After a thrilling six months in Season 10 of “America’s Got Talent”, audience members around the nation were ecstatic to hear that ventriloquist Paul Zerdin had won during the finale on Wednesday, September 16, 2015.
“The whole time I was sitting at the edge of my seat,” says junior Jessica Antonacci.
The night started with a recap of the night before in which the finalists had their last chances to win over America’s heart. The final 10 included Oz Pearlman, Drew Lynch, The Professional Regurgitator, Derek Hughes, Gary Vider, Benton Blunt, Piff the Magic Dragon, Uzeyer Novruzov, and The CraigLewis Band. The camera cut from the recap to the line up for the top 10 as they all stood on stage awaiting their fate, which would still be two hours away.
Following that came wonderful performances from the finalists, other celebrities and past winners.
The CraigLewis Band sang Foreigner’s “I Want To Know What Love Is” alongside famous gospel singer Yolanda Adams.
Pearlman wowed the crowd with his mentalist skills as he introduced Hughes and season 9 winner magician Matt Fanco.
Novruzov brought back and collaborated with Freelusion, who were voted off in the semi-finals.
After their performance, Novruzov mentioned how even though he was injured after falling off one of his ladders, he still performed as a way to say thank you to his fans for saving him and bringing him through to the finals.
The Professional Regurgitator teamed up with Penn and Teller for some interesting magic, and Blunt performed with Rachel Platten, singing “Fight Song” of her new album.
“‘Fight Song’ is one of my favorite songs ever, so seeing my favorite act sing it with Rachel Platten blew me away,” says senior Krista Zboray.
The last of the performances was Zerdin doing his ventriloquist act with Season 2 winner Terry Fater, which brought down the house with laughter.
After a fun and exciting hour of performances, the acts lined up once again, this time to hear who would be in the top five.
Sitting on the edge of their seats, America listened as Lynch, Zerdin, The Professional Regurgitator, and The CraigLewis Band were announced safe. They had qualified and were moving on to the top 5.
The crowd went crazy, but it was not over yet.
One by one, each of the remaining acts was voted off until two were left standing.
Lynch and Zerdin were the top two finalists. Each of them had their own experience to share with everyone in the audience before the final result was called.
Nick Cannon flipped open the final result and sparks flew (literally) as Zerdin’s name flashed up on the screen.
The whole night included a lot of laughter and tears, and none were shorted in that moment.
As the winner of “America’s Got Talent”, Zerdin will receive one million dollars as well as a headlining show in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Following what has to be one of the best seasons of AGT ever, this finale was certainly the icing on the cake.
What are you looking forward to seeing on AGT next year?