America's Got Talent: Hakuna Matata Acrobats get Golden Buzzer (2024)

Sofia Vergara stood up and slammed down the Golden Buzzer for Hakuna Matata Acrobats, a four member group from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Tuesday's action-packed two-hour episode of America's Got Talent on NBC.

Hakuna Matata Acrobats had just wowed the audience with their death defying strong man acrobatic act. The members balanced on top of each other while standing on a moving platform and at one point one of the acrobats did a headstand on top of another while the platform moved beneath them.

'The is one of the most difficult, dangerous acts we have seen on a live show,' Simon Cowell , 64, said when they finished. 'It felt to me like you have arrived.'

'It's death defying what you do,' Heidi Klum, 51, said. 'On top of it you are doing it on a roller baller. You guys are incredible.'

'This is definitely one of the most ambitious acts I've seen on AGT,' Sofia , 52, said. ' I can see the difference from the audition. You guys deserve to be here. I don't think you guys need any help from anyone. But regardless I'm going to have to do this.'

Sofia, wearing a sequined strapless dress, then stood up and slammed down the Golden Buzzer for Hakuna Matata sending them straight to the finals, which was the first Golden Buzzer ever in the Live Shows.

Golden confetti rained down and the acrobat group hugged each other, as Sofia said, 'This was perfection,' and Heidi added, 'You deserve it!'

Flewnt and Inkabee, a father and son rap duo from Perth, Australia opened the show with an original song. They were the first of the 11 acts in round one of the quarterfinals on the action packed show.

'That was amazing, so energetic,' Howie Mandel, 68, said.

'I just think for the future, if I was your friend, it might be time to separate,' Simon Cowell, 64, said. 'Not in real life.'

Attraction Juniors a shadow theater group from Budapest, Hungary put on a fun story that included a child running scared through a forest into a haunted mansion. The audience gave them a standing ovation.

'This was in a different league in my opinion,' Simon said. 'You did brilliant by the way.'

Howie said he thought they were great but didn't think that they did better than their audition.

Liv Warfield, who was a backup singer with Prince at one point in her career, from Peoria, Illinois, took the stage next.

She received Simon's Golden Buzzer earlier in the competition. Liv, wearing jeweled headband and fringed robe, chose to sing a special song that she said that Prince wrote for her to sing on the stage. Simon gave her a thumbs up when she finished.

'I thought you were great the first time, this was unbelievable,' Simon said. 'Speechless. Seriously...If this was the Olympics for singing, you would have won the gold medal.'

'That was perfection!' Sofia Vergara, 52, said.

'I loved every second of it,' Heidi Klum, 51, said.

Hypers Kids Africa from Kampala, Uganda went next. The young dance crew out of Africa were excited to have fun on the stage in their act.

They wanted to use the money to build a bigger home so they could help more kids that lived on the streets. They took the stage and danced in unison in matching outfits.

'Amazing,' Simon said when they finished. 'You are like fantastic chaos but brilliant.'

'Every single one of you is so special,' Heidi said. ' Every single one of you is so very talented.'

An earthquake struck while Ashes & Arrows, a country rock band from Asheville, North Carolina, were doing their sound check.

Members of production could be seen running off stage. The band members were stunned. They said that on the way out their flight was delayed by hurricane Debby and then an earthquake shook the stage when they were trying to practice.

They finally took the stage and played their upbeat country song for the crowd.

'That song was great!' Howie said. 'I'm going to make a prediction tomorrow that song is going to be on the chart!'

'You sounded great!' Heidi said.

'I loved it!' Sofia said.

A Los Osos high school dance team from Rancho Cucamonga. California took the stage wearing matching blue and white outfits and danced to a compilation of songs including Beba Rexha's song So Delicious.

'I love you guys,' Heidi said.

Heidi tried to talk but the crowd was screaming for the dance squad so loud.

'Sofia can you talk through this,' Host Terry Crews asked.

'I don't think I need to say anything, 'Sofia said. 'I've never seen this theater go so crazy!'

'Simon, I can't even hear myself,' Terry said.

'This was a gigantic step up,' Simon said. 'I don't know anything about dance. However, that to me was an event. '

Howie thought they were more like a halftime high school show.

Phillip Lewis, a baton twirler from Statesboro, Georgia, who self taught himself through videos, tried to impress the judges with his skills. He threw the baton higher than before but dropped the baton several times during his routine.

'Weirdly I liked you even more because you dropped them,' Simon said. 'It shows how hard this is. You didn't give up and you didn't stop smiling.'

Roni Sagi, a dancer turned dog trainer from Israel, took the stage with her dog Rhythm. Her dog jumped , ran and flipped to the music of the song. The judges gave her a standing ovation.

'Rhythm really is the best dance partner,' Heidi said. 'It's true what Simon says that he dances better than humans. I just started dancing with my husband and It's not going too well.'

'That dog is amazing,' Sofia said.

'It's unbelievable,' Simon said. 'You are both unbelievable.'

Arshiya, a 13-year-old contortionist dancer from Jammu, India, put on another scary and freaky dance performance for the crowd.

'I am definitely going to have some major, major nightmares thinking that you are going to be hiding under my bed,' Heidi said when the act finished.

'Horrific horrifying,' Sofia said. 'Mesmerizing.'

School janitor Richard Goodall closed out the show with an amazing singing performance singing Michael Bolton's hit song How Am I Supposed to Live Without You.

His fiance, who had suffered a major heart attack, supported him in the audience. He dedicated his song to her. The judges and the audience gave him a standing ovation.

'I think you are incredible,' Heidi said. 'Well done.'

Simon hoped that Richard started to believe in himself.

'You nailed it,' Simon said. 'You really do have a shot of winning this whole competition.'

'I think I was crying,' Sofia said. 'That was so beautiful.'

America's Got Talent will return next Tuesday on NBC.