'America's Got Talent': Kenichi Ebina says...

It’s no surprise Kenichi Ebina is overwhelmed after winning America’s Got Talent last night.

The 39-year-old is the first dancer to ever win the talent competition, and starting with his original Chicago audition, he had fans in all the judges, particularly Howie Mandel. But despite that, Ebina didn’t know what to expect last night. “I was kind of hoping for a third or fourth finish,” he explained on the phone with EW today. “[Comedian] Taylor [Williamson] did a fantastic job during the finals, and my performance wasn’t that impressive, so I was surprised when I remained as a top two [finalist]. Everybody kind of thought it would be Taylor. So after that, I kind of thought, ‘Am I going to win?’”

While he did wind up clinching the competition — and the million-dollar prize — that wasn’t his goal going into the reality show. “This AGT experience — it wasn’t to win the competition, it was more for promotion,” he said. “I’m going to perform as long as I can, entertain people. I’m thinking my strength is direction; how I put a show together. I wanted to showcase different aspects of me.”

He did this by showcasing different types of dance, and while a lot of his early performances were high-energy and fast-paced, he arguably drew the most acclaim from an emotional, slowed-down routine a few weeks back. “After the first audition in Chicago, it’s more of a showcase for yourself,” he explained, detailing how he’s been performing for the past 20 years all over the world and saw this as a way to attract an ever larger audience. “And in the final performance, I wanted to do something where I don’t even need to be on the stage.”

Besides continuing to perform, Ebina hopes his win will encourage other dancers — both solo and group — to see America’s Got Talent as a legitimate avenue for them to go down. “It’s great. I’m hoping it gives hope to not only dancers, but all physical artists and performers,” he said. “In past seasons, five out of seven were singers.”

For a sampling of why America finally connected with a dancer, check out one of Ebina’s final performances below:

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'America's Most Wanted' canceled

Hosted and executive produced by John Walsh, "America's Most Wanted" helped capture more than 1,100 fugitives in the U.S."Most Wanted" premiered on Fox in 1988 That network canceled the show in 2011 and Lifetime picked it upThe show may be shopped around to other networks

(EW.com) -- Lifetime has canceled long-running, crime-busting show "America's Most Wanted," EW has confirmed. Though there's another show on the horizon for host John Walsh, who is developing a pilot with Lifetime. (TV Guide exclusively reported the news.)

EW: The 100 greatest moments in television

"Most Wanted" premiered on Fox in 1988 and since has helped lead to the capture of over 1,100 fugitives both in the United States and 30 additional countries. Lifetime picked up the series in 2011 after Fox canceled the program, citing a lack of profitability.

EW: President Barack Obama to appear on 1,000th episode of 'America's Most Wanted'

As to the possibility that Walsh's production company or 20th Television will shop the show around to other networks, reps for AMW had not responded to EW's request for comment at time of publication.

See original story at EW.com.

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For America's hard-hit homeowners, little relief from settlement (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Crystal Morello's family pleaded for months with their lender for a cheaper mortgage on their family home in Belleville, Michigan. But time ran out last summer, and they left before they were evicted.

"The bank was reassuring us that it was helping us out," says Morello, 26. "While we were getting a loan modification in one department, we were getting foreclosed in another."

Nothing will get Morello back to the house she lived in since she was three, certainly not the small part her family might receive of a record $25 billion settlement announced Thursday between the government and five big U.S. banks accused of abusive mortgage practices.

Checks of up to $2,000 each are expected to reach 750,000 households who lost homes through the foreclosure process between 2008 and 2011.

As part of the deal, the banks also agreed to cut the amount of principal owed by homeowners and provide lower-interest rate loans to the tune of $17 billion for borrowers who are behind on their payments and who are at risk of foreclosure.

A further $3 billion is on tap to help homeowners who are current on their mortgages but are unable to refinance because they owe more than their homes are worth.

Critics of Thursday's agreement, like Margaret Becker, director of the homeowner defense project at Staten Island Legal Services in New York, say the deal is "paltry", at best.

"I don't think it's going to have a lot of meaning for consumers," she says. The $25 billion settlement "is a miniscule amount of money and doesn't begin to approach the banks' legal liability for the fraud."

New York state alone has 250,000 mortgages that are in foreclosure or more than 60 days late, Becker noted.

An estimated 10.7 million U.S. borrowers, or 22.1 percent, of all borrowers are 'underwater', according to Corelogic, a company that tracks real estate data.

They are believed to owe $700 billion more than their houses are worth as a result of the crash in U.S. housing prices.

Thursday's agreement paves the way for the process of deciding which homeowners qualify for the $25 billion and many hurdles remain.

Borrowers have to be behind on their payments, and, in most cases, the loans have to be owned by the banks. Homeowners with mortgages held by state-run U.S. housing finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are not eligible.

Even those who stand to benefit from the settlement aren't convinced it will work. Some like Roger Duke, 41, plan to remain in the courts. "We've given up altogether on modifications," says Duke, 41, whose Wellington, Florida home is in foreclosure. "We've tried everything the government has put out."

When Duke, a sales manager at an industrial firm, purchased his home in 2005, he never imagined its value would plummet to $230,000 from $420,000. But Duke's problems began almost immediately when he tried to refinance an adjustable-rate mortgage. One battle lead to another as the original lender fell into bankruptcy and the loan papers went missing.

"Our case is a perfect example of what is wrong with any kind of settlement because people need to go to jail for something like this," he says. "It's been a nightmare, but we're in it for the long haul."

In the meantime, people like Kathleen Dalton wait, worry and hope their banks will also settle with the government.

Dalton, who once owned her own insurance business, has spent the last three years battling for a permanent loan modification for her West Palm Beach, Florida condominium, which has dropped in value to $50,000 from $100,000.

Most recently, the lender sent her an offer for a temporary modification at a higher rate than her original mortgage with no terms nor explanation.

"I just want to save my home," says Dalton, 61. "I hope that's going to happen, but I don't know because I've had my hopes go through the roof and then let down so many times that it's affected me physically."

For borrowers like Morello, the settlement is too little, too late. While it's up to her parents, her family likely would use any money they get to repair the roof of the 1940s bungalow they purchased in Dearborn Heights, Michigan for $10,000 by pooling cash. Morello now lives there with her two-year-old daughter, her parents, a cousin, a dog and a cat.

"I'll never get a mortgage again for any reason," Morello says.

(Additional reporting by Margaret Chadbourn; Editing by Richard Pullin)

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For America's hard-hit homeowners, little relief from settlement (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Crystal Morello's family pleaded for months with their lender for a cheaper mortgage on their family home in Belleville, Michigan. But time ran out last summer, and they left before they were evicted.

"The bank was reassuring us that it was helping us out," says Morello, 26. "While we were getting a loan modification in one department, we were getting foreclosed in another."

Nothing will get Morello back to the house she lived in since she was three, certainly not the small part her family might receive of a record $25 billion settlement announced Thursday between the government and five big U.S. banks accused of abusive mortgage practices.

Checks of up to $2,000 each are expected to reach 750,000 households who lost homes through the foreclosure process between 2008 and 2011.

As part of the deal, the banks also agreed to cut the amount of principal owed by homeowners and provide lower-interest rate loans to the tune of $17 billion for borrowers who are behind on their payments and who are at risk of foreclosure.

A further $3 billion is on tap to help homeowners who are current on their mortgages but are unable to refinance because they owe more than their homes are worth.

Critics of Thursday's agreement, like Margaret Becker, director of the homeowner defense project at Staten Island Legal Services in New York, say the deal is "paltry", at best.

"I don't think it's going to have a lot of meaning for consumers," she says. The $25 billion settlement "is a miniscule amount of money and doesn't begin to approach the banks' legal liability for the fraud."

New York state alone has 250,000 mortgages that are in foreclosure or more than 60 days late, Becker noted.

An estimated 10.7 million U.S. borrowers, or 22.1 percent, of all borrowers are 'underwater', according to Corelogic, a company that tracks real estate data.

They are believed to owe $700 billion more than their houses are worth as a result of the crash in U.S. housing prices.

Thursday's agreement paves the way for the process of deciding which homeowners qualify for the $25 billion and many hurdles remain.

Borrowers have to be behind on their payments, and, in most cases, the loans have to be owned by the banks. Homeowners with mortgages held by state-run U.S. housing finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are not eligible.

Even those who stand to benefit from the settlement aren't convinced it will work. Some like Roger Duke, 41, plan to remain in the courts. "We've given up altogether on modifications," says Duke, 41, whose Wellington, Florida home is in foreclosure. "We've tried everything the government has put out."

When Duke, a sales manager at an industrial firm, purchased his home in 2005, he never imagined its value would plummet to $230,000 from $420,000. But Duke's problems began almost immediately when he tried to refinance an adjustable-rate mortgage. One battle lead to another as the original lender fell into bankruptcy and the loan papers went missing.

"Our case is a perfect example of what is wrong with any kind of settlement because people need to go to jail for something like this," he says. "It's been a nightmare, but we're in it for the long haul."

In the meantime, people like Kathleen Dalton wait, worry and hope their banks will also settle with the government.

Dalton, who once owned her own insurance business, has spent the last three years battling for a permanent loan modification for her West Palm Beach, Florida condominium, which has dropped in value to $50,000 from $100,000.

Most recently, the lender sent her an offer for a temporary modification at a higher rate than her original mortgage with no terms nor explanation.

"I just want to save my home," says Dalton, 61. "I hope that's going to happen, but I don't know because I've had my hopes go through the roof and then let down so many times that it's affected me physically."

For borrowers like Morello, the settlement is too little, too late. While it's up to her parents, her family likely would use any money they get to repair the roof of the 1940s bungalow they purchased in Dearborn Heights, Michigan for $10,000 by pooling cash. Morello now lives there with her two-year-old daughter, her parents, a cousin, a dog and a cat.

"I'll never get a mortgage again for any reason," Morello says.

(Additional reporting by Margaret Chadbourn; Editing by Richard Pullin)

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Analysis - Bank of America's mortgage market share plunges (Reuters)

Charlotte, North Carolina (Reuters) – Bank of America (BAC.N) is set to lose nearly all the mortgage market share it gained by buying Countrywide Financial Corp in 2008, in the latest sign of how painful the acquisition has been for the bank.

The Charlotte, North Carolina bank said this month it is no longer buying mortgages made by smaller banks known as correspondent banks, which accounted for half of its mortgage volume.

Stripping out correspondent lending from the first half of the year would have left the bank's market share at about 8.5 percent, barely above its 7.8 percent market share before buying Countrywide, according to Inside Mortgage Finance data.

Bank of America's correspondent lending business came mainly from Countrywide, which was the largest U.S. mortgage lender when the bank bought it in 2008.

The $2.5 billion purchase saddled Bank of America with more than $30 billion of mortgage losses and legal costs, according to analysts.

"It's a total disaster," Guy Cecala, publisher of industry newsletter Inside Mortgage Finance, said of the deal.

In January 2008, the bank said the Countrywide acquisition would make it the largest U.S. mortgage lender and servicer, which would in turn make Bank of America the premier consumer lender overall.

Since then, the bank has lost mortgage market share from exiting businesses like subprime lending and lending through brokers. These types of loans helped make Countrywide the biggest U.S. mortgage lender but also triggered big credit losses for the company.

By giving up correspondent lending, Bank of America is likely to drop one spot to No. 3 in mortgage volume, behind Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N), which has 25.7 percent of the market, and JPMorgan Chase & Co's (JPM.N) 12.7 percent.

In 2007, Bank of America was No. 5 in market share, while Countrywide was No. 1, with 16.8 percent market share.

By shedding correspondent lending, Bank of America is giving up a chance to buy loans made when underwriting standards are solid, Cecala said. The loans typically meet terms laid out by government-controlled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, or other government agencies.

But Dan Alpert, managing partner with investment bank Westwood Capital LLC, said Bank of America was making a smart move. These loans typically don't produce a lot of revenue for banks and can be of lesser quality. That's because smaller banks are originating the loans to be sold to other banks, which package them into securities for investors.

"By nature, you're going to be less cautious if someone down the line is buying the paper," he said.

WORST YEAR IN A DECADE

Banks are jostling for mortgage market share in a much smaller business now as the housing crisis wears on. Inside Mortgage Finance expects lenders to make about $1.2 trillion in loans this year, down from about $1.5 trillion last year and $2.4 trillion in 2007. "There is no question that 2011 will be worst mortgage lending year in a decade," Cecala said.

Bank of America spokesman Rick Simon said the bank will continue to focus on making loans directly to consumers, as part of its strategy to deepen relationships with the 58 million American households the bank does business with.

The bank's total share of the mortgage market will decline, but the bank is hoping to "offset some of the loss through the stronger retail focus," Simon said.

With Bank of America exiting the correspondent business, experts said smaller banks will likely sell loans to competitors and to Fannie Mae (FNMA.OB) and Freddie Mac (FMCC.OB) instead.

Wells Fargo was the biggest correspondent lender in the first half of this year, with $56.3 billion in loans, accounting for 37 percent of its total originations.

(Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

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Instant view: Bank of America's second quarter results (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Bank of America Corp posted a second quarter loss, after taking more than $20 billion of mortgage-linked charges.

The following are comments from analysts and investors:

DAVID DIETZE, CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER OF POINT VIEW FINANCIAL SERVICES, SUMMIT, NEW JERSEY:

"There is a little bit more optimism today than there was 24 hours ago with respect to any kind of a capital raise."

DAVID HENDLER, SENIOR ANALYST, CREDITSIGHTS:

"It's a slow grind for them. It's like the Cold War and it's going to take a while to get a peace dividend. It will take a year or two for them to slog through Countrywide, and the fact that they never really managed the strategy more cohesively penalizes them under Basel 3 (capital rules).

They've got to let (the overhang of bad mortgage loans) roll off, run off, get charged off or sold, and that takes a long time.

Will they raise the dividend? Maybe in 2012, but who knows. We've got to see more progress. Management is going to have to jump a lot of hoops."

MATT MCCORMICK, PORTFOLIO MANAGER AT BAHL & GAYNOR INVESTMENT COUNSEL INC. IN CINCINNATI:

"The pre-release took a lot of thunder out of today's release, and there's no real surprise. It's a noisy quarter. I still feel that the stock has considerable headwinds ahead of it. It may be up today with the broader market but they still have substantial housing risks and regulatory issues in front of them. Until those are resolved and until they get a strong dividend policy I'm not going to sharpen my pencil quite yet."

RICK MECKLER, PRESIDENT OF LIBERTYVIEW CAPITAL MANAGEMENT IN JERSEY CITY:

"The stock was reacting as if there was some sort of upcoming doomsday announcement and I don't think that is reflected in the numbers. It seems to indicate a bank that is making its way back but is still hampered by its mortgage problems. It was not as negative as people had priced the stock for. It indicates there is some stability below the surface of this bank."

ANDREA JAO, FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS TRADING DESK ANALYST AT COWEN & CO IN NEW YORK:

"Bank of America's results are in line with the pre-announced number and in line with general trends.

Yesterday the stock came down a bit more than the general market, reflecting continuous concerns, especially in terms of the mortgage business. During the conference call, market participants (will) pay special attention to that business and any indication of continuing charges.

The results aren't bad at all."

CORT GWON, CHIEF STRATEGIST, HUDSONVIEW CAPITAL MANAGEMENT IN NEW YORK:

"This is in line with expectations, the big concern was that they were going to have more write-offs than anticipated from the settlement. But if they can put the settlement behind them, they should do well, especially with the yield curve steepening a little."

(Reporting by Ryan Vlastelica, David Henry, Aleksandra Michalska, compiled by Knut Engelmann)

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