NBC Cues Up ‘America’s Got Talent’ Holiday Special

America’s Got Talent may be a summertime staple, but NBC will see how the franchise works in the chillier months with a holiday special. Nick Cannon hosts the two-hour America’s Got Talent Holiday Spectacular Dec. 19, featuring performances from past season fan favorites, including season 11 winner Grace VanderWaal, The Clairvoyants, Mat Franco, Piff the Magic Dragon, The Regurgitator and Professor Splash.

As NBC puts it, “Music, magic and variety acts celebrate the holidays in a stunning special for fans and families to enjoy.” The judging panel, featuring Mel B, Simon Cowell, Heidi Klum and Howie Mandel, will also participate in this special. 

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Among the guests, VanderWaal is a 12-year-old singer-songwriter, while Mat Franco remains the first and only magician to win America’s Got Talent. To fully comprehend Piff the Magic Dragon, NBC suggests one “imagine Larry David in a dragon suit performing jaw-dropping magic tricks.”

Simon Cowell, Sam Donnelly, Jason Raff, Trish Kinane and Richard Wallace are the executive producers.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.