episode featured the return of Nashville singing duo Trailer Flowers, comprised of best friends Brooke and Jack. The judges weren't all impressed by their original song and Howie Mandel even hit a buzzer – not the golden kind – but Simon Cowell had some criticism for the AGT producers too.
While it's fair to say that Trailer Flowers weren't blowing the roof off the stage with their performance quite like Gabriel Henrique and Lachuné did, the judges weren't too harsh on them... other than Howie Mandel reaching over and hitting Heidi Klum's buzzer instead of his own. The episode had a little over two minutes of time for critiques of the performance, and about one of those minutes was spent bantering about Mandel hitting Klum's buzzer. Cowell barely had any time to give his two cents, and he held the producers accountable for that, saying to the singers:
First of all, I don’t think the producers should have done what they just did, because we don’t have a lot of time to talk and actually give you something constructive. So I apologize. What I do say is I like you, and it's very tough out there right now, particularly in Nashville. I didn't love the song, but I do like you two. If this was an audition, I would have absolutely said, 'You've got to come up with a better song.'
Host Terry Crews had just enough time to ask Trailer Flowers what they thought of Simon Cowell's comments, and they responded by saying that they "appreciate the judges" and "really hope that America heard the lyric of that song." Their original song of the week was called "Who You Are," and the message of it was definitely positive, even if the reception from the judges wasn't necessarily what they needed when their AGT future was on the line. Take a look at the performance for yourself, below or with the whole episode via a Peacock Premium subscription:
Sofia Vergara and Simon Cowell seemed to be thinking along the same lines about whether Trailer Flowers' performance would have worked as an audition rather than a qualifiers performance. Vergara's mention of waiting for Cowell to ask for a second song is something that he frequently does during the audition stage, which can be so effective that – in the case of Season 18's Putri Ariani, anyway – a performer gets a golden buzzer. There wasn't enough time in the live qualifiers for Trailer Flowers to even get much constructive criticism from the judges, let alone a second song.
The country singers' fates were in the hands of the AGT voters after taking the stage to perform "Who You Are," and they were up against some stiff competition from their night of qualifiers. A live broadcast works better for some performers than others, and it may have worked against Trailer Flowers at this point.
The wait to see which Season 18 act wins the top prize is nearly over, though! The final night of America's Got Talent performances for 2023 begins on Tuesday, September 26 at 9 p.m. ET on NBC, which is an hour later than usual due to the return of The Voice with country queen Reba McIntire joining as new coach to replace Blake Shelton. The AGT results will be announced on September 27 starting at 9 p.m. ET. For some viewing options once AGT is done for the season, be sure to check out our 2023 TV schedule!
