Viewers voted and sealed the fate of one talented star on America’s Got Talent who won big on Tuesday night.
Richard Goodall was dubbed the winner of the competition after his show-stealing musical performances, but fans aren’t thrilled about the results. Richard’s life story won over the hearts of many Americans, but viewers didn’t think that was enough to make him worthy of the victor title and the $1 million cash prize.
The AGT singer is a 55-year-old janitor native to Terre Huate, I.N., who is known for singing in the hallways. After losing his wife to cancer, singing became a crutch for him to lean on as he coped with his grief.
However, fans weren’t impressed by the story, saying that wasn’t a good enough reason for him to win. One wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Nothing against Richard the janitor, but really?! This was a sympathy win. Maybe your #AGT show should change it’s name to ‘America’s Got Pity’?! He was definitely NOT the best singer this season – far better singers were let go! I don’t think I will be watching future seasons.”
Another fan sympathized with his story, but wasn’t happy with the end results. They wrote: “Ok sorry but #AmericasGotTalent the guy can’t sing and not someone many will want to go see- the dog had more talent than he did … Very disappointed- it’s like the middle finger to all those good ones – I get his back story but the title is America’s Got Talent.”
“There is nobody in the world that is going to Vegas to go buy a ticket to watch Richard,” added a third as more fans dogpiled onto the hate train.
But some more optimistic fans were happy with the results. One tweeted: “I may have burst into literal tears for Richard Goodall. What an incredible story and journey. After his finale performance last week, I’d never heard an #AGT crowd sound the way they did for him and said, “he may just pull this off.”
Following his big win, Richard was awarded $1 million, which is something he plans to use strategically. He told Entertainment Weekly: “I plan to for a while still yet, and then invest a little, and then plan smart. [His wife] Angela and I, we think everything out together. We don’t make any plans other than what we talk about together. We’re not fancy people, so it’s not going to be anything fancy or extravagant. We’re just regular people and the money is… we just try to be conservative about it. We have no idea or expectations of what’s coming ahead.”
