If one were to name the biggest talent of America's Got Talent, it would probably be its ability to keep audiences hooked to their TVs after eleven seasons on the air, a point when most shows are struggling to keep afloat. But then, not every TV show can boast a mime that actually makes people laugh. (Not something most would presume a winning element, either.) Last night's finals proved that many millions of people want mimes and singers and magicians around. And now we know who they wanted the most: Grace VanderWaal.
After an hour and 35 minutes of having the top 10 acts perform again, either with each other or with well known stars like Stevie Nicks and the cast of the Broadway show Jersey Boys, the show finally got down to the business of slowly narrowing down the finalists. By the time we got to the top five acts for this season, the judges looked shocked and a little bit hurt every time someone got cut. Finally it came down to two acts in the last four minutes of America's Got Talent: The Clairvoyants and Grace VanderWaal. The winner, Grace VanderWaal, was gifted with a cool $1 million, plus a headlining show in Las Vegas. Take a look at her finale performance from last night's live broadcast.
You remember how on American Idol the winner got to sing a song that was written especially for them when they were declared the reigning American Idol? Well, it's a good thing they don't have a final performance by the winner on America's Got Talent, because poor little Grace was a mess when host Nick Cannon announced her as the winner. The tears immediately started flowing, and these weren't pretty demure little tears, either. The girl was bawling on that stage. Really, people, these were loud, snot-inducing cries; Grace would have been in zero condition to sing another one of her original tunes and play her adorable ukulele.
The 12-year-old from Suffern, New York managed to stun judges and audiences alike with her self-penned songs, assured performances and haunting vocals. After her first audition in front of judges Howie Mandel, Mel B., Heidi Klum and Simon Cowell, Cowell compared her to a young Taylor Swift. It looks like those who tuned in to America's Got Talent and decided to vote agreed with him. Grace VanderWaal beat out other fantastically popular acts like contortionist Sofie Dossi, juggler Viktor Kee, magician Jon Dorenbos and mind-readers The Clairvoyants.
Unfortunately, a winner being chosen means that we won't have America's Got Talent to tune into next week. Have no fear, though, as it was announced in August that the reality competition would be back for Season 12, and we'll presumably see it premiering in May of 2017. In the meantime, check out everything coming to TV in the near future with our fall premiere schedule.
