Southern soul singer Michael Grimm pulled a shocking upset by winning Season 5 of 'America's Got Talent' over front-runner Jackie Evancho, the 10-year-old opera singer from Pennsylvania.

"It's really still sinking in," Grimm told TV Squad after the show. "But I do want to thank America, 'America's Got Talent,' the judges and, most importantly, I want to thank God."

Prior to his victory, Grimm, an aspiring singer, had trouble getting record labels to consider him. They'd want to know how big his following was because they didn't have money to invest in him. "Well, now I have a little money and I have fans," he says gratefully.

"I haven't talked to my grandparents yet," he said. "But it's going to be an emotional moment."

"When you stand there and you see a guy who's never had a break in his life and he starts crying, you say, 'This was the right decision,'" judge Sharon Osbourne says about Grimm's victory.

Judge Piers Morgan says that he was surprised but not unhappy about Grimm's win. "Michael is one of the most consistent performers," Morgan notes. "He's the type of guy who's going to get better and better. He's extremely talented."

"I'm feeling great," Evancho said. The singer's parents prepared her for the possibility that she might not win. "They told me [before Michael won] that I was going to do great and whatever happens I'd still be a winner."

What did Grimm say to the pint-sized runner-up (who, earlier in the evening, performed a duet with Sarah Brightman) after he won? "He said, 'You did an amazing job. You should have won.' I told him that whatever happens is for the best and that he should win."

The finale paired the other acts with a celebrity partner. Grimm sang with Jewel.

"When it looked like he was going to go into the final four, [the producers] thought of me," Jewel explained. "Our backgrounds are slightly similar. We both struggled. That can make you either bitter or, in Michael's case, kinder and more compassionate. I like that he's also old school. We had a good rapport."

Jewel recently released a new single called 'Ten' from her album 'Sweet and Wild.' "It's a country song," she says, adding with a laugh, "I wrote it after I got into a fight with Ty [Murray, my husband.] It's about counting to ten and calming down."

"Everyone's a little bit down," said Danny Kang of Fighting Gravity, which came in third and was paired for a performance with Lionel Richie.

"We were more surprised that Michael pulled an upset. He's one of the most humble down to earthy caring people I've ever met. He deserves it more than anyone else."

"We're proud that we worked as hard as we could," adds Gravity's Phil DeVerna. "Michael's a great singer and a really good guy. I'm happy for him."

Morgan quips that he'd like to have Prince Poppycock as one of his first guests when his talk show for CNN debuts in January. "His boyfriend told me [on Tuesday night], 'Well, you're not Larry King!' He's right. I'm not."

Just before host Nick Cannon announced the fourth place contestant -- Prince Poppycock -- he heard an audience member cry out from the balcony that it was going to be Piers who was going home first.

"They wanted to send Piers off," Cannon nods. "He's always been known as a hard-ass, but this year he's gone deeper into being a brutally honest judge."

Speaking of change, Cannon appeared to be having more fun in the finale especially when he danced up a storm with rejected contestant Heavy Vee. "There was less babysitting I had to do," he says. "Obviously, there was a lot on the line, but it was a spectacular show, a great evening of entertainment. We were just having fun. When it comes to the end, you like to party."

"Nick was having great fun," concurs Osbourne. "He was light. He was."

The 32-year-old Prince Poppycock is too young to have lived firsthand Donna Summer's disco heyday of the late 1970s, but producers paired them together anyway.

"We got along just fine," he says. "It was a wonderful, professional relationship. She gave me some hints about some good food and beverages for the voice. I had a great time out there with her."

Had Poppycock sang some disco tunes in the finale might he have avoided Morgan's controversial strike, which may have affected the show's outcome? "I think he would have fared better," theorizes judge Howie Mandel. "He's a star. The three [finalists] that did not win absolutely did win. They'll become history in entertainment."

Poppycock would love to be a guest on 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' if he could work it out with the 'AGT' tour schedule. "Oh, yeah, absolutely," Poppycock enthuses. "[It's the] last season!"