One day after one of the stranger segments in America's Got Talent (AGT) history, country duo Trailer Flowers learned if they'd moved on to this season's finals. Ultimately, the duo was one of eight acts sent home by the voting public, with 82nd Airborne Division All-American Chorus, Ramadhani Brothers and Avantgardey rounding out this year's finalists. They'll compete for the top prize next week against singer Lavender Darcangelo, dog-and-owner act Adrian Stoica and Hurricane, comic Ahren Belisle, dance troupe Murmuration, teenage singer-songwriter Putri Ariani, magician Anna DeGuzman, dance troupe Chibi Unity and the Mzansi Youth Choir.
On Tuesday (Sept. 19), Trailer Flowers took the stage to perform an original song called "Who Are You" when, midway through the performance, it appeared as if judge Heidi Klum pressed her red 'X' button. This caused the duo's performance to be temporarily interrupted by the dissonant buzzer noise, but the pair continued singing. However, it wasn't Klum who pressed her buzzer, but rather Howie Mandel. Klum immediately blamed Mandel after the buzzer incident, and slow-motion video confirmed the truth.
Afterwards, Klum expressed her innocence, saying, "It was not me, girls!"
Once the judges finally got down to talking about the performance, Klum expressed that it wasn't her favorite. Mandel then added — a bit sarcastically — that it was "fantastic."
"There was something happening with this song that it didn't resonate to me. I didn't know what was happening," Sofia Vergara said. "The outfits, the song. It wasn't my thing, and I love country music, by the way."
When judge Simon Cowell got a chance to speak, he expressed disappointment that the Mandel incident — which he seemed to blame on the show producers — was allowed to go on for as long as it did. He apologized to the duo that the moment took away from time in which the judges could critique the act. He then shared that while he likes the duo's Brooke and Jack as people, he wasn't too keen on the performance.
After hearing from the judges, the duo sent an optimistic plea to viewers to vote for them. They also caught up withPeoplebackstage where they shared their reaction to the judges' comments.
"We don't live for anyone's criticism, and so I honestly had open hands about whatever the judges may have to say," Brooke told the publication. "We respect anyone's opinion, and it's okay if we're not for everybody. So we're excited to spread country music and to keep doing our thing."
"We don't live for anybody else's validation other than Jesus Christ," Jack added.
