CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo, Oct. 2, 2008 – Southeast Missouri State University alumnus and tenor Neal Boyd of Sikeston, Mo., was declared the $1 million prize winner Wednesday night of NBC's hit television program "America's Got Talent."

Boyd, as the "best new act in America," also earned the opportunity to headline a Las Vegas show. Boyd learned his fate Wednesday night after a field of 200,000 acts had been narrowed to five. Jerry Springer, host of "America's Got Talent," said online voting for the winner was the closest in the program's history -- now in its third season -- with less than one-half of one percent separating the top two acts.

Boyd broke down in tears after the announcement but later composed himself and sang "Nessun Dorma," the aria he sang on the first episode of the program.

Neal Boyd's voice has been described as one of great beauty, fairly large with a sweet lyrical quality.  His vocal talent first gained major attention in 2000 when he became the national Young Artist vocal champion. In 2001, he sang the "National Anthem" and the Southeast Missouri State Alma Mater at Southeast Night at Busch Stadium. Boyd later went on to perform at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., among many other great venues.  A lyric tenor, Boyd holds undergraduate degrees from both Southeast Missouri State University and the University of Missouri-Columbia. At Southeast, he was a speech communication major with minors in music and political science. He is a former student of Dr. Christopher Goeke, Southeast professor of music.

At Southeast, he was a frequent soloist for the University Choir and performed many lead roles with the Opera All-Stars. Those roles included scenes as "Alfredo" in Verdi's "La Traviata," "Nemorino" in Donizetti's "L'Elisir d'amore" and "The Duke" in Verdi's "Rigoletto." Other collegiate performances included roles as "Ferrando" in Mozart's "Cosi fan tutti," "Eisenstein" in "Die Fledermaus" and "The Negro" in "The Roar of the Greasepaint, The Smell of the Crowd." He performed numerous roles with the University of Missouri's Show-Me Opera scenes program, including "Fenton" in Verdi's "Falstaff," and "Lennie" in Floyd's "Of Mice and Men."

Along with his academic and musical activities at Southeast, Boyd also was very active in Student Government, serving as vice president one year. He also was an active fraternity member in Lambda Chi Alpha and was a member of the Interfraternity Council, the Residence Hall Association, University Choir and Student Activities Council. Boyd also served as a Presidential Ambassador and as a Southeast intern in the Missouri House of Representatives.

In 1999, Boyd transferred to the University of Missouri-Columbia (UMC) to take advantage of instruction by Associate Professor Ann Harrell in the UMC Department of Music, while, at the same time, completing requirements for his degree in speech communication at Southeast, which he earned in 2001. At the University of Missouri-Columbia, he earned a bachelor of arts degree in music and performed with the University of Missouri Singers.

Boyd is the winner of the 2000 National Collegiate Artist Voice Competition of the Music Teachers National Association. He was a frequent winner at the National Association of Teachers of Singing competition, a guest soloist for the 2001 Missouri All-State Choir and a member of the 1996 Missouri All-Collegiate Choir.  He is known for his solo performances throughout Missouri and was honored to sing a solo at the memorial service for the late Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan.

Boyd, who is referred to as “The Voice of Missouri,” is a Sikeston, Mo., native now living in St. Louis and working as an insurance salesman. His love for opera began during his childhood and has continuously grown throughout his life. For more information on Boyd, visit http://www.nealeboyd.com/.

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