America's Got Talent

America's Got Talent kicked off season six in Los Angeles last night with Mr. Mariah Carey back, trying to make some money for the family, while Mariah tends for her twins.

We were treated to a pair of recaps, one of where the show is headed and one of former winners. I already forgot who Michael Grimm was because Jackie Evanco has gotten the eyes of Oprah. Has any of the America's Got Talent contestants maintained a real Las Vegas show? I was worried that so many singing acts made it to the finals last season.

When I think of a Las Vegas act, I'm expecting something in the caliber of Blue Man Group or Cirque du Solei.

Piers, Sharon, and Howie were excited about starting near Hollywood. The audience was ready to boo the teams of horrible contestants as the germaphobic Howie ignored every hand possible. It seemed interesting that the producers decided to spend the first episode with both Los Angeles and Atlanta. If they didn't force a commercial during the stun gun juggler, the two audition cities would have introduced one or two more acts.

So, who stood out?

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Two days after his wife was found dead, an America's Got Talent contestant named Joe Finley has made a public plea: Someone killed her!

Laura Finley was found dead in a stairwell at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles on early Saturday morning. She was in town because Joe wanted to audition for the NBC competition.

Considered a person of interest, Joe was actually arrested for drug possession the day Laura died. He's admitted both he and his wife were on ecstasy the night she was found and that he last saw Laura alive around 3 a.m. on Saturday.

Her body was discovered five and a half hours later.

"Somebody threw her off that railing," Joe told TMZ today, adding that Laura's death was "100% not an accident" and, of course, that he did not kill her.

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In an episode upset that THG never saw coming, Michael Grimm was named the winner of America's Got Talent last night.

Heck, we didn't even include the singer in our reader poll this week, as we asked fans to choose between Jackie Evancho (who finished second) and Prince Poppycock (who finished fourth). Perhaps we should stick to making fun of Kate Gosselin and get out of the prediction business.

Did you vote for Michael Grimm as the America's Got Talent champion?

Grimm takes home $1 million for his victory and will headline a show in Las Vegas.

A Mississippi native, the blues crooner says he'll use some of that money to purchase a home for his grandparents, who lost everything in Hurricane Katrina. Looks like America may have chosen a deserving winner after all.

Sorry, Prince Poppycock. No offense, Michael Grimm. You really are very good, Fighting Gravity.

But last night's America's Got Talent performance show should have proved that Jackie Evancho deserves to the next champion of this reality competition.

The young artist - who describes herself as a "classical crossover singer" and says she could do pop songs, too - put on another incredible performance. We don't understand the words, but we know a once-in-a-generation-talent when we see it. Watch now:

America's Got Talent Finals

Should Evancho walk away with the title?

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Alice Tan Ridley is moving on!

The mother of Oscar-winning actress Gabourey Sidibe first impressed America's Got Talent viewers and judges with her audition in mid-June.

Since then, the woman who formerly sang in NYC subway stations has proven to be more than a one-hit wonder - and last night fans rewarded Ridley by voting her into the semifinals. Judges Piers Morgan and Howie Mandell approved of the decision.

Morgan referred to Alice as "brilliant," while Mandell agrees: "Every time she moves on, it’s heartwarming and moving."

In other America's Got Talent news, dancers AscenDance, singer Michael Grimm and magician Antonio Restivo also moved on to the next round.

If Ridley takes home the crown, she'll actually improve upon the fortunes of Susan Boyle, who finished second on Britain's Got Talent. Best of luck, Alice!

It's true, folks: America's Got Talent - and her name is Alice Tan Ridley!

The 58-year old singer shocked judges with her vocal range on last night's audition show, taking to the stage in New York City and explaining that she typically sings for city subway riders.

What else is unique about Ridley? She's the other of Oscar-nominated actress Gabourey Sidibe. Seriously! Watch and be amazed now:

Alice Tan Ridley on America's Got Talent

Kentucky native Kevin Skinner, an unemployed farmhand and longtime musician, was named the winner of NBC’s America’s Got Talent last night. Yee haw!

He beat out opera singer Barbara Padilla, his final competitor after almost 100,000 hopefuls auditioned for the fourth season of the NBC talent show.

“My heart was pounding, almost to the point that I thought it was going to come out of my chest,” Skinner said after winning the $1 million prize.

“I had never experienced anything like that and probably never will again, I would say, that dramatic. It’s the greatest feeling. I’m 35, so I have been chasing the dream for a while, and it hasn’t come true. It’s more than words can explain.”

Kevin Skinner has Got the most Talent in America!

Judge Sharon Osbourne summed up Kevin Skinner’s win: “Apparently, it was a really huge win, too. It’s just such a feel-good story that people just want him to win because he’s the everyman. All his life he’s been the underdog."

"He’s so genuine, what you see is what you get. He’s not contrived. So many people that come on this show kind of get sophisticated and try to play the game.”

Like Britain’s Got Talent sensation Susan Boyle, who performed on the AGT finale in her American musical debut, Kevin Skinner became an viral video star long before he took home the title yesterday evening. Congrats again, K!

Love Simon Cowell or hate him, you've gotta admit this: people love his shows.

We're not even talking about American Idol, although a few million fans seem to enjoy that program, too. It's Cowell's latest brain child, America's Got Talent, that has the nation buzzing. The cantakerous Brit has even been shocked by such success.

"To be honest, we were not expecting it to do as well as it did," he told the New York Post.

Some of the show's popularity may be due to German favorite and ex-Baywatch star, David Hasselhoff. Simon hopes he can convince Kit's former owner to return as a judge, despite the fact that the Hoff has said he was only going to do the gig for one season.

"I like this panel, I think they're going to get more interesting," Simon said of Hasselhoff, Brandy, and Piers Morgan.

Of course, being an Idol judge himself, Cowel admits he's seen some acts on his own show that make him wish he were the one passing his own brand of bombastic judgment.

"It's been very tempting," says Cowell. "There have been times when I've watched the show and thought to myself, 'God I wish I was judging this.'"

America's Got Talent ends tomorrow with the crowning of a $1 million winner - but expect it to return in the future.