Darci Lynne Farmer, 12-Year-Old Singing Ventriloquist Wins 'America's Got Talent'

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.”

Elizabeth Cooper Launches Signature Cosmetics Line

LOS ANGELES, Calif.  –  Actress Elizabeth Cooper, who is known for her popular television talk show “The Elizabeth Cooper Show,” is launching her new organic line of cosmetics featuring all-natural and organic lipsticks and lip gloss.

Under an agreement with Vanessa Blake Cosmetics and Turning Point Broadcasting which produces “The Elizabeth Cooper Show,” Cooper is launching her Elizabeth Cooper line of cosmetics this month exclusively at www.ElizabethCooperLipCollection.com. The roll-out will feature a variety of organic lipsticks and lip glosses. They will include the lipstick colors Miss Defy, Elizabeth, Gilded Poppy and Sunset on the Rocks. The colors for the lip glosses will be Baby Girl, Baby Boy, Beach Campfire and Queen of Hearts.

“I am very proud to present these amazing lipsticks and glosses as part of a new line of cosmetics that demonstrate care attention to the environment while enhancing beauty and offering quality and style to its wearers,” Cooper said. “In creating this organic line of cosmetics, I’m giving consumers a luxurious way to show their style and their care for their skin with products with natural ingredients and without manmade chemicals and toxins.”

The Elizabeth Cooper line of products was created with meticulous care for each product’s ingredients, effectiveness and quality with final approval from the actress herself. The line’s unique blend of ingredients is the result of scientists and experts working together with Elizabeth Cooper to create a unique product line that is in keeping with her concern for the environment and for providing high-quality products that will enhance each person’s individual beauty and unique look.

“I have always sought the best quality cosmetic products for myself, having caused much sun damage to my skin as young girl,” she said. “So, I’m very proud to create a brand that is cruelty-free and organic that is very good for the skin and gives each one of us the ability to feel our best and look our best every time!”

The New Jersey native who appeared in the acclaimed film “Cell” last year with John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson, is set to appear in “Candles,” directed by John Swider (“Love Me True”) and starring John Schneider (“The Dukes of Hazzard”). She will also star in the upcoming film “Key Revenge,” directed by John R. Penn (“Oklahoma Faded Love,”) features Rebecca Olejniczak (“Ray Donovan”) and Sadie Katz (“Scorned”).

Cooper is host of her Roku talk show “The Elizabeth Cooper Show,” featuring celebrity guests and newsmakers, and the cooking show “Cooper’s Kitchen,” where she shares her love for cooking and recipes that make each dish a work of art. 

For more, visit www.ElizabethCooperLipcollection.com and www.TurningPointBroadcasting.com.

Hulu to Stream all 194 Classic 'Will & Grace' Episodes Under New Deal

The cast of "Will & Grace," from left Eric McCormack, Megan Mullaly, Debra Messing and Sean Hayes (NBC Photo).

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. — TV fans rejoice! For the first-time ever, all 194 episodes of the Emmy Award-winning pop-culture phenomenon “Will & Grace” will be available to stream and on-demand. The iconic series will be available on the NBC app, Hulu and on-demand through satellite, cable and telco pay TV providers, beginning Thursday, September 21, one week ahead of the return of “Will & Grace” on NBC.

Hulu will be the exclusive SVOD partner for the original eight seasons, which will also be available on the NBC App and pay TV providers with authentication.

The original eight seasons ran from 1998 to 2006, and in to addition quickly earning its place as a critic and fan favorite, “Will & Grace” was nominated for 83 Emmy Awards, winning 16 of them including Outstanding Comedy Series. This digital distribution deal, which will get 194 episodes of “Will & Grace” into nearly 100 million homes across platforms nationwide, marks an opportunity to introduce a new generation of audiences to original episodes of the show that have been largely unavailable for the past 11 years. The deal will go into effect one week before “Will & Grace” rejoins the NBC lineup with all new episodes Thursday, Sept. 28 at 9 p.m.; each week, following their broadcast airing, new episodes will also be available to stream across the aforementioned digital platforms.

“As we gear up for the launch of the upcoming season premiere, I can’t think of a better way to reintroduce ‘Will & Grace’ to the cultural zeitgeist than by giving audiences the opportunity to watch this historic and hilarious series wherever and whenever they want,” said NBC Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt. “With its witty comebacks, pop-culture references and social commentary, ‘Will & Grace’ is one of the most binge-able comedies in television history, and I am certain fans both old and new will jump on this opportunity to devour it.”

“There’s no question that ’Will & Grace’ has resonated with audiences since the series made its broadcast premiere. To be able to bring such an iconic show into the streaming universe for the first time ever is an opportunity we couldn’t pass up,” said Joel Stillerman, Chief Content Officer, Hulu. “This landmark deal will allow fans to re-watch their favorite moments ahead of the series premiere, as well as bring ‘Will & Grace’ and its cast of characters to a whole new audience.”

The new season of “Will & Grace” will begin its 16-episode run on September 28, 2017 and has already been picked up for a second season with 13 additional episodes. Both the original and new episodes of “Will & Grace” are written and executive produced by Max Mutchnick and David Kohan, and directed and executive produced by James Burrows.