America’s Got Talent Finale 2023 LIVE — Fans slam show after upset eliminations as Leona Lewis and Jared Leto perform

Winner revealed big plans with the cash prize

In an exclusive interview with The U.S. Sun, Adrian, 45, revealed that the cash will continue to go towards Hurricane's elite lifestyle.

He revealed she needs to have the finest foods to keep in shape for their act: "Hurricane, she will stay on the diet like all the days because we need to just keep in shape."

“I buy some [lamb] for Hurricane because she deserves it," he said.

The now world-famous dog trainer will not even bother dipping into the cash prize for himself and declared: “I’m fine if my dogs are ok.

“I think we have the same life and I want to keep this," he continued.

Adrian shared: "I love to stay with my dogs, to have quality time with my dogs, so I love this. I don't like to think so far ahead. I like to think step by step so we will see what happens.”

HE'S A STAR!

AGT winner Adrian reveals dog Hurricane's plans after pair's shocking victory

About the runner-ups

The wildly popular Mzansi Youth Choir did not make it into the top five but have been invited to perform with Coldplay.

Placing in fifth were the Ramadhani Brothers, with Putri Ariani taking fourth place, Murmurnation in third and magician Anna DeGuzman grabbing second place.

During the finale, former contestants of the show The Mayyas made an appearance, along with a star-studded guest list.

AGT 2023 winners revealed

The season 18 champions of America's Got Talent are Italian dog trainer Adrian Stoica and his lovable dog, Hurricane.

The duo wowed audiences and beat out the Ramadhani Brothers, Putri Ariana, Anna DeGuzman, and Murmuration to win the $1million cash prize.

Hurricane would perform amazing tricks with his human to upbeat songs, including a Meghan Trainor tune.

The highly skilled border collie was trained by the talented Italian dog master to do tricks using props and jumping through hoops.

The duo dedicated their final performance to Adrian's other dog, who died shortly after the qualification round.

Voting for talent or story

Fans of AGT on X, formerly known as Twitter, believed the acts aren't voted in based on talent.

One said: "'This is a testament to how talented you are.' No, it's a testament that America votes for sob stories and military personnel."

Another said: "#AGT really annoys me how people vote for stories instead of talent. There's no reason a choir needs to be top 3.

"No one is going to pay to watch them. If they weren't military they wouldn't even have made it to live shows."

A third said: "I also want to say that the 82nd Airborne Division is good, and they are entertaining. I just don’t think they are top two as far as talent is concerned in this group."

Someone wrote: "Hopefully y’all voted for TALENT OVER SOB STORY or CUTENESS."

One judge left behind, part two

Sofia pouted in response to not being able to join the spin off and said: "I know! I had other things to do! But I'm going to leave you in good hands, I've found the perfect replacement."

Terry asked, "Who is it?" before revealing,"Oh yes, it's Mel B!"

In the Fantasy League spinoff, the judges will choose a roster of their favorite acts.

Throughout the season, judges will help their chosen acts in hopes of being crowned the winner.

America's Got Talent: Fantasy League will begin airing in 2024.

Sofia celebrated her return to AGT next season while sharing a selfie from the finale.

She captioned it: "Love u AGT!! See u next season!!"

HOWIE'S HATERS

AGT's Howie Mandel admits it 'hurts' to be 'seen as the villain' by fans

One judge left behind

 The new spinoff, America's Got Talent: Fantasy League, will air in January.

Heidi Klum, Simon, and Howie Mandel will all appear in the new project - but Sofia won't be making an appearance.

She will be replaced by former Spice Girls singer, Mel B, 48, who previously served as a judge on the talent competition show from 2013 to 2018.

After describing the show, Terry said: "Sadly, Sofia you're not able to join."

Sofia will not send off

During the star-studded finale on Wednesday night, Terry said: "Wait Sofia, you'll be back on NBC next season right?"

She replied, "Maybe. Maybe if Simon…" and looked over at Simon Cowell hesitantly.

The TV star then revealed she was only joking and declared, "Yes, I'm back!" and threw her arms in the air in triumph.

Simon laughed and patted Sofia on the back as she leaned back in her seat and laughed.

Meet the judges: Sofía Vergara

Sofia Vergara is a Colombian-American actress famously known for playing Gloria in the hit sitcom Modern Family.

She was the highest-paid actress in American television for seven years straight between 2013 and 2020.

Magician mistake called out, part two

While the audience and judges cheered and waved their queen of hearts cards, Sofia Vergara was slower to open her envelope, seen quickly flashing a black spades card, as opposed to everyone else's red hearts.

Sofia looked shocked and started stuffing the card back into her envelope while murmuring something to her co-stars.

Although Sofia's card was only on screen for a split second, eagle-eyed fans noticed the mistake and pointed it out on X, formerly known as Twitter.

One person asked: "Anyone else catch that Sophia did NOT have the Queen of hearts?"

"Yes! Proof," responded another, along with a photo of Sophia holding the card aloft.

In another post, a social media user raged: "@AGT @SimonCowell something did go wrong, and I love how you're ignoring it. The prize is too big you can't blow the trick and then just have everybody act like it didn't happen."

Magician mistake called out, part one

The America's Got Talent top 11 hashed it out in the finals, and Anna performed a classic card trick on a major scale.

Pulling host Terry Crews, 55, on stage, the competitor guessed the cards he was holding one by one.

After performing the trick, Terry still had one card left, which he announced to be the queen of hearts.

Anna explained that she had no more cards left, and shared: "This is not a coincidence. It's all about making the right decisions at the right time.

"You're all sitting on envelopes with one card inside. Judges, everybody, take out your envelopes. Rip open your envelopes, and show the world... did you all get the queen of hearts?"

Howie does care what people think

When asked if he is affected by the comments, Howie shared: "I do care.

"I'm a human being who has feelings and they ask me to show up here - Terry says, 'Howie, what do you think?'

"I don't want to tell you: 'I don't want to tell you what I think, because people are going to get mad at me.'

Howie announced: "I'm going to tell you what I think."

WATER YOU DOING?

Mel B throws water over Simon Cowell’s head after he makes scathing dig

Mandel speaks out, part two

The AGT judge declared: "What I think isn't the end-all-and-be-all.

"America is voting, America is choosing, and I'm choosing who I like and telling you how I was affected by anything we see."

Howie said: "I think there's a lot of people who agree with me and they're not going to reach out to me on social media to agree, but if they disagree, then they are typing, so those are the people you're going to hear from the most.

"I'm assuming millions of people are watching and during a show only hundreds of people don't agree with what I'm saying."

Mandel speaks out, part one

In an exclusive interview with The U.S. Sun, Howie, 67, revealed his response to the negative social media reactions to his jokes.

Throughout season 18, Howie has been under fire for taking digs at Sofia's divorce from her ex Joe Manganiello.

As Howie addressed the tension exclusively with The U.S. Sun, he confessed: "I'm not trying to wind up the audience.

"I do read all of the comments and it's hard."

The comedian looked directly into the camera to address his audience and admitted: "If you're commenting, you are hurting my feelings - but that's okay.

"The point is, I can only be me, and I think if you saw me doing something because you wanted me to get a response, or you saw me doing something because I was just trying to be patronizing and nice, I think that wouldn't come off authentic."

Fan upset over final results

Unfortunately, not everyone in the at-home audience felt the same, and some felt like America made the wrong choice.

One fan on X, formerly known as Twitter said: "Again, people needed to vote based on talent and talent alone. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen here."

Others said: "This show is a joke," and "This is such f**king bulls**t."

A third said: "It’s embarrassing that a pure talent like Putri Ariani came in 4th place. What are people thinking? Even the judges were stunned."

Someone said: "#AmericasGotTalent is completely rigged. I know CT can give two f**ks about this but I don’t care Avante Guardy was robbed!!!!! ROBBED!!!!! Boycott."

A fifth said: "Me - Out and will never watch this stupid show again. Kids are voting and they’re all a bunch of clowns. What a waste of time."

Another said: "This show is rigged. Putri was robbed."

All Golden Buzzers Competed

Here are the Golden Buzzers acts from this season:

• Howie Mandel – dance group Murmuration, episode four
• Simon Cowell – singer Putri Ariani, episode two
• Sofia Vergara – singer Gabriel Henrique, episode eight
• Heidi Klum – singer Lavendar Darcangelo, episode six
• Terry Crews – Chioma and The Atlanta Drum Academy, episode three
• All judges and host – Chibi Unity, episode 10

The first-ever audience Golden Buzzer was given to the Mzansi Youth Choir on the season premiere.

The only two golden buzzer performances that did not make it to last night's competition were Gabriel Henrique and Chioma and the Atlanta Drum Academy.

AGT Cash top prize

Each year, thousands of acts hope to get their hands on the title of America’s Got Talent winner.

Viewers who stay tuned to the last seconds of the closing credits know that the winner of AGT doesn’t actually become an instant millionaire.

A disclaimer explains: “The prize, which totals $1,000,000, is payable in a financial annuity over forty years, or the contestant may choose to receive the present cash value of such annuity.”

What this means is that the winner can either choose to get $25,000 a year for 40 years, or they can choose instead to take the present cash value of the annuity, which was around $300,000 before taxes in 2011, according to Forbes.

SOFIA'S SECRET

Sofia Vergara reveals her fate on AGT’s next season after snub from spinoff

Last night's performers

The 11 remaining finalists performed on last night's live finale for a chance at the Season 18 grand prize,

The Top 11 were:

• Anna DeGuzman
• Murmuration
• Ahren Belisle
• Lavender Darcangelo
• Putri Ariani
• Adrian Stoica and Hurricane
• Ramadhani Brothers
• Chibi Unity
• Mzansi Youth Choir
• Avantgardey
• The 82nd Airborne Division All-American Chorus

'You deserve it'

After Putri Ariani sang a rendition of Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me by Elton John that stunned the crowd, the judges sang her praises.

“It was such a moving performance. You could have not done it any better ... You sounded beautiful,” said Judge Heidi Klum.

Simon Cowell went so far as to say the singer deserved to win.

“You are one of those rare little diamonds we come across every few years who is naturally born to do this,” he said.

“You’ve overcome so much in your life to hopefully fulfill your dream on this show and, boy, after that do you deserve it.”

Simon's parting words to his Golden Buzzer act

Putri Ariani finished AGT in fourth place during last night's finale - which left the crowd booing and brought a shocked Simon to give a heartfelt message to the singer.

"At the end of the day, it's a competition, but let me tell you something Putri, nobody can take away the fact that you are an amazing, amazing singer and performer and a person," the judge said.

"Many, many, many artists that I've worked with haven't won these competitions but have gone on to do amazing things.

"I really genuinely believe the same thing is going to happen for you."

Fans said finalists were 'robbed'

Unfortunately, not everyone in the at-home audience felt the same, and some felt like America made the wrong choice.

One fan on X, formerly known as Twitter said: "Again, people needed to vote based on talent and talent alone. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen here."

Others said: "This show is a joke," and "This is such f**king bulls**t."

A third said: "It’s embarrassing that a pure talent like Putri Ariani came in 4th place. What are people thinking? Even the judges were stunned."

Someone said: "#AmericasGotTalent is completely rigged. I know CT can give two f**ks about this but I don’t care Avante Guardy was robbed!!!!! ROBBED!!!!! Boycott."

A fifth said: "Me - Out and will never watch this stupid show again. Kids are voting and they’re all a bunch of clowns. What a waste of time."

Another said: "This show is rigged. Putri was robbed."

Moment of truth

Sofia Vergara, 51, Heidi Klum, 50, Simon Cowell, 63, and Howie Mandel, 67, sat patiently at the judge's panel until the winner was announced.

In the end, it came down to the top two - Adrian Stoica and Hurricane and Anna DeGuzman.

Adrian and Hurricane are an amazing dog and owner act, and Hurricane managed to thoughtfully impress the judges with his acting.

Anna is a 25-year-old magician from New Jersey who wowed audiences with her skills.

When Terry Crews revealed Adrian and Hurricane as the winner of AGT, the audience at the live show went wild.

Recap of this week's finale

There were 11 acts in the show's epic finale, and they all brought their A-game during Tuesday's performance.

The Ramadhani Brothers, Anna DeGuzman, Adrian Stoica and his dog Hurricane, and Ahren Belisle all performed one-of-a-kind acts.

The 82nd Airborne Chorus, Putri Ariani, The Mzansi Youth Choir, and Lavender Darcangelo all stunned the audience with their singing skills.

Finally, Avantgardey, Chibi Unity, and Murmuration were the three ultimate dance crews that made it to the finale.

The contestants were narrowed down to the Top Five - The Ramadhani Brothers, Putri Ariani, Adrian Stoica and Hurricane, Anna DeGuzman, and Murmuration.

Before the winner was announced during last night's show, major performers like Jason Derulo and Leona Lewis took the stage while pairing up with the contestants.

It was everyone's final opportunity to perform in front of the judges before the big reveal.

Leona Lewis performed last night

Leona Lewis has had a lucrative career in the music industry since she broke out with her song Bleeding Love in 2007.

Lewis formerly dated the former American Idol judge Simon Cowell.

Some of her other hit songs include Better in Time, and You Are the Reason.

Lewis has been nominated for three Grammy awards during her career.

The singer gave a special performance last night with finalist Putri Ariani.

Order of last night's Top Five

The order in which last night's five finalists finished the competition is:

1. Adrian Stoica and Hurricane
2. Anna DeGuzman
3. Murmuration
4. Putri Ariani
5. Ramadhani Brothers

Howie Mandel slammed by fans

Howie Mandel, the presenter of America's Got Talent, has been attacked by viewers who say the program is rigged and accuse him of berating artists to sway votes.

Viewers were taken aback after a fan-favorite contender was allegedly denied a berth in the finale in favor of the judge's choice. 

An enraged fan recently resorted to X, formerly Twitter, to voice their grievances over Howie, 67, serving as an AGT judge. 

The fan tweeted: "So Howie can berate acts he doesn't like to influence the vote and now they get to pick an act because the voting didn't go how they wanted?

"Tell me your contest is rigged without telling me your contest is rigged."