
Photo/Michael Browning
Logan native landau Eugene Murphy Jr. performed Frank Sinatra’s classic “I Did It My Way” on last night’s final round of “America’s Got Talent” Murphy was praised by all three judges and received a standing ovation from the crowd. He will learn his fate tonight on the results show starting at 8 p.m. on WSAZ TV 3.
“Amazing.”
“Perfect.”
“The best.”
Those were just some of the comments from viewers of "America's Got Talent" last night after they watched Landau sing Frank Sinatra's classic, "I Did It My Way."
Landau's performance brought the entire house to its feet, including judges Piers Morgan, Sharon Osbourne and Howie Mandel, who all raved about Landau.
"What a moment, Landau. What a moment that was," Morgan said. "You've come such a long way on this show. But, to save that kind of performance for the end — you took Sinatra's, your great hero, his biggest song, the song that many try and sing and most of us get it hopelessly wrong. You sang it absolutely from your heart. That was a million-dollar performance tonight."
Osbourne agreed with Morgan.
"It was perfectly sung," Osbourne said. "It had emotion and it was so great. You saved the best for last. I heard your vocal range and it is extreme. You didn't play it safe tonight. You really didn't. You gave it your all. I can see it in your eyes. It is just fantastic. Well done."
Mandel said Landau may have won the contest with last night's performance.
"There's a real good chance that you just sealed the deal," Mandel said to loud cheers.
A smiling Landau said winning the competition will change his life.
"This could change my life tremendously. I just want to focus on my kids' future, build a house for my family and live life like we should be living it," Landau said.
Landau is competing against three other contestants — young pop band Poplyfe and performance artists Silhouettes and Team ILuminate — for a $1 million prize and a show at Las Vegas' Caesar's Palace starting on October 28. The show will be hosted by TV personality Jerry Springer.
Landau's wife and family were in Hollywood watching him perform. They were shown in the studio cheering him on.
The crowd at Cinema 8 — five full theaters of people — cheered until the end of the show and even kept the applause going as they left the theaters.
"I am very proud to be here to support Landau," Josh Butcher said. "I thought it was a great show. I would have paid money to have been here tonight."
Butcher's wife, Jamie, said she thought Landau's performance was the best of the night.
"He made a perfect choice on the song and he knocked it out of the park," Jamie Butcher said.
Linda Akers pumped her fist into the air in support of Landau.
"There's no question who was the best — it was Landau all the way," Akers said.
Cinema 8 owner Diana Barnette said she believes Landau will win the entire contest.
"I think Silhouettes and Team ILuminate will split that vote and Landau's going to win," Barnette said. "It was sad, but Poplyfe was very disappointing. They picked the right song. Landau picked the right song. Silhouettes are good and I don't think I could watch Team ILuminate for more than five or 10 minutes. I'm hoping Landau pulls it out."
Chamber of Commerce Director Jim Frye said about 600-700 people attended the watch party and saw Landau put on a great show.
"I thought it was awesome," Frye said. "I thought this was his best performance. Everyone was wondering what he was going to sing. He hit all the notes and it was great."
Tonight's results show begins at 8 p.m. on WSAZ TV 3. Landau will perform with Patti LaBelle during the finale. The Hatfield-McCoy Convention and Visitor's Bureau is sponsoring another Landau Watch Party.
Many fans lined up at computer terminals to vote online and several others were standing around calling in votes and texting. Others were going to find phone lines where they could maximize their votes. Fans could vote 10 times from each phone line, text 10 times from AT&T cell phones and could vote 10 times online.






