Last week, NBC’s hit series America’s Got Talent wrapped up its 10th season with the crowning of a new winner who rose above to walk away with the series’ top honor.
After several eliminations throughout the night, it all came down to two competitors, comedian Drew Lynch and ventriloquist Paul Zerdin. Only one act could walk away with the series’ top honor. In the end, Zerdin got the edge on the young comedian and walked away with the $1 million prize!
Last week a few fellow bloggers/reporters were able to interview the winner Paul Zerdin about his win. Here are a few questions and answers.
Can you speak a little bit about what was going through your mind as you awaited the final results? And what your initial reaction was when Nick announced your name as the Season 10 Champion? – Cody Schultz from hiddenremote.com
Well, when it was whittled down to myself and Drew I thought that Drew would win it definitely. I thought he was an amazing comedian. Very, very, very lovable character — personality. The audience loved him in the theater and, you know, out and about in America.
And I thought that he was going to win it. So I was preparing in my head what I would say to him before I got told to get off the stage. And I was going to say to him, you know, well done. The best man won. You’re a great act and congratulations.
And I thought I would be runner up. And then when they said my name, my heart skipped a beat. And it took a bit of a – it took a moment to sink in really. I still the feel the same really.
It’s a mixture of jetlag, lack of sleep, and euphoria all together — which, you know, I feel very happy about it. And I’m still slightly lost for words when people ask me about it now like you have done.
You had some tremendous performances throughout the season. So looking back is there any performance that stands out as your personal favorite? And what was it about that performance that made it your stand out above the rest? – Cody Schultz from hiddenremote.com
Well, I think, well, probably my first audition at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood would stand out for me because it was the first one. And I just thought, I don’t know what’s going to happen here. It could go horribly wrong, or it could go well.
And luckily it went well. And I got a standing ovation from the judges and from the audience in the theater. And so I thought, wow that’s a great reaction and what a great start.
So that filled me with confidence. And I think helped me enormously to carry on and think that I could maybe, you know, go far. I didn’t ever think I could win it. But I thought I could get maybe, you know, quite a bit further in the competition.
That was a big moment for me. And also having Howie last week in the semifinal be my human dummy. I mean that was a bit of a moment because he was such a great sport. He had no idea what was going to happen.
And I was so lucky the way that he reacted. Because he could have reacted so differently. But he – whatever he did, he did it just beautifully. And I love doing that piece because I can control – I do it from, you know, I’ll be doing it in my show in Las Vegas where I’ll get a couple out of the audience and I — a married couple is what I usually do — and I turn them into my dummies.
And I get them doing, you know, crazy things. And it’s great being able to sort of control them. But you’re, of course, you’re not really in control. You control their voices. But it’s very much up to the individuals how they react. And everyone reacts differently.
But that’s what I love. I love the danger of that and the fact that you can adlib. And Howie Mandel was absolutely brilliant.
So I’m curious to know is there anything throughout your time spent in the competition that you found that you were surprised to learn about yourself as a performer? – Kristyn Clarke from Pop Culture Madness
Well, I think when you come to perform at Radio City — and I’ve been lucky enough to perform all over the place, all around the world doing different sorts of gigs and things — no gig has ever been quite as big as Radio City.
I mean that theater holds just under 6,000, I think it is. And even though I think of myself as a, you know, a fairly polished performer and, you know, pretty experienced, I still had jitters in my stomach. I had butterflies just before I started my performance.
I’m not a performer that’s like a jabbering nervous wreck before I go on. I’ve worked with some comics over the years who just spend all day worrying about the gig that night. And I’ve always thought that’s crazy. That’s just going to ruin your day. And I’m, you know, I work a lot and perform a lot. And I just thought, I can’t go through life just worrying about it. I think that’s ridiculous. But I try and channel the nervous energy.
So I would just get a little kind of buzz just before I started. Before I walked out on the stage at Radio City. But I remember being slightly surprised that, you know, I did have that slight jitter.
And I just kept saying to myself, “Right. Come on. Keep it cool. Keep it cool. Look like you’re in control. Just go out there.” And also sometimes you’re worrying about so much because you’re very limited with time. You don’t have much time. You’ve got to try and make an impact when you’re on a live TV show and you want to try and make the best impression you can.
You want to impress the judges. You want the audience at home to love what you’re doing. And you want a great – you want great feedback from the theater audience as well. And to try and do that in like two minutes — or whatever it is — is quite hard.
And so I – you’re worrying about it. Or and you don’t want to overrun because you’re on live television — which when you think about it, is quite – it’s quite a big deal when you’re right there in the moment.
