America’s Got Talent named a new winner Wednesday during a star-studded season 20 finale: Jessica Sanchez, who walks away from the reality TV competition with $1 million.
Sanchez won after several rounds of competition, millions of votes from the public, and championing from judges Mel B, Simon Cowell, Howie Mandel, and Sofia Vergara, who previously awarded Sanchez a Golden Buzzer after her moving audition with Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things.”
“This is amazing,” Sanchez said when host Terry Crews announced her name.
Sanchez had long stood out, for her voice, yes, but also because she was very pregnant — nine months in the finals, she said — and because she’d been on the show before. She said before stepping onto the stage that, when she was only 10, she auditioned for the very first season of the show in 2006.
The judges were happy to see her back. Besides Vergara, Cowell noted in the semifinals that he’s heard Sanchez was too sick to perform just before she left him “blown away” with Alex Warren’s “Ordinary.” She sang Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ “Die With a Smile” in the final round.
Now in its 20th season, the judges had repeatedly told all the contestants that they needed to step up their game. But, in the end, it was what viewers thought that mattered. They were the ones who voted on those final performances and chose the new champion.
Singers Jourdan Blue and Leo High School Choir, as well as freestyle rapper Chris Turner and LED dance group LightWire were the last five standing. LightWire came in fifth, Leo finished fourth, Blue in third, and freestyle rapper Chris Turner in second.
Before that, rappers Mama Duke and Micah Palace, aerial duo Sirca Marea, “Blackgrass Brothercana” musician Steve Ray Ladson, and dancers Team Recycled were called onstage only to be eliminated.
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Richard Goodall, who won the last season of the show, was one of the many performers who took the stage on the season finale. Leona Lewis, Aloe Blacc, Ciara, and Manuel Turizo were among the other stars who appeared.
In fact, most of the episode was packed with celebrities, including some performing along with the finalists, including Lewis’ ethereal collaboration with LightWire.
