Kseniya Simonova was a sand artist from America's Got Talent: The Champions. She finished the competition in 3rd place. She returned for America's Got Talent: Fantasy League, competing on Howie Mandel's team where she was eliminated in the Semifinals, finishing her night in 3rd place.
Background[]
Kseniya Simonova is a sand animation artist, the 2009 winner of the TV contest Ukraine’s Got Talent, which is part of the Got Talent series. She is a performance artist in sand animation, graphic artist, illustrator, film director and a philanthropist, and is a Merited Artist of Ukraine. [1]
Kseniya provided the animations for Mika Newton's performance of her song "Angel" at the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest in Düsseldorf, Germany, which finished in 4th place in the grand final. She also did the animations for Anna Odobescu of Moldova at the 2019 contest in Tel Aviv, Israel.
The Champions Preliminary[]
Kseniya Simonova's Preliminary performance in Episode TC05 consisted of telling a story through sand art about an person who grew up to become a famous artist and over time forgot his parents. Howie Mandel , Mel B , Heidi Klum and Simon Cowell all gave her standing ovations. Moved by her performance, Terry Crews pressed his Golden Buzzer, sending Kseniya directly to the Final.
The Champions Final[]
Kseniya Simonova's Finals performance in Episode TC06 consisted of telling a story through sand art about how a couple and family were affected by war with a theme of love. Howie Mandel , Mel B , Heidi Klum and Simon Cowell all gave her standing ovations.
The Champions Finale[]
In Episode TC07, the superfans gave Kseniya enough votes to enter the Top 5 along with Shin Lim instead of Deadly Games. Kseniya finished the competition in 3rd place, ahead of Cristina Ramos and Preacher Lawson, but behind Shin Lim and Darci Lynne.
As a thank you for her time on The Champions, Kseniya did a sand art tribute to her fellow finalists, host Terry Crews, and the judges.
After the Show[]
Kseniya competed on Britain's Got Talent: The Champions. She received the Golden Buzzer from judge Amanda Holden on the series' first episode, advancing directly to the Final.
Kseniya finished the show in 3rd place, behind Season 3 finalists Stavros Flatley, and eventual winners dance duo Twist & Pulse, who came in second on Season 4. Interestingly, the Season 4 winners, Spelbound, did not compete on The Champions. With her third place finish, Kseniya matches her finish on AGT's The Champions. She received the Golden Buzzer on both, and was the highest placing act on both versions that did not originally compete in that version's series.
Kseniya returned as a guest performer in Episode TC207, telling a sand story as Angelina Jordan and Tyler Butler-Figueroa performed Lewis Capaldi's "Someone You Loved". She created another sand art tribute in honor of the season's finalists.
In 2020, she auditioned for Romania's Got Talent.
In 2021, she appeared on the French version of Game Of Talents [2]
Fantasy League Nominations[]
Kseniya Simonova was nominated as one of the top 40 acts, sending her through to the Draft Pool.
Fantasy League Draft Pool[]
Kseniya was drafted onto Howie Mandel's team.
Fantasy League Preliminary[]
Kseniya Simonova's Preliminary performance in Episode FL01 consisted of telling a story through sand about the bond between mothers and their sons set to Elton John’s “Rocket Man". Following her performance, her astronaut son arrived and joined her on the stage. Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum and Simon Cowell gave her standing ovations. She received enough votes to advance to the Semifinals.
Fantasy League Semifinals[]
Kseniya Simonova's Semifinal performance in Episode FL06 consisted of telling the true story of her own life through sand, snow and color set to Christina Perri's "A Thousand Years". Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum, Mel B and Simon Cowell all gave her standing ovations. She received enough votes to enter the top 3 of the night. She finished in 3rd place behind Shadow Ace and Adrian Stoica and Hurricane, eliminating her from the competition.
Trivia[]
- She, Preacher Lawson, and Alexa Lauenburger are the only three acts to advance to the final in both the American and British versions of The Champions.
- She is among a group of acts that received a Golden Buzzer on both AGT and an international version of the Got Talent franchise (even though in her case, both of the Golden Buzzers she received were from a spin-off version of AGT and an international version of the Got Talent franchise).
- She is the only act to receive the Golden Buzzer in both the American and British versions of Got Talent.
- She is one of only two televised sand artists in the show's history, the other being Joe Castillo in Season 7.
- She was the very first act to receive the Golden Buzzer from new host Terry Crews.
- Additionally, she was only one of 4 acts given a Golden Buzzer by Terry not to be a choir act, the others being Season 16 act World Taekwondo Demonstration Team, Season 17 act Avery Dixon and Season 18 act Chioma & the Atlanta Drum Academy. She was also the first solo act to receive this honor, with the second of course being Avery
External Links[]
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