The first night of the two-part America's Got Talent Season 21 finale airs Tuesday, and Nene Royal enters the finals with a commanding lead on Kalshi's winner market.
The Season 21 winner market shows the singer and guitarist leading at 75%, followed by magician Geno Ploeger at 13% and magic group Hundred Fingers at 7%.
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Nene Royal
Royal enters the finale after one of the season's most widely viewed auditions and a Golden Buzzer performance during the quarterfinals.
NBC Insider reported that the video for her audition generated 219 million views across YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, the most of any audition or act on the current season.
“Royal herself already had a healthy social media presence, but her numbers are going up, too, and she’s currently at more than a million followers on both Instagram and TikTok,” NBC Insider wrote.
Her audition performance of The Cranberries' “Zombie” also drew a response from the band's official Instagram account, which posted a series of black-heart emojis.
Time Out Thailand reported that Royal also received the Golden Buzzer from AGT judge Mel B. this season for her rendition of Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun” during the Quarterfinals, sending her straight to tonight’s finals.
“It’s a proper milestone for a young Thai artist on a stage this size, and she’s earned it round after round,” Time Out Thailand wrote. “Now she’s off to the America’s Got Talent 2026 final to go for the title.”
Geno Ploeger
Arizona magician and Arizona State University senior Geno Ploeger advanced to the finale through the semifinals, where he performed a series of prediction and card tricks for the judges.
Ploeger performed a series of tricks involving judges Howie Mandel, Sofia Vergara, and Mel B. He later received enough viewer votes to advance to the finale.
Ploeger produced a selected card on an embroidered hat chosen by Mandel. He then predicted a page number selected by Vergara before making the page disappear and later producing it with a word selected by Mel B circled on it.
“This is my favorite act of the night,” Mel B. said. “You are so slick. The way that you did this. You had no idea what I was gonna choose. This is the most superb magic I have ever actually seen.”
Hundred Fingers
The magic group earned a spot in the finale after receiving Howie Mandel's Golden Buzzer during the quarterfinals.
The group performed synchronized sleight-of-hand routines using objects including fans and katana swords, earning a standing ovation from the audience.
Royal enters Tuesday's finale well ahead of the rest of the field on Kalshi at 75%, while Ploeger sits at 13% and Hundred Fingers at 7%. All 10 finalists will perform Tuesday before the winner is announced during Wednesday's results show.
The takeaway:
Kalshi markets now predict
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