Spoilers ahead for the September 5 episode of America’s Got Talent Season 18 qualifiers.
America’s Got Talent gets closer and closer to the Season 18 finale with each night of live qualifiers, and the latest episode had some very high highs and disappointingly low lows… according to Simon Cowell, anyway! His critiques of one performer earned him the nickname of “The Grinch” from one of his fellow judges, but he was so moved by the return of golden buzzer winner Putri Ariani that he explained what keeps him coming back to AGT year in and year out.
Simon Cowell’s commentary that was deemed Grinchy – after, of course, the famously grouchy Dr. Seuss character – came after the qualifiers performance by singer Summer Rios, whose cover of Zoe Wees‘ “Control” had Sofia Vergara announcing that she wanted Rios in the finale and Heidi Klum on her feet for an ovation. Although he praised her personality and the rawness of her audition weeks ago, Cowell was harsher than his fellow judges, saying that he thought this qualifiers performance was “overproduced” and “a shame.”
The audience booed his criticism – which happens fairly regularly to Simon Cowell when he’s being blunt – and he responded to them, saying: “What is your problem?” This led Sofia Vergara to compare her fellow judge to the Christmas special character, saying:
You’re the Grinch tonight!
Cowell responded to say “No, I’m not being the Grinch!” while Sofia Vergara grinned at Heidi Klum, in a fun follow-up to the Modern Family alum having Klum’s back when she was self-conscious about her glasses last week. Cowell insisted that he really likes Summer Rios, and the episode moved on.
But he definitely wasn’t being the Grinch by the end of the episode, when Putri Ariani returned to the AGT stage for the first time since getting Cowell’s golden buzzer for her audition. She blew the audience and the judges way with her performance of U2‘s classic “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.”
After the applause died down enough for the judges to be heard, Cowell spoke up with his decidedly non-Grinchy feedback for Ariani:
Putri, I’m actually kind of speechless. What I was thinking was, first of all, how what a beautiful voice you’ve got. What a beautiful version, and honestly, Putri, this is why I still do this job. For moments like this, genuinely, because that was so beautiful.
That is incredibly high praise from Simon Cowell, who has been doing variations of this TV judging job going back to American Idol, followed by The X-Factor before moving on to the Got Talent franchise. He has seen immensely talented performers come and go, and now had nothing but the highest of compliments for Putri Ariani. If she didn’t already have an advantage heading into the voting from just her performance, I’d say that Cowell’s praise gives her a boost!
Cowell went on to thank U2 for clearing the song to let Putri Ariani sing it on America’s Got Talent, which apparently doesn’t happen with every band. He shared that they cleared the song for Ariani because they saw her audition and knew how much it would mean to her.
Addressing U2 (who were not present), he said “And I cannot thank you enough, because I think you’ve just hopefully changed this girl’s life.” If you missed her performance or just want to rewatch it a time or two, take a look:
If you want to see Putri Ariani advance to the AGT finale, you can vote for her on the show’s website and the America’s Got Talent app until Wednesday, September 6 at 7 a.m. ET for the results to be announced that night on NBC starting at 8 p.m. ET. You’ll also be able to revisit this qualifiers episode streaming with a Peacock Premium subscription. For some more viewing options as fall TV season approaches (such as it is with the WGA writers strike and SAG-AFTRA actors strike), check out our 2023 TV schedule.