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May 29, 2023

America's Got Talent ratings rise to 6.1M viewers for season 18's second week after judges make major shakeup to show

AMERICA’S Got Talent ratings have increased to 6.1million viewers for season

AMERICA’S Got Talent ratings have increased to 6.1million viewers for season 18's second week after the judges made a major show shakeup.

Season 18 of America's Got Talent kicked off on May 30 with judges Simon Cowell, Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum, and Sofia Vergara.

The season premiere brought in 5.9million viewers.

The U.S. Sun can exclusively reveal ratings have increased for the June 6 episode, as 6.1million viewers watched.

Season 17 premiere had 6.3million viewers on May 31, 2022.

The season ended on September 15, 2022 with 6.8million viewers.

The increase in ratings comes after judges handed over the golden buzzer to the audience.

Simon, 63, revealed the major change coming to America's Got Talent ahead of season 18.

The show creator admitted: "We slightly broke the rules this year," when explaining the changes to Parade.

Historically, each judge only gets one Golden Buzzer, but because of a mistake made by Bruno Tonioli on the British version of the show, judges will now have more than one.

Acts who are selected by a Golden Buzzer get to go directly to the live competition portion of the show and be voted on by viewers.

On this week's episode, The Ramadhani Brothers auditioned, but fans voiced their worry for the pair.

In the act, the two brothers from Tanzania showcased their incredible acrobatic skills, with their head-to-head balancing shocking the live audience and TV viewers.

Fadhili Ramadhani and Ibrahim Jobu performed in front of judges Simon, Sofia, 50, Heidi, 50, and Howie, 67, in a nail-biting routine.

At one point, the performers climbed up a ladder, with one balancing on the head of the other completely hands-free.

As they stood in front of the ladder, host Terry Crews, 54, admitted: "Oh my goodness, I don't know if I can watch this."

The judges all looked terrified by what was to come, with Heidi clutching onto Howie's arm.

After the talented duo had made it to the top of the ladder, Terry turned to the camera and revealed: "There's no net!"

On Reddit, one horrified fan blasted: "I feel like the brothers' act was super scary and dangerous, and Terry even said they didn't have a net... like why would they risk a major injury and have another incident like Jonathan Goodwin had? He's paralyzed."

Also on the episode, a choir performed in front of the judges, leaving fans unimpressed.

Choir Sainted took the stage, performing renditions of hit dance and trap songs.

The act was a hit with the audience and judges, with many - including Sofia and Heidi - unable to resist dancing along to the music.

However, fans watching at home on the TV were not won over, and took to Reddit to blast the show.

One person said: "Please tell me I’m not the only one who doesn't ever like the choirs on this show."

In response, another critic responded: "Even if it were the best choir in the world, I still think it gets lost in translation at home. If it were 5.1 surround sound, maybe."

A third person slammed: "I don't like them either. Boring!"