Howie Mandel might have thought that she could be a potential winner when he pressed the Golden Buzzer. She did impress the judges and the audience alike from the word go with her original song "I Don't Know My Name" in the "America's Got Talent" (2016) Season 11 audition, and there was no stopping since then. We are talking about Grace VanderWaal who walked away with the $1 million prize money and the AGT 2016 title.
Going straight to "America's Got Talent" (2016) Season 11 results declaration, it was a pain waiting for the host to declare the name of the winner. Like any other such talent show, the winner was announced last in Wednesday's episode.
Contestants were put up against each other in the process of finding out the top five acts America has chosen. The first two up were Tape Face and Sal Valentinetti, and Valentinetti won. Then Jon Dorenbos beat Linkin Bridge, Grace VanderWaal defeated Sofie Dossi, The Clairvoyants won against Viktor Kee, and Brian Justin Crum had edge over Laura Bretan.
The next stage was finding out the top three. Sal Valentinetti exit after being placed at the fifth place and Brian Justin Crum was placed fourth, leaving Grace VanderWaal, Jon Dorenbos, and The Clairvoyants in the fray for the title.
Then Nick Cannon announced that it was a close competition with the top three acts separated by less than 1 percent vote. Then it was time to announce the third place. The host called out Jon Dorenbos, leaving The Clairvoyants and Grace VanderWaal for the title, but only one would win.
After a long wait, the winner of "America's Got Talent" (2016) Season 11 was announced. It was Grace VanderWaal, the wonder girl who had been enthralling the audience with her original songs ever since she stepped onto the stage of the talent show.
The 12-year-old singer-songwriter from Suffern, New York, brought a sense of nostalgia earlier in the night by singing "I Don't Know My Name" that she sang in the audition. She sang with even more vigour, and it appeared like the name of the winner was already written when she rendered it.
Earlier in the night, Sal Valentinetti performed The Four Seasons' "December 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" with the cast of the Broadway musical Jersey Boys, before Tape Face put up a performance featuring Jon Dorenbos, Brian Justin Crum, Viktor Kee, and a member from Linkin Bridge.
Then Brian Justin Crum sang Radiohead's "Creep", and Laura Bretan performed with Italian pop group Il Volo. It featured fellow contestants Sofie Dossi and Viktor Kee. Linkin Bridge sang Lukas Graham's "7 Years," before The Clairvoyants brought Paula Abdul for their performance. Then Jon Dorenbos joined with yet another "is it real?" trick.
Video: Grace VanderWaal's winning moment
