‘AGT’ Fans Fear Golden Buzzer Pics Are at a ‘Disadvantage’ After Callback Round

Alyssa Norwin August 6, 2026, 11:10 am

Howie Mandel, Mel B, Terry Crews, Sofia Vergara, Simon Cowell — 'America's Got Talent' Season 21 — Chris Haston/NBC

What To Know

Some fans of America’s Got Talent are not happy with the addition of the Judges’ Callback Round.
Reddit commenters noted that getting extra screen time puts contestants who make it through this round at an advantage in the Quarterfinals.

Season 21 of America’s Got Talent introduced the new Judges’ Callback Round as a way to give certain acts a second chance to prove they deserve a spot in the Live Shows. However, some fans of the show aren’t thrilled about this new addition.

Taking place over two episodes ahead of the Quarterfinals, the Callback Round features judges Simon Cowell, Mel B., Sofia Vergara, and Howie Mandel selecting a handful of acts they want to see perform again before deciding if they should move forward. Sixteen of the 23 callback contestants will make the Live Shows, and they’ll head into that portion of the competition with significantly more screen time than the other 28 acts who were previously put through … including the 10 Golden Buzzer picks.

“Now I feel like the golden buzzers are disadvantage,” one person wrote on Reddit. “They skip a show before we will see them again.”

Another poster wrote, “These acts that are making it through [callbacks] are getting extra characterization and an entire episode (of some other reality show type editing) about them. Anything and everything to connect an audience to the acts going into Live Show voting is a massive advantage compared to people we aren’t getting to see for a long time.”

In response to that post, someone suggested that specifically Bety and Travis Garland, who made it through to the Live Shows after their callback performances, “are gonna be huge winners” due to the extra screen time.

In defense of the new round, one poster pointed out, “They also had the risk of going home and they had to come up with a whole other act,” then joked, “And some of them had to spend the day with Mel B. so it’s not ALL an advantage.” Another commenter took the “winning isn’t everything” route by noting, “For some prominent contestants, more air-time is much better than tons of confetti.”

When Is the 'AGT' 2026 Finale?

In the August 4 episode, three of Mel B.’s six callback acts were chosen to move forward, while five of Cowell’s also made the Quarterfinals. Mandel and Vergara’s callbacks will perform again on August 11 before finding out their fates.

America’s Got Talent, Season 21, Tuesdays, 8/7c, NBC