‘AGT’ Crowns Season 18 Winner – Fans React to the Decision

Martin Holmes September 28, 2023, 7:40 am

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America's Got Talent judges in Season 18 finale — NBC/YouTube

[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for the America’s Got Talent Season 18 finale.]

America’s Got Talent has crowned its latest champion, as Adrian Stoica and his dog Hurricane were named the Season 18 winners on Wednesday (September 27) night.

During the finale, the top five acts were announced, which included Stoica and Hurricane, acrobatic duo the Ramadhani Brothers, singer-songwriter Putri Ariani, magician Anna DeGuzman, and dance group Murmuration.

Ramadhani Brothers finished in fifth place, Ariani in fourth, Murmuration in third, and DeGuzman in second place.

The Italian dog trainer and his trusted companion won the $1 million prize and the opportunity to join America’s Got Talent Presents Superstars Live stage show at Luxor Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

From the very beginning of the season, Stoica and his border collie Hurricane have been fan favorites. They initially won the judges over during the audition stages with their performance of tricks set to Meghan Trainor’s “Better When I’m Dancing.”

The lovable duo went on to steal the show during the live episodes, performing amazing routines set to Smash Mouth’s cover of “I’m a Believer” and Cyndi Lauper‘s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.”

NBC/YouTube

Then, in Tuesday’s part one of the finale, Stoica and Hurricane wowed audiences once again with an incredible performance of tricks set to Queen’s “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” with judge Sofía Vergara even running up to the stage to help with their act.

Stoica and Hurricane have been performing around the world for almost eight years and have previously appeared on international versions of the hit competition series. In 2017, Stoica made it to the semi-finals of Italia’s Got Talent, and he also appeared in the 2018 and 2022 editions of Romania’s Got Talent.

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Wednesday’s AGT finale also saw several guest stars take to the stage to perform, including Jason Derulo, Leona Lewis, Jon Batiste, Diane Warren, Cat Cora, Thirty Seconds to Mars, and AGT Season 17 winner The Mayyas.

In addition, NBC confirmed that AGT will be back for Season 19 next summer, with Simon Cowell, Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum, Vergara, and host Terry Crews all set to return.

The reaction to Stoica and Hurricane’s win was mixed, to say the least. Check out some of the fan response below.

Man … Hurricane is a phenomenal dog and i love their acts but i gotta question how Murmuration didn’t win it all ; they were just perfection every single performance !

— SKYrie Irving (@Skyman_30) September 28, 2023

Congratulations Adrian and Hurricane well deserved it was about time time for a dog act to win and Hurricane is the smartest dog in America and it’s called America’s Got Talent for a reason but it should of been between Putri and these guys oh well #AGT #GodT

— realGodT (@Tyler19034416) September 28, 2023

Literally the one act that shouldn’t have won, won..

Putri, Murmurnation, Chibi Unity, and the Ramadhani Brothers all deserved it more. Seemed like this was about the story and not the performance

— Brad Dillon (@BDillon1994) September 28, 2023

A disappointing end to a great season. I would never pay $75.00+ to watch an hour of an animal act

— DJ Ricioppo (@DJRicioppo) September 28, 2023

People getting mad over this for what? These two were very talented and keep in mind the time that went into this for him and Hurricane, this was at least for me thee best dog act ever on the show

— I’m coming. (@HavocClumzy) September 28, 2023

America got it right! 💯 there’s plenty of vocal competitions for the ones you’re all whining about. THIS is the show that will sell seats.

— Stay Angry for Human Rights (@Melancholly007) September 28, 2023

I think he was awesome! Best dog act of the season! But, there were far better acts this year. HOW DJD PUTRI ARINIA NOT WIN!!! SHE HAS FANS FRON ALL LOVER THE WORLD! I was never expecting the final 2.

— BakingWithTrev (@Trevor_Theboss) September 28, 2023

FINAL 2 were soooo good. Thank god the hand dancers didn’t win, avant-gardey was so much better than them. And putri not winning is eh, kinda suspicious but…. DOG WINS

— Math Yoda (@yoda_math) September 28, 2023

This was the best dog act ever on the show. I was surprised the act won but I don’t hate it. America loves dogs 🐶. My favorite was Avantgardey. I think when comes to finals people just vote for one act their favorite and this year a lot of great acts the votes got spread around

— Ian (@UtopIan_Metal93) September 28, 2023