[4][5][6] The twelfth season was won by singing ventriloquist Darci Lynne with singer Angelica Hale finishing second, and glow-light dance troupe Light Balance placing third.

[8][9] Open auditions took place in late 2016 within Chicago, Austin, Cleveland, Jacksonville, Philadelphia, Las Vegas, San Diego, New York City, Charleston, Memphis and Los Angeles.

As with the previous year, the judges' auditions were filmed in March and held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Los Angeles.

[4][5][6] After eight years of hosting, Nick Cannon faced criticism from NBC over a joke he made on his 2017 Showtime comedy special Stand Up, Don't Shoot, which the network deemed as potentially racist.

Cannon determined it was best to leave AGT rather than face the possibility of being fired by the network, announcing his resignation from the program on February 13, 2017 (a month before production of the twelfth season began).