Monday, September 5, 2011 1:29pm PDT

A Look Back on Matt Wilhelm's Run on America's Got Talent

By: Teddy Parker

Matt Wilhelm has been in the flatland scene (and on top of it) for many years. The Hoffman Bikes team rider has racked up a lengthy list of flatland competition wins, including several X Games medals, and produced an instructional DVD for aspiring flatland riders. Being the lesser known discipline of BMX, flatland was in need of a personality like Matt Wilhelm and he was more than happy to deliver in such a time of need.

His recent contribution to the discipline's mass appeal, however, will be unparalleled by any other flatland rider. Wilhelm took advantage of the ability to audition for America's Got Talent via Youtube and put on a display the viewers could not ignore. Being voted into the competition, he faced the challenges of evolving his performance with each round as the judges continually lost interest in what felt like a repeated performance. He decided to turn a bicycle show into an actual show by incorporating a storyline related to his childhood of being bullied and cast out.

As a boy, Wilhelm wanted to race BMX as so many kids did at the time but with the continued bullying by other racers he decided to never return to the track and instead take up freestyle riding. The show, which was originally based on his typical flatland maneuvers with the added spectacle of black lights, was altered to incorporate others as bullies in which he would dispatch with his tricks, whipping his bike around and such. The performance was good, despite a mistake, but it would all but wear thin on the judges. He wouldn't make it into the finals before being eliminated.

Wilhelm is an incredibly well-mannered, positive person, which can be seen daily on his twitter as he thanks those who got him as far as he did on AGT and sends messages of support to the remaining acts battling for the $1,000,000 prize. Click on the links throughout this article to visit websites/articles of him and watch the video below, which is his final AGT act:

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