After a summer of endless Golden Buzzers, viral raps, and shocking eliminations, the Season 20 finale of America’s Got Talent finally aired Wednesday on NBC. Each of the top 10 finalists performed for their lives on Tuesday, but only one was about to be named the winner of the $1 million prize and earn a headline spot at the AGT residency in Las Vegas.

Host Terry Crews announced the results after each act performed an encore alongside special guests Ciara, Eric Lloyd, and Season 19 winner Richard Goodall. The judges for this 20th anniversary season were Simon Cowell, Sofia Vergara, Mel B, and Howie Mandel.

Hoping to hear their names called as the winner of Season 20 were: freestyle rapper Chris Turner, singer Jessica Sanchez (Sofia’s Golden Buzzer), singer Jourdan Blue (Howie’s Golden Buzzer), chorale group Leo High School Choir, multimedia dance group Light Wire (Simon’s Golden Buzzer), rapper Mama Duke (Mel’s live Golden Buzzer), rapper Micah Palace (Simon’s live Golden Buzzer), trapeze duo Sirca Marea, singer Steve Ray Ladson (Sofia’s live Golden Buzzer), and dance group Team Recycled (Howie’s live Golden Buzzer).

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Read on for our finale results recap to see how it all went down Sept. 24 at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. Did the right act win AGT Season 20? Vote in our poll below and then defend your choice down in the comments section.

After a full cast performance of “Happy Birthday” lead by Eric Lloyd in celebration of AGT’s 20th season, Terry offered us a fresh look at what went down behind the scenes during the finale performances show on Tuesday night. We learned that a member of the audience had to teach Mel that word twisting her tongue after the Light Wire show was “intricate,” but we weren’t offered any further insight into what she meant by the advice she gave Micah to treat members of the crew with respect. By the end of the night, both Simon and Sofia were unclear which act would be the frontrunner because each act seemed to top the previous throughout the night.

ENCORE! ENCORE!

Throughout the evening, the finalists were rewarded with special encore performances alongside stars and series vets across the entertainment industry: Micah took the stage with Colombian singer Manuel Turizo in promotion of his latest single “Mírame Ahora (Salud Mi Reina);” In a packed medley, Aloe Blacc joined the students of Leo High School Choir for a remixed version of his song “The Man,” Jourdan and The Voice UK coach Danny O’Donoghue performed a duet of of “Breakeven,” a popular track by his band The Script, and Steve Ray jammed with a return to the stage of Leo High School Choir; Light Wire was lucky enough to produce the stage theatrics as Leona Lewis belted her iconic song “Run,” a perfect fit with lyrics like “light up, light up;” Team Recycled had the honor of performing with pop and R&B music’s dancing icon Ciara during her songs “Low” and “Level Up;” Jessica sang “Golden Hour” for Sirca Marea while they put on an expert display on the trapeze behind her; Chris performed a fresh freestyle using prompts from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Bozoma Saint John with her new fiancée actor Keely Watson; and alum chorale group Sainted supported Mama Duke on “Feels So Good to Be You.”

We also got a “The Horseman” promotional short for the film Now You See Me: Now You Don’t with appearances from AGT magician alumni Shin Lim, Mat Franco, and Piff the Magic Dragon alongside stars of the film Justice Smith, Dominic Sessa, and Ariana Greenblatt as well as Jesse Eisenberg.

Last year’s winner Richard Goodall was featured in a video package showing what life has been like since being named Season 19 champion and traveling the world to perform. He also made his return to West Vigo, bought a house with his wife, and met his biological father. Following that catch-up, he came to the stage to perform the song “Long Time Coming” from his new album with Neal Schon of Journey on the guitar.

RESULTS! RESULTS!

The first announcement from Terry about how the finalists ranked in the votes was to name the acts that placed in the Top 5. They were: Chris Turner, Light Wire, Jessica Sanchez, Jourdan Blue, and Leo High School Choir. That meant that the Top 10 was the end of the road for Mama Duke, Sirca Marea, Steve Ray Ladson, Micah Palace, and Team Recycled. Simon said that the loss of the five acts eliminated shows just how strong the Top 5 are, insinuating that he may have been shocked that some favorites didn’t make it through America’s vote like he thought they would.

The act that finished in fifth place was Light Wire. Their coach said on behalf of the team that “it was a pleasure” for them to perform for America this season.

The act that finished in fourth place was Leo High School Choir. In what could be her final year as their mentor and teacher, Mrs. Hill thanked the audience, the show and “every educator and every parent” for their support. Simon offered words of encouragement about how inspiring they’ve been and will continue to be.

Down to only solo artists in the Top 3, the one that finished in third place was Jourdan Blue. Howie told him that he’s “leveled up” his life and career “to the stratosphere” through his time on the show.

Ahead of the final announcement, Chris reflected that coming on to the show was the “biggest risk” of his career because it was unclear how well freestyle would translate on the show. Having auditioned before, Jessica was on a redemption journey as a pregnant mother to be and so the season was about resilience. In the last moments of the episode, Terry revealed that the Season 20 champion, earner of a residency in Las Vegas, and proud recipient of the $1 million cash prize is Jessica Sanchez! Chris Turner finished as the first runner-up.