Upstate singer makes it to final round of ‘America’s Got Talent’

After a nail-biter of a semifinals, Greenville’s Benton Blount made it Wednesday night to the finals of NBC’s “America’s Got Talent.”

Throughout the episode, it appeared that Blount was leading in a close race against the Craig Lewis Band and singer Samantha Johnson.

After the first three semifinalists had been named, host Nick Cannon announced that Blount was the winner of the viewer vote, which means he will compete in the finals of the talent competition in two weeks.

“I think I’m about to have a heart attack,” Blount told Cannon after he heard the result.

The other finalists chosen on Wednesday include a magician, a comic and a mentalist. The Craig Lewis Band was saved by the judges to take the fifth finalist spot. North Carolina bluegrass band Mountain Faith was eliminated on Tuesday.

The remaining five finalists will be chosen next week, and the grand prize winner will receive $1 million and a headlining gig at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas.

This story was originally published September 3, 2015 at 8:01 PM with the headline "Upstate singer makes it to final round of ‘America’s Got Talent’."