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| Darci Lynne Farmer won NBC's "America's Got Talent" last night (NBC Photo). |
UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. — The votes are in and America has
crowned 12-year-old singing ventriloquist Darci Lynne Farmer from Oklahoma City,
Okla., as the season 12 winner of the most-watched season in the 12-year
history of summer’s #1 show, NBC’s “America’s Got Talent.”
Farmer received the most votes ever for a finale show in
“AGT” history and won viewers over with her incredible performance of the
Beatles’ classic “With a Little Help From My Friends” alongside her puppets,
Oscar and Petunia. She faced tough competition with the other Top 10 finalists,
including singer Evie Clair, dance group Diavolo, singer Chase Goehring, singer
Angelica Hale, singer Mandy Harvey, comedian Preacher Lawson, dance group Light
Balance, singer Kechi and animal act Sara and Hero. Last night’s live telecast
hit a three-year high in 18-49 and a six-year Tuesday high in total viewers.
This season of “America’s Got Talent” concluded tonight at
the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood with a star-studded live finale featuring
performances by the 10 finalists along with Kelly Clarkson, Shania Twain, Derek
Hough, James Arthur, Kevin Nealon, Jeff Dunham and season two winner Terry
Fator.
In her audition earlier this season, Farmer wowed Mel B and
received her Golden Buzzer for her incredible rendition of Ella Fitzgerald’s
“Summertime” with puppet Petunia. In 24 hours, her audition video amassed 105
million views on Facebook, and within 30 hours of broadcast she became the most
socially viewed “AGT” performer in series history. Since then, Farmer has
received 306 million views to date across all social platforms, including
Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Farmer, who considers herself shy, began singing at 6 years
old and her mother entered her into a pageant in the hope that it would give
her daughter confidence. After her first performance, Farmer went on to win
multiple talent contests and pageants by the age of 10. Farmer was then
inspired by a ventriloquist at a pageant and decided to give it a try. She has
since won multiple state and national talent contests for ventriloquism and has
appeared on TV around the world. Due to her success as a ventriloquist, she
recently gave up being a gymnast to pursue her love for performing.
Farmer’s other memorable performances this season included
her rendition of Jackson 5’s “Who’s Loving You” in the Quarter-Finals round
alongside her puppet Oscar, and in the Semi-Finals she performed Aretha
Franklin’s hit song “Natural Woman,” debuting her puppet Edna Doorknocker.
In addition to winning the $1 million grand prize, Farmer
will headline “America’s Got Talent Live” inside the PH Showroom at Planet
Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas on Friday, Nov. 3 and Saturday, Nov.
4 along with special season 12 guests: singer Angelica Hale, dance group Light
Balance and comedian Preacher Lawson. Tickets for “America’s Got Talent Live”
at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas on Nov. 3-4 will go on
sale Friday, Sept. 22 at 10 a.m. PT. A special pre-sale will be held from 10
a.m. to 10 p.m. PT on Thursday, Sept. 21. Tickets can be purchased online at
www.AGTvegas.com or by phone at (702) 777-2782 or (855) 234-7469.
Auditions for the next season of “America’s Got Talent” are
currently underway. Interested acts can submit an audition online or register
for one of the upcoming audition cities at www.AGTAuditions.com. Open calls for
season 13 of “America’s Got Talent” will kick off in Orlando, Fla., on Nov. 5
and will make the following stops throughout the country: Cincinnati, Ohio, on
Nov. 14; Savannah, Ga., on Nov. 19; Milwaukee, Wisc., on Dec. 3; Houston,
Texas, on Dec. 9; Las Vegas, Nev., on Dec. 13; New York, N.Y., on Dec. 17;
Nashville, Tenn., on Jan. 13; and Los Angeles, Calif., on Feb. 3.
In its 12th season, “America’s Got Talent” delivered its
most watched season ever, averaging 15.7 million viewers in “live plus seven
day” averages from Nielsen Media Research for Tuesday and Wednesday originals,
a +14% increase versus last summer. In adults 18-49, “AGT” is up year to year
by +10% (3.4 vs. 3.1), making this its highest-rated season since 2013. For the
full 2016-17 season, “AGT” is the #4 most-watched entertainment series on
television, behind only “The Big Bang Theory,” “NCIS” and “The Walking Dead.”
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