Finally, the Season 8 winner of “America’s Got Talent” was revealed at a star-studded results show, with the winner making show history.
- At the top of the show, held at Radio City Music Hall, the legendary Rockettes performed a routine that involved LED lights flashing different colors on their outfits.
- Icona Pop performed two of their hits, “I Don’t Care” and “All Night.” They were surrounded by red lasers and dancers dressed in black. Melodically, the two songs aren’t that different, which is obvious when you hear them together.
- A montage showed behind-the-scenes of the judges, with jokes such as Howie Mandel attempting to learn German for Heidi Klum, and making fun of Mel B.’s accent.
- Cami Bradley performed with Gavin DeGraw, both of them starting at the piano for “Not Over You” and then standing to do the upbeat “Best I Ever Had.” She was a bit overshadowed him, but that could be because she’s not used to singing duets.
- Kinichi Ebina performed a routine that had him interpreting a classical music piece, matching his movements to the feel of the orchestral music. Then, the musicians rose to the stage on a platform, accompanied by Il Divo, accompanied by a female vocalist, Heather Headley, all of them singing Elton John’s “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” from “The Lion King,” in Italian. A reaction shot showed Simon Cowell in the audience.
- Next, Taylor Williamson performed a skit with James Lipton of the famous show, “Inside the Actor’s Studio,” with him interviewing him. Cute. At the close of it, Lipton introduced a montage showing the funniest moments involving host Nick Cannon from this season.
- Collins Key performed a magic act with the help of Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb from NBC’s “The Today Show.” He had Kathie Lee sign an envelope and then sit on it. He asked Hoda to randomly pick a page from her own book and give the page number and the first word on the page. Next, he had Kathie Lee pick a random dollar bill from a stack of ones. Finally, he had Kathie Lee open the envelope and revealed the torn page from the book, with the word in question written on it, and the serial number of the dollar bill. It was an act he’d done in an earlier round with the judges, but it was still stunningly surprising.
- In a montage, we saw the Top 6 hanging out with the judges after last night’s performance show.
- Forte performed the Josh Groban song “To Where You Are” and were then joined by him onstage. They followed this by Groban’s song, “Brave.” The four of them were a great fit for each other’s voices.
- Next, Jimmy Rose sang “I Hold On” with the song’s singer, Dierks Bentley. They stood beside each other, singing and playing guitar. Afterward, Dierks said that Jimmy is doing country proud.
- Another montage showed highlights from the whole season, including some acts that have since been cut, and the touching moment when one contestant proposed to his girlfriend at the auditions.
- Earth, Wind and Fire played their classic hit “September” and a song, “My Promise,” from their new album, “Now, Then and Forever.” They got the audience — and the judges — moving and grooving.
- Nick Cannon brought the six finalists to center stage for the first result. The first act leaving the competition, Nick announced, was singer Cami Bradley. Howie Mandel told her, “The dream is just beginning for you. I think you’re a star.”
- Then the fifth-place act was announced: magician Collins Key. He said it’s only the beginning of his journey and thanked those who voted for him. Howard Stern praised him for being so cool, calm and collected at only 17.
- After a commercial break, Nick revealed the next result. The fact in fourth place, Nick said, was … classical singing group Forte! There was audible booing in the audience, but a reaction shot of Howard showed him looking at Howie, apparently delighted. Both of them were angling for a non-singing act to win. Heidi, Forte’s biggest fan on the judging panel, told them that she will follow their group wherever they go.
- Country singer Luke Bryan sang his hit, “That’s My Kind of Night,” one of those semi-bad boy party songs that are so popular in country these days.
- Then, it was time to learn who placed third. That act, Nick revealed, was Jimmy Rose. Looks like Howard and Howie would get their wish. They again smiled at each other with obvious delight. Mel B. said that he has inspired her, and she also used the moment to drop in the information that her own single was going to be dropping tomorrow. Wow. That was kind of tacky.
- This meant it was down to comedian Taylor Williamson and dancer Kenichi Ebina. But the results would come until after a break.
- Asked about the final two, Howie said that both acts deserved to win, and he was glad they were at the top, because “AGT” is about variety. Finally, after viewing a retrospective video on both of them, Nick announced the winner of Season 8… the first dance act to win “America’s Got Talent,” Kenichi Ebina! Fireworks went off in teh background, and the audience cheered. Kenichi called it amazing and “crazy,” thanking his family, friends and fans for their support. Howard said, “We had a great season… We discovered a superstar.” He said, “Both of you are stupendous” and added, “America got it right.”
“America’s Got Talent” airs Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on NBC.