America’s Got Talent Season 11 winner Grace VanderWaal, a 12-year-old self-taught ukulele player and songwriter, took home the title. But she won’t be burning a hole in her pocket for the $1 million prize money any time soon.
With its grand prize, America’s Got Talent promises viewers “One million dollars and a headlining show in Las Vegas.” Before she sees the entire amount, though, the preteen might be qualified to join AARP. The $1,000,000 prize on America’s Got Talent is actually given out as a 40-year annuity, with the winner receiving a pre-tax payout of $25,000 annually for 40 years, as FORBES reported in a previous season.
In place of the annuity, VanderWaal might receive a lump sum cash payment, but it would only be a small portion of the prize money that was announced—probably between $300,000 and $200,000 before taxes. This would leave the 12-year-old performer’s overall take-home pay between $150,000 and $200,000. Fortunately, ukuleles don’t cost much more than $30, so she won’t need to save her birthday money for music purchases.
Nor will she have to wait forty years for the Vegas show. On October 27, 28, and 29, VanderWaal will perform three headline shows at the PH Showroom at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. She will be joined by fellow competitors Tape Face, a prop-mime comedian, and The Clairvoyants, a psychic act.
All season long, VanderWaal was a standout competitor. Judge Howie Mandel gave her the “Golden Buzzer” at her first audition, which allowed her to move quickly through the process. Simon Cowell praised her ability to create melodies and her distinctive vocal style, referring to her as “the next Taylor Swift.”
The original song she wrote for the occasion, “You Don’t Know My Name,” has been covered thousands of times after her audition video went viral on YouTube and received over 35 million views. Week after week, the middle schooler won praise from the judges and audience for her artistic ability as she continued to compose original songs for each performance she gave during the season.
VanderWaal is not the youngest America’s Got Talent winner ever, despite being just 12 years old. When singer Bianca Ryan won the title in Season 1, she was eleven years old. Jackie Evancho, a young classical singer, had her career launched by the show. When she placed second in Season 5, she was just ten years old. She is sixteen years old and has had three albums enter the Billboard Top 200. One has earned a Platinum certification, and another a Gold certification.
In June 2006, America’s Got Talent premiered. It is a component of the global Got Talent empire, which Simon Cowell’s SYCOtv production company founded. It has given rise to regional spin-offs in almost 60 nations, such as Nigeria, Vietnam, and Afghanistan. It was named the World’s Most Successful Reality TV Format by Guinness World Records in 2014.