America's Got Talent facing backlash for failing to mention a teen quarterfinalist's The Voice past

People

Courtney Hadwin, 14, made the Top 6 of Britain's The Voice Kids just last year, yet her reality past went unmentioned as she became a sensation on America's Got Talent. That left the impression that America's Got Talent was Hadwin's first experience with a big audience and reality TV cameras. “Courtney Hadwin got pretty far in the Voice Kids (but) now she’s a golden buzzer on AGT!?!?! Ummm,” wrote one Twitter user. Another pointed out that Simon Cowell should've known about her since he's also British. Hadwin isn't the first America's Got Talent contestant to be recycled from a foreign talent competition. A British Got Talent competitor performed again before Simon Cowell on America's Got Talent this season. An AGT spokesperson explains: "International acts are eligible to participate in the initial AGT auditions on visitor visas. If selected to proceed to the program live shows, AGT works with acts to secure appropriate performer visas which give acts authorization to perform throughout the series."