History Awesome / AmericasGotTalent

* At the start of season 9, the judges saw a rather cheesy karate comedy duo (flubbing their own acts and such). Howard gave them a yes while both Heidi and Mel B said no. However, Howard stood up and began leaving his seat, much to everyone's confusion. While the crowd chanted "PUT THEM THROUGH!", Howard unveiled, and used, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3MsZjx1K8k the golden buzzer]], which sends an act straight through to the live shows ''automatically''.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtazabgFF54 Howie then reused the buzzer]] to save a hip hop comedy duo that Howard greatly disliked.
* For his top 6 first-round performance in season 8, Taylor Williamson made a set that was just rehashes of old jokes, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeth7Ie901c but with a twist]] that involved a man in a kangaroo-seahorse suit, a choir, and pyrotechnics. It is ''glorious.''
* At the start of season 8, a man that goes by his stage name Special Head goes up and starts "channeling his chi" and making monotone noises, which gains the mass disapproval of the crowd as well as an X from Howard. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v15OcJTjNyE Then he starts levitating]], taking everyone by surprise. Hell, Howard even performs a first for his run on the show and ''takes back his X''.

* Paul Zerdin's semi-final act in 2015 was his most outstanding act as a ventriloquist. He turns Howie into a living dummy through a moving mouthpiece on his face, and makes him "talk" through ventriloquism. The most awesome part was when he made Howie "say" "I want to be an act, I insist that you sit on my judge's seat" -- which he ''does'', after which he then proceeds to hilariously humiliate Howie by saying that he wants to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aP_kJMdDvQ show the audience his "twerking".]] Turning the tables like that undeniably makes you a ''boss''. Was it any surprise then that he won the entire thing?

* Viktor Kee, one of the finalists for Season 11, also deserves a mention here. Not only did he manage to turn over Simon Cowell's opinion on jugglers, but he consistently pulled off amazing performances. And then there's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6OB4EDrUAA his final performance]], where, in the first minute, he juggles ''blindfolded''!

* Ladies and gentleman, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=2tyr92K218M&app=desktop Puddles the Clown with the Golden Voice]].
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk_qLtk0m2c Darci Lynne Farmer]], a 12-year-old girl who, despite having only done ventriloquism for two years, managed to leave all the judges and Tyra shocked with her audition consisting of a puppet belting "Summertime", leading to her receiving Mel B's golden buzzer. She later ended up winning the season.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKSWXzAnVe0 Mandy Harvey]], a 29-year-old singer who lost her hearing a decade previous due to illness, giving a pitch-perfect performance thanks to muscle memory and feeling the tempo of the song through the stage floor. When she's done, [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Simon doesn't hesitate to give her the golden buzzer]]. Oh, and did we mention it was an ''original'' song?
* Season 12's Light Balance dance crew having to resort to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nji07Mjsb8 dress rehearsal footage]] after a technical malfunction. Not only is it still awesome, it sent them to the semifinals.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUTtQPMuA1Y The Singing Trump]] in Season 12. It takes a lot of courage to walk up on stage dressed up as such a BaseBreakingCharacter, but the impersonation, especially voice and mouth, were spot-on, and the performance easily won the audience over.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPHVLxm8U-0 Courtney Hadwin]], a shy, gawky 13 year old girl who suddenly appears to be possessed by the likes of Otis Redding and James Brown once the music starts. It's honestly kind of scary. After giving her the Golden Buzzer, Howie went so far as to say she may well be the reincarnation of Music/JanisJoplin.

* Season 14 has V. Undefeatable. While the first routine was outstanding on its own, the Judge Pick one blew it out of the water with them using chairs for props and have their tossed dancers ''flip then kick them'' as they pass and the finale has the youngest member being flung ''from behind the judges'' and then caught on stage before he's backflipped ''onto a chair being carried by a tower of other dancers'' and flashing a V sign!

* In Season 5, an Elvis impersonator in clownface (really) was buzzed, and he made a joke about Sharon getting a "contact high" from living with Ozzie. Sharon's response: "[[TranquilFury Nobody disrespects my husband.]] [[PrecisionFStrike Fuck off]]." They then moved on insult Howie Mandel's career...causing Howie to repeat what Sharon had said.

** Léa Kyle (girlfriend of previous season's Florian Savant) is a quick-change artist who permanently raised the bar of fashion wizardry for the entire show. Among her stunts:

** Léa Kyle (girlfriend of previous season's Florian Savant) is a quick-change artist who wowed the ''entire'' audience with her stunts, including one trick where a dress (one of several that she's made) on a hanger somehow gets ''magnetized'' onto her body. She stated that she wanted to impress her idol Heidi Klum and, given how she got the Golden Buzzer from Heidi, she made that dream a reality.
** Ehlrich performs with two glowing sticks and acrobatics. Nothing special until he drops one in mid-air and it starts spinning. He then starts throwing the staffs and later a hoop into the air as if they were ''levitating''.
** Music/VictoryBrinker age 9 singing ''opera''. Hitting a ''high C on two octaves''. Her performance was so amazing that Simon surprised her and everyone with '''all four judges and Terry giving her a Golden Buzzer'''.
** [=UniCircle=] Flow is dancer/unicyclist group (founded by Season 8's winner, Kenichi Ebina) whose performance is just mesmerizing. Their incredible balance, smooth choreography, and choice of music, costume and setpieces are just delightful to watch, presenting the grace and elegance of figure skaters without the ice.
** Nightbirde. Her singing ability is already impressive, but her doing it ''while dying of cancer'' is on a whole other level.

* Season 18 has Adrian Stoica and Hurricane, which Howie describes as "a dog bringing a man-act". Most previous dog acts, while impressive, still makes it clear that the dogs are just following their handler's cues. Not so with Hurricane, who participates in Adrian's skits so seamlessly, that oftentimes it really does seems like ''Adrian'' is the one who's following his dog's directions, rather than the other way around. The end of their audition shows Adrian walking off the stage only for Hurricane to continue finish the skit ''all by herself'' without any cues! Is it any wonder that this duo won the season?

** Music/VictoryBrinker age 9 singing ''opera'' hitting a ''high C on two octaves''. Her performance was so amazing that Simon surprised her and everyone with '''all four judges and Terry giving her a Golden Buzzer'''.

* Season 18 has Adrian Stoica and Hurricane, which Howie describes as "a dog bringing a man-act". Most previous dog acts, while impressive, still makes it clear that the dogs are just following their handler's cues. Not so with Hurricane, who participates in Adrian's skits so seamlessly, that oftentimes it really does seems like ''Adrian'' is the one who's following his dog's directions, rather than the other way around. The end of their audition shows Adrian walking off the stage only for Hurricane to continue the skit ''all by herself'' without any cues!

* Season 18 has Adrian Stoica and Hurricane, which Howie describes as "a dog bringing a man-act". Most previous dog acts, while impressive, still makes it clear that the dogs are just following their handler's cues. Not so with Hurricane, who participates in Adrian's skits so seamlessly, that oftentimes it really does seems like ''Adrian'' is the one who's following his dog's directions, rather than the other way around.

* Season 18 has Adrian Stoica and Hurricane, which Howie describes as "a dog bringing a man-act". Most previous animal acts, while impressive, still makes it clear that the animals are following their handler's cues. Not so with Hurricane, who participates in Adrian's skits so seamlessly, that oftentimes it really does seems like ''Adrian'' is the one who's following his dog's directions, rather than the other way around.