The quarter-final
Santos appeared in the first week of the season 10 quarter-finals, broadcast on 11 and 12 August 2015, and went through on the judges' vote on the second night.
The distinction between the two routes matters. Winning the public vote means the audience put an act through; winning the judges' vote means the act finished below that line and was saved by the panel. Santos took the second route, and it carried her into the semi-finals. In a quarter-final week of twelve acts, the judges' save is the last door out of the round, and it closes behind one act a night.
The semi-final, and the season
Her run ended in the semi-finals on 9 September 2015. Season 10 ran from 26 May to 16 September that year on NBC, hosted by Nick Cannon, with Howard Stern, Mel B, Heidi Klum and Howie Mandel on the panel.
The winner was the London ventriloquist Paul Zerdin, ahead of the comedian Drew Lynch and the mentalist Oz Pearlman. Santos, like the eleven-year-old opera singer Arielle Baril, reached the round below the final. Two of the season's youngest live performers went out in the same fortnight, a week apart.
The golden buzzer question
The research note behind this page describes Santos as a golden buzzer act at the season 10 auditions. The season's own list of recipients does not include her: the audition buzzers went to Drew Lynch, Freckled Sky, Sharon Irving and Arielle Baril, and the Judge Cuts buzzers to Paul Zerdin, The Craig Lewis Band and Siro-A.
What the results tables do record for Santos is an ordinary route through the auditions and a quarter-final won on the judges' vote. The two accounts conflict, and this page reports the conflict rather than resolving it on no evidence. Semi-finalist is the description the sources support.
What is documented — and what is not
Firm: her age of thirteen, her home town of El Monte in California, her act as a mariachi singer, the quarter-final advancement on the judges' vote on 12 August 2015, and the semi-final elimination on 9 September.
Not documented in the sources gathered here: the songs she sang, the ensemble that backed her, her family, her school, any recording or release, and anything since September 2015. Only a season results table was reachable when this record was assembled.
Mariachi on a network stage
American talent formats rarely reward regional traditions, because the voting audience is national and the reference points are pop. A mariachi act that survives two live rounds has therefore done something the format is not built to encourage.
Season 10's final was won by a ventriloquist, which is a reminder that the show's audience is less predictable than the format assumes. Santos did not get that far. What the record establishes is that a thirteen-year-old sang mariachi on network television in the summer of 2015, that the judges kept her in when the vote did not, and that she was among the last twenty acts standing. Everything after that is unrecorded here.
Watch: Alondra Santos on camera
| Person | Country | Milestone | Age / Stat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sawsan Ahmed | United States | Broward College's youngest graduate, at 12, in December 2021 | Age 12 |
| Alondra Santos | United States | Reaching the America's Got Talent semi-finals at 13 as a mariachi singer | Age 13 |
| Arvind Mahankali | United States | Won the 2013 Scripps National Spelling Bee at 13 | Age 13 |
| Kerry Close | United States | Won the 2006 Scripps National Spelling Bee at 13 | Age 13 |
| Shania Muhammad | United States | Langston University's youngest graduate, at 15 | Age 15 |
What is documented — and what is not
✓ Documented
- Reached the America's Got Talent season 10 semi-finals at thirteen, eliminated 9 September 2015
- Advanced from the quarter-finals of 11-12 August 2015 on the judges' vote
- Home town El Monte, California; act listed as mariachi singer
? Unverified, disputed or wrong
- Accounts differ on a golden buzzer; the season's list of recipients does not name her
- No song titles, backing ensemble, family or school details are documented
- Only a season results table was reachable for this record
- No information published about her after September 2015
Questions people ask about Alondra Santos
How far did Alondra Santos get on America's Got Talent?
The semi-finals of season 10, in 2015. She was eliminated on 9 September.
How old was Alondra Santos?
Thirteen during the 2015 season. No source in this record gives her date of birth.
Where is she from?
El Monte, California.
Did Alondra Santos get a golden buzzer?
The season's list of golden buzzer recipients does not include her, though some accounts say otherwise. The results tables record her advancing on the judges' vote in the quarter-finals.
What did she perform?
Mariachi. The sources used here do not name her song choices.
Who won that season?
Paul Zerdin, a ventriloquist from London, with the comedian Drew Lynch as runner-up.
Is Alondra Santos on Wikipedia?
Not with an article of her own. She appears in the results tables for America's Got Talent season 10.
Where is Alondra Santos now?
No source in this record states this. Nothing after September 2015 appears here.
Quick quiz: how well do you know Alondra’s story?
What kind of music did Alondra Santos perform on AGT?
How did she get through the quarter-finals?
Which city is she from?
Sources
- America's Got Talent season 10 - results and elimination tables — Wikipedia, 2026-09-22
Checked by the Geniuses.club editorial team. Ages are given as of September 2026.
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