America’s Got Talent: The Champions: Mumbai-based dance troupe V. Unbeatable wins season two


Dance troupe V. Unbeatable won America’s Got Talent: The Champions on Monday’s season two finale, earning the highest number of votes from show superfans.

The group’s 28 acrobatic dancers, who ranged in age from 12 to 27, wept, jumped for joy, punched the air and fell to the ground when they won.

‘Thank you so much,’ one dancer said, as golden confetti fell all around them, and the show’s judges joined them onstage. ‘This means the world to us.’

The crowd was thrilled for the Mumbai-based dancers, whom they’d earlier seen perform a propulsive routine accompanied by drummer Travis Barker of Blink-182.

As it ended, a dancer flew over Travis and grabbed a drumstick from his outstretched hand.

The audience rose to give V. Unbeatable a standing ovation, moved by their story and their performance.

Many of the group’s dancers had grown up in the slums, and they struggled to continue their craft, especially after the death of one of their leaders.

‘Life in Mumbai is very difficult, but being a part of V. Unbeatable gives us wings,’ a dancer said in voiceover during their auditions. ‘It allows us to fly.’

The group had won two Golden Buzzers during their time on AGT shows, and wowed viewers by throwing each other across the stage, walking up walls and performing synchronized flips.

Their tight, kinetic movements never failed to impress, so they had been bitterly disappointed to get cut after reaching fourth place in last year’s AGT semifinals.

The first time he saw them, judge Simon Cowell, 60, made a bold prediction about the group.

‘The show’s called America’s Got Talent, but really, it’s the world’s got talent,’ he said. ‘This is going to change your life. I really do believe that.’

Judge Howie Mandel, 64, was also blown away by their skill when he saw them do one insane routine, calling them ‘by far the best act that has ever graced any talent show.’

‘They have more passion and more dedicated than any group I’ve ever seen,’ he added.

In second place after V. Unbeatable were the death-defying acrobatic artists Duo Transcend, from Salt Lake City, Utah.

Tyler Butler-Figueroa, an 11-year-old violinist, took third, while flexibly voiced singer Marcelito Pomoy, was in fourth place, and risk-taking acrobats Sandou Trio Russian Bar earned fifth.

Shin Lim, the winner of last year’s AGT: Champions, also returned on Monday’s show, doing a card trick that referenced Justin Bieber’s song Baby, and working with mentalist Colin Cloud, who had the audience ‘send’ that song to judge Alesha Dixon, 41, while she was hypnotized.

The song reminded Alesha of her daughter Anaya, six months, who was then shown to be on a card Simon had been holding in his hands.

The band KISS opened the show by belting their song Rock And Roll All Nite, and smashing a guitar onstage, all part of a promotion for their final world tour, called End Of The Road.

They were followed by seven-year-old comedian JJ Pantano, who’d appeared on Champions earlier in the season, and grilled the judges in mock talk-show format.

JJ ate a cupcake in front of a dieting Simon, had judge Heidi Klum, 46, tell him a bad joke, and fell asleep when host Terry Crews, 51, read to him from a children’s book he’d illustrated.

The cast then paid tribute to Heidi, as a clip of her best moments on AGT was shown, among them the many times she had used her hands as binoculars to see contestants better.

Mash-ups brought Champions veterans together, with Marcelito singing We Are The Champions as British stormtrooper dance act Boogie Storm danced and Duo Transcend showed off their moves.

Young violinist Tyler and singer Angelina Jordan, 14, performed Lewis Capaldi’s Someone You Loved alongside sand artist Kseniya Simonova, while the shadow dancing Silhouettes acted out a story about military families, accompanied by violinist Lindsey Stirling.

One of the most emotional moments of the evening came when Kodi Lee, a fan favorite and former AGT champion, sang the Harry Styles hit Sign Of The Times.

The 23-year-old singer, who was blind and autistic, performed with confidence and imagination, and had the entire crowd on their feet, chanting his name.

‘How does it feel to be back?’ Terry asked him.

‘I feel so good to be back as an artist,’ Kodi said. ‘Heck, yeah!’

The 10 artists in the finale ultimately went head-to-head with one another as they vied for the show’s final five spots, with each winner having been voted on by 50 superfans.

‘I’m devastated,’ Simon said when Boogie Storm, his favorite group of dancing stormtroopers failed to crack the top five. 

Hans, the faux-German cabaret artist, whom Heidi had long loved, gave Simon a warm hug after he lost his place in the contest to V. Unbeatable.

In the end, there was no competition as V. Unbeatable finally won the night.