Howie Mandel has spent more than 15 years watching performers walk onto the America’s Got Talent stage, and by this point in most seasons, he says he already has a pretty good idea who is capable of winning.
Season 21 is proving very different.
As AGT entered its live rounds, Howie admitted that he doesn’t have one clear prediction for the winner this year. That’s unusual for the longtime judge, who says his personal predictions have historically been right roughly 80 percent of the time.
Usually, Howie reaches this stage of the competition with a particular contestant in mind. But the variety and strength of Season 21’s remaining acts have made choosing a single frontrunner much more difficult.
Still, he revealed several acts that have particularly caught his attention—and one has now received an extraordinary level of support from him.
That act is Hundred Fingers, the international magic supergroup led by returning AGT magician Yu Hojin.
Hundred Fingers impressed Howie from the beginning. During the auditions, he was so enthusiastic about the group’s elaborate sleight-of-hand routine that he awarded them his Golden Buzzer.
But that wasn’t the end of it.
When Hundred Fingers returned for the first live Quarterfinal on August 18, they completely transformed their presentation. Their performance incorporated larger staging and choreography while maintaining the rapid-fire magic that originally made them stand out.
Even Simon Cowell, who can be difficult to impress during the live rounds, gave the group a standing ovation.
Howie went considerably further.
He became so excited that he climbed onto the judges’ desk trying to reach the Live Golden Buzzer. After the chaotic moment, he successfully hit it and sent Hundred Fingers directly into the Season 21 Finals.
His reaction also revealed exactly how highly he rates them.
Howie described what Hundred Fingers had just delivered as a “million-dollar performance”—a particularly meaningful description considering the winner of America’s Got Talent receives the show’s $1 million grand prize.
That doesn’t mean Howie has officially predicted that Hundred Fingers will win.
In fact, he has specifically said the opposite: he isn’t confident enough to name one winner yet.
Another performer who has fascinated him is Nene Royal, whose Judges’ Callbacks appearance became a huge online success. Howie pointed to the enormous reaction surrounding her performance while discussing contestants who could potentially emerge as serious contenders.
And then there are the comedians.
Because Howie built his own career in stand-up comedy, he openly acknowledges having a soft spot for comedians appearing on AGT. This season, he highlighted performers including Cris Sosa, Daniel Alvarez and comedic musician Cesar Dias while discussing the field.
But one of those possibilities has already disappeared.
Cris Sosa competed during the first Quarterfinal and was eliminated after failing to secure enough viewer votes to advance. Luke Taleno, Olivia Befus and Royal Lasers instead captured the three available Semifinal positions.
That result demonstrates exactly why Howie is reluctant to make a confident prediction.
Once AGT reaches the live stage, the judges can praise an act as much as they want, but viewers ultimately become enormously important. A contestant who looks like a potential finalist can suddenly disappear after one performance.
Hundred Fingers don’t have that immediate problem.
Howie’s Live Golden Buzzer means the magicians have skipped the Semifinals entirely and already secured a place in the Finals, putting them significantly closer to the $1 million prize than most of their competitors.
It also means Howie has now backed the same group with a Golden Buzzer twice in a single season.
That makes it difficult to ignore Hundred Fingers when discussing Howie’s personal favorite. He may not be ready to officially declare them Season 21 champions, but sending them directly to the Finals and calling their routine worthy of the million-dollar prize sends a pretty strong message.
For now, however, Howie says he’s leaving the ultimate decision to America.
After years of believing he could recognize the eventual champion relatively early, Season 21 has finally given the veteran judge a field he can’t confidently predict—and that uncertainty could make this year’s race to the finale considerably more interesting.
