During the February 19 finale of “America’s Got Talent: Fantasy League,” the Ramadhani Brothers came out on top as the winners of the “AGT” trophy and the $250,000 grand prize. These head balancers from Tanzania beat out tough competition in the form of the other Top 5 finalists: drummers Pack Drumline, aerialists V.Unbeatable, choir Sainted and dancer Musa Motha. Shortly after their victory aired on NBC, Gold Derby chatted with the siblings, Fadhili Ramadhani and Ibrahim Jobu, plus their manager/trainer/coach, Winston Ruddle. Watch our exclusive video interview above.
“Wow! This was amazing. This was our dream — we are so happy,” explains Fadhili after their big win. “It means the world. We can’t explain it. Thanks so much for ‘America’s Got Talent’ to give us a big opportunity to go to ‘Fantasy League’ to expose our talent.”
Ibrahim states that he wants to use the prize money to “build a big school” to support all of the acrobatic talent in Tanzania. “There is no place [for them to get] practice and training, so we have to build the biggest school just to help them.” The brothers also want to help out their family with the $250K.
SEE ‘America’s Got Talent’ winners list: All seasons, plus ‘Champions’ and ‘Extreme’
After finishing in fifth place during “AGT” Season 18, the Ramadhani Brothers were “feeling down.” But it was Heidi Klum who kept their spirits up, saying, “Guys, you are amazing. And this is not the end. This is just the beginning.” Heidi was their initial coach in “Fantasy League,” though Howie Mandel later stole them when he pushed the Golden Buzzer in the Qualifiers.
“This time we’re not gonna go to [fifth place], we have to win,” Fadhili notes about his mindset going into the spin-off series. The head balancers also competed in other “Got Talent” shows in countries like Australia, France, Romania and Spain, but never won until now.
Winston chimes in that the “Fantasy League” show was full of “really, really talented people … so if we were gonna go back to the competition, we had to be better than them. Otherwise, it didn’t make sense for us to go back again.”
The Ramadhani Brothers divulge how they had to “change the whole strategy” for both their Qualifiers and Finals performances, due to various reasons. And they were elated when Howie gave them the Golden Buzzer, because it let them skip the Semi-Finals round so they could focus all of their energy in the all-important last week. “So while everyone else was preparing for the Semi-Finals, we were preparing for the Finals, so we had an extra two weeks to prepare,” declares Winston.
If viewers at home found themselves holding their breath during the Qualifiers performance when it looked as though they were about to trip walking up the stairs, rest assured that the brothers never worried about falling. “We always have it under control,” Fadhili confesses with a smile. “So that is a part of the performance.”
The guys want their fans to know that “this is not the end” of their journey, but is “just a beginning” because they are “gonna go higher” in the near future. “We are gonna have something different and amazing. Everyone will love it,” they tease about the future of Ramadhani Brothers show.
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