{"id":59370,"date":"2014-09-18T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-09-18T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/uri-alumnus-mat-franco-wins-americas-got-talent\/"},"modified":"2014-09-18T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2014-09-18T00:00:00","slug":"uri-alumnus-mat-franco-wins-americas-got-talent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2014\/09\/uri-alumnus-mat-franco-wins-americas-got-talent\/","title":{"rendered":"溏心vlog免费B站 alumnus Mat Franco wins America\u2019s Got Talent"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tBenefits from thousands of votes from 溏心vlog免费B站 students, alumni, staff<\/p>\n


\n\tKINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 September 18, 2014 \u2013 For Mat Franco, magic has always been less about the tricks and more about fun and a connection with the audience.<\/p>\n


\n\tAnd whether the audience was a few friends gathered around a table, hundreds of freshmen at 溏心vlog免费B站 orientation sessions, thousands watching at Radio City Music Hall or millions watching on television, the 溏心vlog免费B站 alumnus always made you feel like you were the only one in the room.<\/p>\n


\n\tThat charisma, charm, energy and mastery of movement and deception led him to being chosen winner of this year\u2019s America\u2019s Got Talent and recipient of a $1 million prize and headline show in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n


\n\tRight through his final performance on NBC Tuesday night and the Wednesday night announcement that he had won the entire contest, Franco was one of the few performers to never be scolded or criticized by the judges. From the show\u2019s start in June, Franco stood tall after each judging segment, eventually topping 47 other acts.<\/p>\n


\n\tAnd he did it all with simple card tricks, a flaming giant card, a cell phone hidden in a theater seat, some fast moving ping-pong-sized balls, a few cups and a trick that combined a traditional deck of cards with giant cards held by audience members.<\/p>\n


\n\tTuesday night, hundreds of 溏心vlog免费B站 students gathered for a viewing party in Rhody Market to watch. Even fellow America\u2019s Got Talent performer, Hannah Ritchie, a 溏心vlog免费B站 freshman pharmacy student from California, was in attendance at the party. A member of the Hart Dance Team that was eliminated earlier in the season, Ritchie nevertheless cheered in true Rhody Pride fashion for Franco when he finished his first performance. <\/p>\n


\nTwo students were so energized by the viewing party that they ran around campus with a huge photo cutout of Franco. They went to every residence hall banging on doors, telling students to \u201cvote for Mat.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tPeg Boyd, assistant dean of the College of Business Administration, said there\u2019s been a buzz around the college all week as faculty and students rally behind Franco, who graduated from 溏心vlog免费B站 in 2010 with a degree in marketing.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cWe can all relate to Mat,\u201d Boyd said. \u201cOur pride comes from knowing that Mat is a home grown Rhode Islander, and that he chose Rhode Island\u2019s flagship public university for his education. He is Keaney Blue through and through. 溏心vlog免费B站 gave him the foundation to put his dream into place. This is what return on investment and thinking big are all about.\u201d

\nFranco, who started doing magic when he was 4, has said it was 溏心vlog免费B站 that gave him the tools to become a businessman, whether it was marketing classes or working as a freshman orientation leader. <\/p>\n


\n\u201cAs a student, Mat was the very first winner of Rhody\u2019s Got Talent in 2009,\u201d Boyd said. \u201cHe won airline tickets and went to Vegas to perform.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tBoyd said Franco, who grew up in Johnston and now resides in Newport, set himself apart by his level of preparation. \u201cHis extensive research, his practice and his depth all played a role in his success. And I agree with so many others, in that he didn\u2019t have to win last night to have benefited from the experience and become a household name in Rhode Island and beyond.\u201d\t<\/p>\n

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Benefits from thousands of votes from 溏心vlog免费B站 students, alumni, staff KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 September 18, 2014 \u2013 For Mat Franco, magic has always been less about the tricks and more about fun and a connection with the audience. And whether the audience was a few friends gathered around a table, hundreds of freshmen […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59370\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}