Semi-finals
At this point, 58 of the 61 acts (29 with televised auditions and 29 without) that made it to the semifinals were divided into four groups. The 14 or 15 acts in each group had to perform a second audition in front of only the judges. Brandy, Hasselhoff, and Morgan then pick ten of these performers to continue onto the telecast. The contestants chosen to perform on stage were announced one at a time. Those acts that were not chosen did not find out until the last act is called, ending their chances to move on to the semifinals, unless a judge selected a nonperformer for the Wild Card show later in the season.
Three semifinalists: Sydney Park, Sideswipe, and Michael Speaks (all of which had televised auditions), didn't perform in the semifinals at all. No reason was given for their absence, but in 2007, it was revealed that Sideswipe had to withdraw because of a member's foot injury. Sydney Park was believed to be absent because of her career in acting.
All semifinal programs were two hours long. The results shows, airing the next day, were one hour long, except for the first results show which was 30 minutes long.
| Semifinals legend | ||
|---|---|---|
| Formatting | Description | |
| 1. | Order of appearance in the episode | |
| bold | contestant moved on to the final round | |
| Audition city | contestant's audition was televised | |
| Audition city | contestant's audition was not televised | |
| Judges' choice | judges' favorite act and selection to automatically move on to the finals | |
| Viewers' choice | received the most votes from viewers; moves on to the finals | |
| Viewers' 2nd | received second-most votes from viewers; would later perform in the Wild Card episode | |
| Eliminated | eliminated from competition by viewers' votes, unless chosen to perform in the Wild Card episode | |
Read more about this topic: America's Got Talent (season 1)