Kseniya Simonova dazzled Europe with her mesmerizing sand art back in 2011. Now, the world’s most famous sand artist is representing her country once again, this time on a new continent.
America’s Got Talent: The Champions, the spinoff series of Simon Cowell’s global Got Talent franchise featuring winners, finalists, and popular acts from Got Talent seasons all over the world, is in full swing. And recently, in the show’s final audition episode, Ukraine’s Got Talent 2009 winner Kseniya Simonova wowed the judges with her sand artistry.
Eurovision fans will remember Kseniya from her performance on stage at Eurovision 2011 alongside singer Mika Newton. Newton’s performance of the song “Angel” paired with Simonova’s artistic sand accompaniment earned Ukraine an impressive fourth place in the Grand Final.
Kseniya Simonova, now a mother of two, made her first ever visit to the United States to compete in the final audition episode of AGT: The Champions with a sand animation telling the tale of a child who grew up, became a famous artist, and forgot his parents. The emotional story and stunning artistry took the judges’ breath away.
Simon Cowell, the show’s creator as well as one of the judges notorious for being an especially harsh critic, addressed Kseniya following her performance, stating, “In my opinion you are one of the best contestants we’ve had over the years around all the world. It was fantastic.”
Terry Crews, the American actor who hosts the show, was especially moved by Simonova. He told her, “I have never been more impressed by the ability to move people the way you did today”, before awarding her the show’s final remaining golden buzzer, meaning that she will qualify directly to the finals.
Kseniya Simonova became one of the last competitors to qualify for the finals and will join other Got Talent legends including Susan Boyle, Deadly Games, Shin Lim, and Preacher Lawson. The competition is fierce, but Kseniya is taking the challenge as another opportunity to represent her country on a global stage.
“I feel I’m here representing Ukraine and I want to show that it’s a beautiful, artistic place.” -Kseniya Simonova
What do you think? Can Kseniya go all the way and win it all? Let us know in the comments below!
I watched this and was so excited to see her. I wasn’t sure at first if she was apart of eurovision but was happy to see she was! I love how America reacted well to her. It’s nice to see Eurovision people in America.
I remember her from 2011, Mika was nice but her sucsees was mostly about magical staging with Ksenia …her stunning art had earned people hearts
I watched this when this aired here in America and I started to tear up, so beautiful. Everyone I know who saw this performance absolutely fell in love, its amazing!
nice art
I watched her performance on Got Talent and went to her website to check out for more performances
When I saw she is the sand artist from 2011 I nearly screamed!
She’s amazing and I wish her the best!
She was the only good thing about Ukraine 2011. That fourth place was hers and hers alone.
But now that I know Susan Boyle is competing for whatever reason, I want her to win. Susan needs to be number one this time, I adore her. <3
I actually really like Ukraine’s 2011 entry
I even listen to it sometimes without watching the performance
Wah. Mika Newton was my actual favourite song from that year.