Benicio Bryant

Back home, Bryant performed on KING 5's Take 5, and toured the Pacific Northwest.[11] May 14, 2018 was declared "Benicio ‘Beni’ Bryant Day" by the city of Maple Valley to honor his competing.[21] In June 2018, Bryant and Brandi Carlile performed a live duet of "The Joke" on Late Night with Seth Meyers; she flew the family to New York City for the filming.[6][5] Producers from America's Got Talent saw the performance and invited him to audition for the show.[17] In November 2018 he released his debut single "My Love" on iTunes.[6]

Bryant's audition for the fourteenth season of the reality competition aired in June 2019.[7][23] He sang Brandi Carlile's 2017 Grammy Award-winning song "The Joke" with his "sky-high" range and "powerful" vibrato.[7] The judges, Simon Cowell, Gabrielle Union, Julianne Hough, and Howie Mandel, unanimously put him through to the next round.[24][7] The episode was seen by 9.81 million viewers.[25] Cowell said the audition reminded him of Harry Styles' 2010 audition on the similar singing competition The X Factor because "[Bryant] had a presence".[lower-alpha 1][28] Bryant's performance was included in the July 2, 2019, "Best of Auditions" recap episode, which seen by 6.82 million viewers.[29][30][31] Bryant's fan base on Instagram, which had risen to 18,000 from his time on 2017's The Voice Kids, tripled to 55,000 followers after his first audition on AGT.[22] As of June 2020, he has 147,000 Instagram followers.[32][8]

The rest of the competition was held in Los Angeles at the Dolby Theater.[33] With the change in cities, Bryant also got treated to a professional singer's life working with the show's staff to develop the performance, and instead of starting first year at Tahoma High School, was tutored on set.[34] Bryant's Judges Cuts performance on August 6, 2019 was singing an original song, "Here Goes Nothing," while playing a guitar.[35] His "youth pop R&B style" got another standing ovation,[36] and the judges sent him through to the quarterfinals.[37][38] This episode was seen by 9.65 million viewers.[39]

Bryant next performed in the last Quarterfinals round—where twelve of the thirty six finalists perform with only seven advancing to the next round. He sang another original composition, "Who I Am",[40] this time with higher production values.[23][41] Judge Howie Mandel noted he liked Bryant's rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" shown in the introduction video,[41] but said "he didn't respond to the song ["Who I Am"] and question[ed] whether it was the right choice."[34] Series creator Simon Cowell felt the production values could be toned down as Bryant's voice "was more than enough."[42] Mandel's comments angered fans who made their displeasure known online, but Bryant respected the opinion and said it "reinforced his resolve" to keep his career goals in sight.[34] Bryant states,

"The reason why I sing my original songs is I’m showing who I am and what I have to offer," he said. "It's just really important, I feel, that I want to be myself and I want to show people that. So I’m singing my own songs."

— Benicio Bryant The Seattle Times[34]

That episode was seen by 8.98 million viewers.[43] The next night, for the results show, he was among the top five acts by public vote to automatically advance to the Semi-finals being held in September 2019.[44]

Bryant sang in the first of two Semi-finals, competing against ten other acts.[45] He sang a ballad, "Fall Apart," another original.[45] Blasting News stated, "The pure tone of his voice and the truthful place from which the teenager writes work together."[46] Judge Howie Mandel, who had previously derided Bryant's use of an original song said, "I take back everything I said. ... I truly believe that you’re the biggest star that can come out of this season. ... You’re someplace between Troye Sivan and Harry Styles."[47] That show was seen by 9.06 million viewers.[48] From the two nights of the round, the top three acts with the most votes each night, plus two acts from the next three acts with the most votes each night—one selected by new votes cast during each results show telecast; and one selected by the judges—advance to The Finals.[49] The Seattle Times noted, "He became one of the show’s favorites to win based on judge and audience reaction, and viewers backed that up when he reached the fan-voted portion of the show."[50] Bryant was one of the top three vote getters on his night so immediately advanced.[49]

All ten acts perform in The Finals.[51] Five of the ten acts are solo musicians, another three are vocal groups.[52] TV Line noted Bryant wowed the judges during his audition but his follow-up performances of original songs helped him "stand out from the pack."[52] His song was another original, "Six Strings (Because Of You)."[53] The performance, with a "simple" stage layout, and "with nothing but his guitar" got a standing ovation from the judges.[1][53] The Seattle Times stated, "Bryant was mostly flawless on ‘AGT’. His performances were strong and note perfect. His style was unique and his outlook upbeat throughout. He sang in some of the most stressful circumstances and emerged smiling each time."[54] The finals were seen by 9.88 million viewers.[55]

For the results show the following night, each finalist performs again—often with an established star in their field. Bryant was paired with the reggaeton singer Ozuna, who Bryant cited as an idol of his, for a cover, in Spanish, of DJ Snake's "Taki Taki".[50] The results show was viewed by 10.21 million people.[56] Bryant did not place among the top five; the winner was singer-pianist Kodi Lee.[50]