After months of competing for first place on “America’s Got Talent,” the Leo Catholic High School choir fell just short at the conclusion of the NBC reality talent show’s 20th season, broadcast Wednesday night.
The all-boys choir from the South Side Catholic school placed fourth. Singer Jessica Sanchez was crowned the winner.
Leo High School was one of 10 acts in Tuesday’s finals round, and was voted on by viewers to return for the finale on Wednesday night.
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The choir sang “Hall of Fame” by Irish band The Script on Tuesday night, while performing “The Man” with its original singer, Aloe Blacc, on Wednesday.
Leo High School’s President Dan McGrath said the school has been proud of all the boys’ success, comparing it to a college basketball team and making the Final Four during March Madness.
“Obviously, you’d like to win, but to get that far, against so much competition and so many good acts, it was quite an achievement,” McGrath said.
He continued saying, “we’re very proud of how they represented, not only Leo, but the South Side and the city of Chicago because we’ve been kind of under the gun with President Trump calling us a ‘hellhole.'”
McGrath went on to say how he appreciated how they portrayed Chicago. “I think the choir doing as well as they did and so joyfully representing Chicago casts the city in a much more favorable, positive light,” McGrath said. “All the way through it, we’ve been conscious of representing not just Leo, but the entire city and I think we did that really well. We’re all very, very proud of them.”
McGrath credited the boys’ choir director, LaDonna Hill as an essential part of their journey. “She really told them that ‘We’re up for this, we can do it’ and they really fed off her,” he said. “The dynamic between her and the choir has always been phenomenal.”
Talent scouts for the show found the South Side choir after CBS Chicago posted a video of them on Instagram in 2024. The boys started their “AGT” journey back in June and went to the semifinals last week, where they sang “Centuries” by Fall Out Boy and advanced to the finals.
The choir gained traction around Chicago before heading to “AGT.” Last summer, they performed at the Democratic National Convention and performed at Millennium Park’s Holiday Sing-Along this past December.
Sanchez, a singer-songwriter from California, walked away with the $1 million grand prize. Pregnant with her first child, Sanchez sang “Golden Hour” by JVKE on Wednesday before being crowned the winner.
Leo High School’s choir advances to ‘America’s Got Talent’ finale
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