Sofia Vergara made her debut as a judge on America’s Got Talent on Tuesday during the season 15 premiere of the NBC talent competition show.
As the show opened, it was revealed that taping had taken place 17 days before a stay-at-home order was issued for Los Angeles, where it was shot.
Heidi Klum, who’d left the show after season 13 in 2018, called it ‘the most amazing feeling to be back on this desk,’ while Sofia, 47, proclaimed herself ‘nervous,’ but ‘so excited’ to be joining AGT.
Season premiere: Sofia Vergara received a warm welcome as she made her debut as a judge on America’s Got Talent on Tuesday during the season 15 premiere on NBC
‘Sofia has gone from Modern Family to new family,’ cracked fellow judge and franchise creator Simon Cowell, 60.
AGT host Terry Crews, 51, slammed his Golden Buzzer for Voices Of The City Choir.
The first performers who went through were Les Kimes and Nina Meluzzi, whose hog-and-pig act saw four porkers jump hurdles, thread around legs, and push wheels across the stage.
Mac, a four-year-old hog weighing over 700 lbs., pushed a baby carriage with a piglet in it.
TV star: The 47-year-old actress joined AGT after starring in the sitcom Modern Family on ABC
Teaming up: Heidi Klum, who was back after departing AGT following season 13, teamed up with Heidi at the judges’ table
The boss: Franchise creator and judge Simon Cowell welcomed Sofia onto the show
Last season: Gabrielle Union and Julianne Hough were judges last year on season 14 of America’s Got Talent and are shown in a still with Simon, Howie Mandel and host Terry Crews
‘We’re mom and dad to these guys,’ said Les, a native of Myakka City, Florida, of the swine he’d raised since infancy. ‘They’re not regular pigs. They’re family members.’
Heidi went onstage to kiss Mac, because she’d heard smooching a pig was ‘good luck.’
Sofia called the act ‘super fun,’ noting woefully that her sole pet, a dog named Bubbles, ‘completely ignores me.’
New addition: Sofia starred on Modern Family for 11 seasons and was the highest paid TV actress in the world in 2019
The judges: Howie, Heidi, Sofia and Simon taped the episode 17 days before a stay-at-home order was issued for Los Angeles, where it was shot
First through: The first performers who went through were Les Kimes and Nina Meluzzi, whose hog-and-pig act saw four porkers jump hurdles, thread around legs, and push wheels across the stage
Family members: ‘We’re mom and dad to these guys,’ said Les, a native of Myakka City, Florida, of the swine he’d raised since infancy. ‘They’re not regular pigs. They’re family members’
Good luck: Heidi went onstage to kiss Mac, because she’d heard smooching a pig was ‘good luck’
Up next was the Kolkata, India-based dance duo BAD Salsa, which impressed the judges with their mixture of Latin dance and high-speed flips and cartwheels.
BAD Salsa dancer Sonali Majumder, 15, who came from a home with little food and no running water or electricity, said being on AGT ‘means everything to us.’
Howie called them ‘fast entertaining,’ and ‘the opposite of BAD.’
Dance routine: Up next was the Kolkata, India-based dance duo BAD Salsa, which impressed the judges with their mixture of Latin dance and high-speed flips and cartwheels
Teen talent: BAD Salsa dancer Sonali Majumder, 15, who came from a home with little food and no running water or electricity, said being on AGT ‘means everything to us
Broken Roots, a Chicago-based musical duo, then got a standing ovation and four ‘yeses’ for their gravelly cover of Bon Jovi’s Dead Or Alive.
Singers Joey Kar, 37, and Austin Edwards, 44, both law-enforcement vets, had never played together before, but Simon called their rocking turn ‘what this show is all about.’
Malik DOPE Drummer, 27, from Washington D.C., promised to show the judges ‘a way that you’ve never seen drumming before,’ then set about drumming while dancing frenetically.
Standing ovation: Broken Roots, a Chicago-based musical duo, then got a standing ovation and four ‘yeses’ for their gravelly cover of Bon Jovi’s Dead Or Alive
Rocked out: Singers Joey Kar, 37, and Austin Edwards, 44, both law-enforcement vets, had never played together before, but Simon called their rocking turn ‘what this show is all about’
Unique style: Malik DOPE Drummer, 27, from Washington D.C., promised to show the judges ‘a way that you’ve never seen drumming before,’ then set about drumming while dancing frenetically
Malik noted in a video that he loved his craft but wondered if he should continue when he was so broke he’d gone hungry, slept in a train station and even had a car accident from fatigue.
As the judges sent Malik through, Simon said he was the best drummer they’d ever seen, and noted ruefully that his son Eric, 6, would surely try to imitate Malik using his new drum kit.
Magician Ryan Tricks, 28, also made it through for his incredible routine, which found Simon and Howie testing their ‘subconscious connection’ as ‘BFFs.’
Ryan blindfolded Howie and had him react to a touch on Simon’s hand, then had Simon control Howie’s hand, then asked Howie what Simon was holdinga cookiewhich he rightly guessed.
Incredible routine: Magician Ryan Tricks, 28, also made it through for his incredible routine, which found Simon and Howie testing their ‘subconscious connection’ as ‘BFFs’
Close connection: Ryan blindfolded Howie and had him react to a touch on Simon’s hand, then had Simon control Howie’s hand, then asked Howie what Simon was holdinga cookiewhich he rightly guessed
Simon told Ryan he really liked his act, and called it ‘an eerie, fantastic experience’ that made him ‘sort of love’ Howie ‘a little bit more after that.’
Peruvian twins Andrea and Irene Ramos, 31, from San Francisco, scored four ‘si’s’ with their cover of the Weather Girls’ It’s Raining Men, which they performed as Double Dragon.
‘I love to see two Latina girls having fun on that stage,’ Sofia said, calling it ‘fun, full of energy.’
Si votes: Peruvian twins Andrea and Irene Ramos, 31, from San Francisco, scored four ‘si’s’ with their cover of the Weather Girls’ It’s Raining Men, which they performed as Double Dragon
Latina girls: ‘I love to see two Latina girls having fun on that stage,’ Sofia said, calling it ‘fun, full of energy’
Competing for top billing on AGT’s first audition show of the season was Archie Williams, 59, who’d recently been released from prison after being wrongly incarcerated for 37 years.
The Baton Rouge, Louisiana, native walked haltingly onto the stage and barely held back his emotion as he sang Elton John’s Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me.
He brought judge Heidi, 46, to tears, and earned a thumbs-up from Simon, as the crowd jumped into a standing ovation, moved by the song’s parallels to his story.
Wrongly incarcerated: Competing for top billing on AGT’s first audition show of the season was Archie Williams, 59, who’d recently been released from prison after being wrongly incarcerated for 37 years
In a video package shown before he sang, Archie revealed that on January 4, 1983, he’d been falsely arrested for the rape and stabbing of ‘a 30-year-old white woman in her home.’
‘I couldn’t believe it was really happening,’ he said. ‘I didn’t commit a crime, but being a poor, black kid, I didn’t have the economic ability to fight the state of Louisiana.’
At trial, Archie’s fingerprints didn’t match the evidence, and witnesses corroborated his story, but he was still sentenced to ‘life and 80 years without the possibility of parole or probation’ at Angola State Penitentiary, in Angola, Louisiana.
‘Days turned into weeks, into months, into years and into decades,’ Archie recalled, saying he stayed strong by praying, singing and even watching AGT while visualizing his own audition.
‘Freedom is of the mind,’ he told Terry. ‘I went to prison, but I never let my mind go to prison.’
Falsely arrested: In a video package shown before he sang, Archie revealed that on January 4, 1983, he’d been falsely arrested for the rape and stabbing of ‘a 30-year-old white woman in her home
After the non-profit Innocence Project took on Archie’s case, a computer database was able to match the attacker’s fingerprints to those of a known serial rapist ‘within hours.’
Archie was released March 1, 2019, and said he was ‘still trying to digest the freedom.’
Heidi wept as he sang, and confessed, ‘I don’t cry for a whole lot of things, but that really did it to me, I have to tell you.’
‘Even though you did 37 years,’ Sofia told Archie, ‘[read more] 37 years that didn’t break you.’
Simon praised Archie’s voice, and said he would never be able to listen to the song the same way again, calling it, ‘an audition I will never forget for the whole of my life.’
As the judges each gave Archie a ‘yes’ vote, Simon happily offered, ‘I’d say we got about 3,500 yeses here.’
Many votes: As the judges each gave Archie a ‘yes’ vote, Simon happily offered, ‘I’d say we got about 3,500 yeses here’
Archie’s serious face lit up in its first smile as the crowd chanted ‘Archie! Archie!’ and he went down to hug Simon.
The episode also featured a startling audition by a ‘dancer’ named Moises, from Spain.
The judges gasped as they watched the young man’s odd mixture of contortionism, fire swallowing and needle insertion, which turned his dance act into a circus performance.
Danger dance: The episode also featured a startling audition by a ‘dancer’ named Moises, from Spain
‘No, no, no,’ Sofia cried as Muy Moi Show put his mouth over the blade of a knife in front of the judges’ table and had Terry break a cement block over his neck, while Simon blurted, ‘Terry, no!’
Heidi hid behind judge Howie Mandel, 64, and they covered their mouths in horror as Moses slowly raised his face from the blade, hand over his own mouth as though he was injured, before revealing he was fine.
Simon loved it, calling Moises a ‘born entertainer’ and saying, ‘It was everything!’ as Sofia asked Mosies, ‘Does your mother know you do this?’ and called him ‘Desquiciado,’ or insane.
Good question: Sofia asked Moises, ‘Does your mother know you do this?’ and called him ‘Desquiciado,’ or insane
Vincent Marcus, 30, a popular Vine star from El Paso, Texas, made it to the next round with impressions of famous rap artists doing nursery rhymes.
Simon thought his mimicry of Snoop Dogg, Pitbull, Eminem, Wonder Mike, Jay-Z and other musicians showed ‘star quality,’ even though he’d never performed live before.
San Diego-based choir group Voices Of The City Choir, which is made up of people ‘experiencing homelessness,’ won the AGT crowd over with their funky original song Sounds Of The Sidewalk.
Rapper impersonations: Vincent Marcus, 30, a popular Vine star from El Paso, Texas, made it to the next round with impressions of famous rap artists doing nursery rhyme
‘The words of the song were really special,’ new judge Sofia told the group after their audition. ‘We need more people like you who are taking matters into their own hands.’
‘We live in a world of the moment, there is so much talking,’ agreed judge Simon. ‘But you’ve actually made something happen.’
With two minutes to go before the show ended, Terry just couldn’t hold back.
Original song: San Diego-based choir group Voices Of The City Choir, which is made up of people ‘experiencing homelessness,’ won the AGT crowd over with their funky original song Sounds Of The Sidewalk
‘Simon, I gotta stop you right now,’ he interrupted. ‘You said there was nothing but talk going on, but it’s time to make something happen right now, for everybody on this stage.’
‘What they did today has moved me to this point right now,’ Terry continued, sprinting up to the judges’ table and slamming its Golden Buzzer as everyone yelled and clapped around him.
Golden confetti showered the choir onstage, and its singers sobbed with happiness.
Golden buzzer: Terry stopped the show to hit the Golden Button for the choir
Many had said that joining the choir saved their lives, giving them hope that someone out there would hear them when it seemed like no one really cared.
Choir co-founder Steph Johnson started it to do something for those she’d seen ‘fighting for their lives,’ and the money it raised helped them obtain shelter, food and medical care.
‘Oh my God, I love you guys!’ Terry yelled as he ran onstage to hug the members of the choir, and tell them they were going straight to AGT’s live show.
‘What you’re doing right now is beyond, totally beyond,’ the former pro football player added, sounding choked up. ‘You deserve it.’
Helping out: Choir co-founder Steph Johnson started the choir to do something for those she’d seen ‘fighting for their lives,’ and the money it raised helped them obtain shelter, food and medical care
There were a few acts that didn’t go through on AGT during the season premiere, among them a dancing ‘woopie cushion’, a singing ‘alien,’ a roller-skating quartet, and a sock puppet ‘performance artist.’
America’s Got Talent will return next week on NBC.
Season 14 of AGT was won by singer-songwriter and pianist Kodi Lee, 23.
Good effort: Eileen Chase danced in a woopie cushion but failed to advance
Alien act: Dan Nowman Niswander performed an alien act that was rejected by the judges
Old school: Old School Skaters were sent off before their ringer could sway the judges
Performance art: Michael Goldenberg performed a sick sock puppet routine that the judges did not like