Simon Cowell was overcome with emotion when a touching tribute was made to late singer Nightbirde during an America’s Got Talent audition, crying while praising the ‘beautiful’ performance.
The talent competition, which is hosted by Brooklyn Nine-Nine star Terry Crews, has returned for its 18th season, with Simon sitting alongside Howie Mandel, Sofía Vergara and Heidi Klum on the judging panel.
During the first episode, the talented Mzansi Youth Choir took to the stage, sharing that they hailed from South Africa but were determined to take part in the US-based competition.
The judges quickly realised that they were singing It’s OK, a powerful original song by Nightbirde that she performed on the programme in 2021 during her first audition, for which she received a Golden Buzzer.
Nightbirde, real name Jane Marczewski, died from cancer in February 2022 at the age of 31, having withdrawn before the AGT quarter-finals due to her health.
At the time of her withdrawal from the show, Jane wrote on Instagram: ‘Since my audition, my health has taken a turn for the worse and the fight with cancer is demanding all of my energy and attention. I am so sad to announce that I won’t be able to continue forward on this season of AGT. Life doesn’t always give breaks to those that deserve it – but we knew that already.’
While watching the Mzansi Youth Choir perform her song, Simon, 63, was taken aback as he said: ‘Wow, my gosh. Gosh gosh gosh.’
Host Terry, 54, wiped away tears as he watched from the side of the stage, stating: ‘What a wonderful tribute to a beautiful person.’
Following the performance, Heidi, 49, explained how much the song meant to them all, sharing: ‘For anyone who doesn’t know, we lost a very, very special person from our AGT family, her name was Jane, her nickname was Nightbirde and she sang this song, so it has a very special meaning in my heart. It was really beautiful, thank you.’
Sofía, 50, added: ‘What a surprise to hear that song and your voices are fantastic. That was the perfect AGT audition.’
Howie, 67, told the choir: ‘I’ll always remember Nightbirde and to see that it touched people on the other side of the globe. Unbelievable. You deserve so much more than a yes and to be here, you deserve a thank you. Thank you so much.’
When Simon asked why they chose to sing that song, one of the singers explained that they felt ‘very inspired and touched’ by Nightbirde’s story, and so decided to record their version of her song.
‘To our surprise, she responded so beautifully. This song has been such a pillar of strength for us as a choir through difficult times. We just want to continue her legacy and that’s why we chose this song,’ they added.
‘Beautiful,’ Simon responded, before finding himself struggling to speak as he voiced how moved he was by what he’d just witnessed.
‘This brought back so many memories for me,’ he said, as Sofía placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
He continued, breaking down in tears as he said: ‘This is hard. Oh gosh, give me one second. I know how much this would have… would have meant to her. It would.
‘Right until the end, she was so passionate about sharing her music. This has gone all over the world, and you’ve come back here with the most amazing tribute. It was just breathtaking, honestly.’
Amid calls for the judges to press the Golden Buzzer, Simon decided to give the fifth judge – the audience – the chance to send the choir straight through to the live finals.
‘I want to suggest something. We’ve never done this before, but we’ve always discussed one day giving the audience something. What do you think? I think we should do it. Give it to the audience. Let’s do it,’ he said.
Gesturing towards the choir and the audience, he added: ‘So this is for you, for you, this is for Jane,’ before the judges and Terry all pressed the button in unison, leaving the choir in floods of tears as they celebrated their achievement.
America’s Got Talent airs on NBC in the US.
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