Singing janitor, fan favorite, and this season’s champion: Richard Goodall is the new champion of America’s Got Talent.
The powerhouse vocalist, who won Heidi Klum’s Golden Buzzer award earlier in the competition, heard her name called, beating out nine other finalists, on Tuesday night’s broadcast.
As glitter rained down on him, Goodall was left in tears as AGT season 19 came to a close. “Simon (Cowell) says, ‘Two minutes changes your life,'” he said. “My life changed.”
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Proving that romance isn’t dead, Goodall married his fiancée, Angie Vannoven, the week before the finals. “Anne, we did it,” he yelled to his wife as the AGT celebration began.
“Richard, I’m so excited,” Krum exclaimed.
Throughout her triumphant stint on AGT, Goodall gained national attention with her covers of Michael Bolton’s power ballad “How Am I Supposed to Live Without You,” Survivor’s ultimate fight song “Eye of the Tiger” and Journey’s “Faithfully.”
Life imitated art during the final episode, when Goodall teamed up with Journey’s Neal Schon to perform “Don’t Stop Believin’,” the song he performed in the first round of auditions.
The 55-year-old works as an elementary school janitor by day and now enjoys bragging rights as well as AGT’s $1 million prize.
“Thankfully, this is a song I’ve been singing for Anne for a long time,” Goodall told NBC about his decision to sing “Faithful.” “I started with Journey. I wanted to end the competition with Journey. And I never expected that I’d be a big footnote at the end of the book… It’s amazing.”
Following her performance of “Faithful” last week, the entire venue erupted in a standing ovation. “I felt the energy behind you, honestly, from the moment you came on the show,” Simon Cowell said. “We all need heroes right now and you are our hero.”
Howie Mandel made a bold prediction: “I think you sang to yourself a million dollars.” And he was right.
Check out the big announcement below:
