The golden buzzer
Season 10 handed out four golden buzzers at the audition stage, to the comedian Drew Lynch, the dance duo Freckled Sky, the gospel singer Sharon Irving and to Baril. Three more went to Paul Zerdin, The Craig Lewis Band and Siro-A at the Judge Cuts, pressed by the guest judges Marlon Wayans, Michael Bublé and Piers Morgan.
The buzzer is a promotion rather than a prize: it moves an act straight into the live rounds and stops the audition there. Of the seven acts that received one in 2015, the eventual winner was among them, which is the reason the gesture carries the weight it does.
The run through the live rounds
Baril performed in the second week of quarter-finals, broadcast on 18 and 19 August 2015, and advanced. She was eliminated in the semi-finals on 2 September.
That is two live rounds survived in front of a national audience, at eleven, singing repertoire written for adult voices. The results tables record the outcome and not the programme; no aria, no judge's comment and no vote share for her is preserved in the sources gathered here.
The season around her
Season 10 ran from 26 May to 16 September 2015 on NBC, hosted by Nick Cannon, with Howard Stern, Mel B, Heidi Klum and Howie Mandel judging. It was Stern's last season on the panel.
The winner was Paul Zerdin, a forty-two-year-old ventriloquist from London; Drew Lynch, a twenty-three-year-old comedian from Las Vegas, was runner-up; the mentalist Oz Pearlman came third. The final also included the magician Piff the Magic Dragon and the ladder acrobat Uzeyer Novruzov. Baril stopped one round before that group.
What is documented — and what is not
Firm: her age of eleven, her home town of Drexel Hill in Pennsylvania, her act as an opera singer, the audition golden buzzer, the quarter-final on 18 and 19 August 2015 and the semi-final elimination on 2 September.
Not documented in the sources gathered here: which judge pressed the buzzer, what she sang, her family, her teacher, her school, and anything since September 2015. The research note for this page recorded that only a season results table was reachable, and that limitation stands.
Why child opera singers are treated differently
A young voice in classical singing is a different instrument from the adult one it will become, and the conventional advice in vocal training is caution about repertoire and volume before the voice settles. Television competition pushes in the opposite direction, because the format rewards the biggest sound in the room.
None of that is a judgement on Baril's season, which the record shows was a strong one: chosen by the panel at the auditions, through the quarter-finals on the public vote, and out in the last twenty. It is the reason, though, that the careers of child opera singers on talent shows are unusually hard to trace afterwards, and in her case the sources gathered here do not trace it at all.
Watch: Arielle Baril on camera
| Person | Country | Milestone | Age / Stat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Li-sa-X | Japan | Viral shred guitar covers from the age of eight | Age 0 |
| Olly Pearson | United Kingdom | Fourth place in the Britain's Got Talent 2025 final | Age 0 |
| Arielle Baril | United States | Golden buzzer at the America's Got Talent 2015 auditions, aged 11 | Age 11 |
| Calysta Bevier | United States | Winning Simon Cowell's Golden Buzzer on America's Got Talent at 16 (2016) | Age 16 |
| Ayla Tesler-Mabé | Canada | Viral guitar covers; Fender endorsee | — |
What is documented — and what is not
✓ Documented
- Golden buzzer at the America's Got Talent season 10 auditions, aged eleven
- Advanced from the quarter-finals of 18-19 August 2015 and was eliminated in the semi-finals on 2 September
- Home town Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania; act listed as opera singer
? Unverified, disputed or wrong
- The judge who pressed the buzzer is not named in these sources
- No repertoire, vote share or judges' comments are recorded
- Only a season results table was reachable for this record
- No information published about her after September 2015
Questions people ask about Arielle Baril
What did Arielle Baril do on America's Got Talent?
She received a golden buzzer at the 2015 auditions as an eleven-year-old opera singer and reached the semi-finals.
How old was Arielle Baril?
Eleven during season 10 in 2015. No source in this record gives her date of birth.
Where is she from?
Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania.
Who gave her the golden buzzer?
The judging panel, at the audition stage. The sources used here do not name the individual judge.
How far did she get?
The semi-finals. She advanced from the quarter-finals in August 2015 and was eliminated on 2 September.
Who won that season?
Paul Zerdin, a ventriloquist, with the comedian Drew Lynch as runner-up.
Is Arielle Baril on Wikipedia?
Not with an article of her own. She appears in the results tables for America's Got Talent season 10.
Where is Arielle Baril now?
No source in this record states this. Nothing after September 2015 appears here.
Quick quiz: how well do you know Arielle’s story?
What kind of singer is Arielle Baril?
How far did she get on America's Got Talent season 10?
Who won that season?
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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