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Poet makes history by winning ‘America’ Got Talent’ and promoting spoken word art

Poet Brandon Leake already felt like a winner by just making it to the ‘America’s Got Talent’ finale on Wednesday. Prior to his audition, no spoken word artist had ever been a contestant on the show, but it didn’t take long for him to impress the judges and earn Howie Mandel’s golden buzzer. That turned out to only be the beginning for Leake, as he ended up winning the entire competition. As the winner he will receive $1,000,000 and a headlining residency at the Luxor in Las Vegas. But for Leake, he was just happy to promote the spoken word artform. He told host Terry Crews, “Man, this is bigger than just me, this is a huge win for the spoken word community, for an art form that has not been on the mainstream ever to have a chance to win ‘America's Got Talent’ is bigger than anything.

Video transcript

BRANDON LEAKE: Man, bigger than just me, this is a huge win for the spoken word community. For an art form that has not been on the main stream ever, to have a chance to win "America's Got Talent" is bigger than anything.

- Poet Brandon Leake already felt like a winner by just making it to the "American's Got Talent" finale on Wednesday. Prior to his audition, no spoken word artist had ever been on the show. But it didn't take long for him to impress the judges and earn Howie Mandel's golden buzzer. But that turned out to only be the beginning for Brandon.

TERRY CREWS: The winner of the one million dollars and the star of the headline show in Las Vegas is--

[CHATTER]

Brandon Leake!

[CHEERING]

Brandon!

- Brandon's spoken word performances touched audiences, and his powerful poems about the Black Lives Matter movement and raising his adorable infant daughter struck a chord with viewers, one of whom tweeted, very proud of poet and teacher Brandon Leake for winning AGT. It's so important for young people to learn how to express themselves creatively. Props to Brandon for staying true to himself, his family, and his faith throughout the show.

Now, Brandon's a million dollars richer and will have his own show at the Luxor in Las Vegas.

[CHEERING]

TERRY CREWS: America, give it up one more time for your winner! What a ride it's been this season. Thanks to Howie, Sofia, and Heidi. And of course, big thanks and lots of love to Simon Cowell.

[WHIRL]