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*America's Got Talent*
America's Got Talent
Season 3
Showrunner	Jason Raff
Hosted by	Jerry Springer
Judges	Piers Morgan; Sharon Osbourne; David Hasselhoff;
Winner	Neal E. Boyd
Runner-up	Eli Mattson;
No. of episodes	20
Release
Original network	NBC
Original release	June 17 –; October 1, 2008
Season chronology
	← Previous; Season 2 Next →; Season 4

Judges and Host for America's Got Talent Season 3

Piers Morgan

Sharon Osbourne

David Hasselhoff

Jerry Springer

The third season of American talent show competition series America's Got Talent was broadcast on NBC from June 17 to October 1, 2008. After the conclusion of the second season, changes to the program included the creation of additional audition episodes in the broadcast schedule, the involvement of quarter-finals in the competition, and doubling the number of participants that advanced from the boot camp stage. Between August 7–26, the show had a planned break to avoid clashing with the network's live coverage of the 2008 Summer Olympics.

The third season was won by opera singer Neal E. Boyd, with singer and pianist Eli Mattson finishing in second place, and violinists Nuttin' But Stringz placing third. During its broadcast, the season averaged roughly over 10.75 million viewers.

Season overview

Following the previous season, auditions took place in five major cities: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, and Atlanta. Additional rounds of auditions were made online via Myspace and Facebook. Changes to the schedule of live episodes were due to the 2008 Summer Olympics, since the event received live coverage on NBC. The program was on hiatus between August 7–26, in order to avoid it clashing with the network's schedule of the sporting event.

The third season had a number of additional changes put into place with the program's format, following the second season, two of which brought it along a similar arrangement used for Britain's Got Talent. Editing of filmed auditions for their respective episodes were conducted in a similar manner to the British edition, with footage in each episode consisting of a montage chosen from each major city whose venue featured audition sessions. For example, a collection of auditions (both minor and notable from Dallas), preceded those from another major city following a commercial break. Participants in live rounds were determined by two separate votes, while the public decided the first four to advance, and the judges chose the fifth participant to join them (from those who placed 5th and 6th respectively in the public vote). The remaining changes included an expanded number of participants for the "Las Vegas Callback" stage of auditions, along with cosmetic updates to the program. Alongside a new title card, the judges' table and the red "Xs" were re-styled to match the design of those used in Britain's Got Talent.

Results episodes for this season were arranged on a sporadic schedule alongside live episodes, rather than a pre-ordained arrangement after the last two seasons. Quarter-finals had their results announced on the same day. Semi-finals and the knockout final among the top ten were done the day after the performance episode had been broadcast. The grand-finale's results were aired a week after the performance episode.

Forty of the participants who auditioned for this season secured a place in the live quarter-finals, with ten quarterfinalists performing in each show. About twenty from these rounds advanced and were split between the two semi-finals, with around ten semi-finalists securing a place in the final, and five finalists securing a place in the season's grand-finale. These are the results of each participant's overall performance during the season:

Winner | Runner-up | Third place | Finalist

Semi-finalist | Quarter-finalist

Participant	Genre	Act	Quarter-final	Result
Beyond Belief Dance Company	Dance	Dance Group	2	Eliminated
Bruce Block	Magic	Magician	3	Eliminated
Bryan Cheatham	Singing	Singer	4	Eliminated
Dallas Desperados Dancers	Dance / Acrobatics	Cheerleading Group	4	Eliminated
Daniel Jens	Singing / Music	Singer & Guitarist	2	Semi-finalist
DC Cowboys	Dance	Dance Group	1	Eliminated
Derrick Barry	Variety	Britney Spears Impersonator	1	Eliminated
Donald Braswell II ¹	Singing	Singer	4	Grand-finalist
Dorae Saunders	Variety	Tina Turner Impersonator	4	Eliminated
Eli Mattson	Singing / Music	Singer & Pianist	4	Runner-up
Elite	Acrobatics	Martial Artist	1	Eliminated
Extreme Dance FX	Dance	Clogging Group	1	Semi-finalist
Flambeaux	Danger	Fire Breather	4	Eliminated
George the Giant	Danger	Sideshow Performer	2	Eliminated
Indiggo	Singing	Vocal Duo	4	Eliminated
Jessica Price	Singing / Music	Singer & Guitarist	1	Finalist
Jonathan Arons	Music	Trombonist	2	Eliminated
Jonathan Burkin	Variety	Baton Twirler	3	Semi-finalist
Joseph Hall	Singing	Elvis Impersonator	3	Finalist
Kaitlyn Maher	Singing	Singer	4	Finalist
Kazual	Singing	Vocal Group	2	Eliminated
Matthew Piazzi	Comedy	Impressionist	3	Eliminated
Michael Strelo-Smith	Singing	Singer	3	Eliminated
Neal E. Boyd	Singing	Opera Singer	1	Winner
Nuttin' But Stringz	Music	Violin Duo	4	Third place
Paul Salos	Singing	Frank Sinatra Impersonator	2	Finalist
Queen Emily	Singing	Singer	2	Grand-finalist
Ronny B	Singing / Dance	Singer & Dancer	1	Eliminated
Sarah Lenore	Singing / Music	Singer & Guitarist	3	Semi-finalist
Shequida Hall	Singing	Opera Singer	3	Eliminated
Shimshi	Magic	Magician	1	Eliminated
Sick Step	Dance	Dance Group	3	Semi-finalist
Slippery Kittens	Dance	Dance Group	2	Eliminated
Taubl Family	Music	Orchestra	3	Semi-finalist
The Cadence	Music	Percussion Group	1	Semi-finalist
The James Gang	Singing	Vocal Group	1	Semi-finalist
The Tapping Dads	Dance	Tap Dance Group	4	Semi-finalist
The Texas State Strutters	Dance	Dance Group	3	Eliminated
The Wright Kids	Music	Bluegrass Band	2	Finalist
ZOOperstars!	Dance	Dance Group	2	Semi-finalist

^1 This act was originally eliminated during the bootcamp stage, but was advanced into the contest, via a public vote, after another act was forced to step down for medical reasons.

Quarter-final summary

Buzzed Out |

Judges' choice | Advanced to Semi-finals

Won Judges' Vote | Lost Judges' Vote

Quarter-final 1 (August 26)

Quarter-Finalist	Order	Buzzes and Judges' Vote			Result
Quarter-Finalist	Order	Hasselhoff	Osbourne	Morgan	Result
Extreme Dance FX	1				Advanced
The James Gang	2	²			Won Judges' Vote
Derrick Barry	3				Eliminated
Elite	4	²			Lost Judges' Vote
Ronny B	5				Eliminated
The Cadence	6				Advanced
Jessica Price	7				Advanced
Shimshi	8				Eliminated
DC Cowboys	9				Eliminated
Neal E. Boyd	10				Advanced

^2 Because of the majority vote for The James Gang, Hasselhoff's voting intention was not disclosed as a result.

Quarter-final 2 (August 27)

Quarter-Finalist	Order	Buzzes and Judges' Vote			Result
Quarter-Finalist	Order	Hasselhoff	Osbourne	Morgan	Result
Beyond Belief Dance Company	1				Lost Judges' Vote
Paul Salos	2				Advanced
Kazual	3				Eliminated
ZOOperstars!	4				Won Judges' Vote
The Wright Kids	5				Advanced
Jonathan Arons	6				Eliminated
Daniel Jens	7				Advanced
Slippery Kittens	8				Eliminated
George the Giant	9				Eliminated
Queen Emily	10				Advanced

Quarter-final 3 (September 2)

Quarter-Finalist	Order	Buzzes and Judges' Vote			Result
Quarter-Finalist	Order	Hasselhoff	Osbourne	Morgan	Result
The Texas State Strutters	1				Eliminated
Michael Strelo-Smith	2				Lost Judges' Vote
Bruce Block	3				Eliminated
Shequida Hall	4				Eliminated
Taubl Family	5				Advanced
Jonathan Burkin	6				Advanced
Sarah Lenore	7				Advanced
SickStep	8				Won Judges' Vote
Matthew Piazzi	9				Eliminated
Joseph Hall	10				Advanced

Quarter-final 4 (September 3)

Quarter-Finalist	Order	Buzzes and Judges' Vote			Result
Quarter-Finalist	Order	Hasselhoff	Osbourne	Morgan	Result
Dallas Desperados Dancers	1				Eliminated
Bryan Cheatham	2			/	Lost Judges' Vote
Flambeaux	3				Eliminated
Kaitlyn Maher	4				Advanced
Dorae Saunders	5				Eliminated
Donald Braswell II	6				Advanced
Indiggo	7				Eliminated
The Tapping Dads	8				Won Judges' Vote
Eli Mattson	9				Advanced
Nuttin' But Stringz	10				Advanced

Semi-final summary

Buzzed Out |

Judges' choice | Advanced to Finals

Won Judges' Vote | Lost Judges' Vote

Semi-final 1 (September 9)

Semi-Finalist	Order	Buzzes and Judges' Vote			Result (September 11)
Semi-Finalist	Order	Hasselhoff	Osbourne	Morgan	Result (September 11)
The Cadence	1				Eliminated
Queen Emily	2				Advanced
The Wright Kids	3				Advanced
The James Gang	4				Eliminated
Daniel Jens	5				Lost Judges' Vote
ZOOperstars!	6				Eliminated
Neal E. Boyd	7				Advanced
Jessica Price	8			/	Won Judges' Vote
Extreme Dance FX	9				Eliminated
Paul Salos	10				Advanced

Semi-final 2 (September 10)

Guest performer: Terry Fator

Semi-Finalist	Order	Buzzes and Judges' Vote			Result (September 11)
Semi-Finalist	Order	Hasselhoff	Osbourne	Morgan	Result (September 11)
SickStep	1				Eliminated
Donald Braswell II	2				Advanced
Joseph Hall	3				Won Judges' Vote
Taubl Family	4				Eliminated
Sarah Lenore	5				Eliminated
Nuttin' But Stringz	6				Advanced
Kaitlyn Maher	7				Advanced
The Tapping Dads	8				Eliminated
Eli Mattson	9				Advanced
Jonathan Burkin	10				Lost Judges' Vote

Finals summary

Winner (Top 5 Final Only) | Runner-up (Top 5 Final Only) | 3rd place (Top 5 Final Only)

Advanced (Top 10 Finals only) | Eliminated |

Buzzed Out (Top 10 Finals only)

Final - Top 10 (September 17)

Guest Performer, Results Show: Natasha Bedingfield

Top 10 Finalist	Order	Buzzes			Result (September 18)
Top 10 Finalist	Order	Hasselhoff	Osbourne	Morgan	Result (September 18)
Paul Salos	1				Eliminated
Kaitlyn Maher	2				Eliminated
Donald Braswell II	3				Advanced
Jessica Price	4				Eliminated
Joseph Hall	5				Eliminated
Neal E. Boyd	6				Advanced
The Wright Kids	7				Eliminated
Queen Emily	8				Advanced
Nuttin' But Stringz	9				Advanced
Eli Mattson	10				Advanced

Grand-finale (September 24)

Grand-finalist	Order	Result (October 1)
Nuttin' But Stringz	1	3rd
Donald Braswell II	2	4th
Neal E. Boyd	3	1st
Eli Mattson	4	2nd
Queen Emily	5	5th

Ratings

Show	Rating	Rating/Share (18-49)	Viewers (millions)
1	7.8	3.8/10^[2]	12.80
2	7	3.1/9	11.51
3	7.5	3.2/10	11.98
4	7.6	3.3/9	12.40
5	7.8	3.1/9	12.53
6	7.8	3.3/10	N/A
7	7.9	3.6/10	13.61
8	7.8	3.5/10	12.42
9	N/A	2.7/8	8.57
10	N/A	3.1/9	10.96
11	N/A	2.7/8	10.13
12	N/A	6.5/10	10.58
13	N/A	2.7/7	10.15
14	7.1	2.6/10	11.60
15	N/A	2.5/8	11.49
16	N/A	2.3/8	9.64
17	N/A	3.1/9	12.05
18	N/A	2.3/7	9.83
19	6.6	2.7/7	10.23
20	7.7	3.3/8	12.55