America's Got Talent Secrets Revealed: Auditions, Prize Money & More

The latest America’s Got Talent’s champ will be revealed when the two-night season 21 finale wraps up on Sept. 23.  

After three months of competition, 10 acts made it to the final round—including dancers, musicians, aerialists, magicians, animal performers and more. And while host Terry Crews and judges Sofía Vergara, Melanie “Mel B” Brown and Howie Mandel have followed the contestants' journeys from the beginning of this season, fellow panelist Simon Cowell had to sit out a few episodes due to back surgery.

Guest judges including Saturday Night Live’s Kenan Thompson and AGT alum Heidi Klum wielded Cowell's buzzer in the meantime, and YouTuber and boxer KSI joined the judges’ table for the finale.

And Mandel is really looking forward to finding out whose talent reigns supreme this season.

"It's going to be a very tough choice for America," the comedian told E! News' Erin Lim Rhodes Sept. 3, "because there are way more than one or two acts worthy of the $1 million and final choice.”

Indeed, Mandel noted he’s “never seen this close of a race.” Which, if you ask Cowell, is the goal every year.

"I want the show to be better," the American Idol alum told WCNC Charlotte in June. "I really hope that we find someone who’s going to do really well after the show. And I want people, ideally, to talk about what they’ve seen on the show. Otherwise, it would be boring. And if the acts didn’t get better, then there would be no point in making the show, honestly."

Chris Haston/NBC

Fans can watch the season finale at 9 p.m. EST on NBC. But have you ever wondered what it's really like to go on America's Got Talent? For secrets from the audition process to the prize money, keep reading.

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