By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Wednesday, September 16, 2015
This was clearly not the year of the singer on the 10th season "America's Got Talent." Only two acts out of the top 10 crooned. And not a single dance troupe made the cut.
But there were two comics, three magician types and a couple of pure "extreme" circus acts.
And the winner? A ventriloquist named Paul Zerdin. This is the second time a ventriloquist has taken home the prize after Terry Fator, who was also a singer. Zerdin is more like Jeff Dunham, focused on characters and jokes alone.
Zerdin just beat out comic Drew Lynch, the inexplicably appealing stuttering comic who I didn't get at all. I hated him so much, I placed him last but he came in (!!!) second. That just boggles my mind.
He also finished ahead of my predicted winner, the entertaining mentalist Oz Pearlman.
I also predicted Atlanta's R&B duo The Craig Lewis Band coming in third. They ended up finishing fifth, which is respectable considering they just barely made the final 10 two weeks ago. If anything, their performances have been solidly consistent. (During the season finale, they got to sing a 1980s rock ballad "I Want To Know What Love Is" with gospel singer Yolanda Adams.)
The crazy Regurgitator came in fourth. I anticipated fifth place. That man was fun!
The show didn't identify the order of the bottom half.
And by the way, this was Howard Stern's final season. He will be greatly missed!
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