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9-year-old wows 'America's Got Talent' audience with powerful original song

Viewers are hailing him a "musical genius."

America's Got Talent/Youtube

This kid's going places.

Watching musically gifted children never gets old. Whether you credit it to being born under a lucky star, or a simple case of good genetics, it does at least feel like something of a miracle.

That was certainly the feeling evoked when shy 9-year-old Journeyy Belton stepped onto the stage for “America's Got Talent” on July 23, 2024, and blew audiences away with his powerful original song “Paradise.”

Showing off not just an incredibly soulful voice that belied his age, Journeyy also shared his exceptional songwriting skills as he brought to life an imaginary dream world filled with “purple clouds” and “automatic lullabies.”

Listen below and tell me this kid doesn’t remind you of Sia:

9-Year-Old Journeyy Sings Original Song, "Paradise" | Auditions | AGT 2024www.youtube.com

The incredible performance wowed the judges, the live audience and online viewers alike, many of whom hailed the kid a young “musical genius.”

“I have never felt so unskilled,” one person joked. “This child has so much talent! I can’t wait to see them grow their music.”

Another praised, “His ability to hear and create melodies, the sophisticated lyric writing, the piano skills, and his incredible voice tell me he will 100% be a star selling out stadiums!”

A fun surprise—Simon Cowell revealed moments before Journeyy’s audition that he had heard him perform before on TikTok only a few days ago. His account is full of amazing covers, like Oceans by Hillsong United, which has racked up tons of views and glowing praise.

“Things are gonna happen for you. I can feel it,” Cowell told Journeyy. “You are somebody who has a God-given talent. And it’s rare.”

That certainly seems to be the case, no matter how the competition goes. Whatever happens, Journeyy, you’ve got loyal fans rooting for you!

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14-yr-old's expressive, physics-defying 'Mad World' dance blows away AGT judges and fans

Her haunting performance is a must-see.

America's Got Talent/YouTube

Mariandrea Villegas has talent and showmanship beyond her years.

Dance is a unique art form in that the medium it utilizes is the human body itself. Simply through purposeful and graceful control of movement, dancers can express and evoke joy, sadness, fear, confusion—the whole range of human emotion. And when dancing is done well, it's utterly mesmerizing.

Such is the case with Mariandrea, a 14-year-old from Mexico who auditioned for America's Got Talent in July of 2023 and wowed both the judges and the audience with her dance performance. She has been dancing since she was 5, and as Simon Cowell pointed out, it's clear that she was born to do this.

After showing off her sparkling personality during the pre-performance interview, Mariandrea danced to a cover of Tears for Fears' "Mad World," personifying the song in her performance. But it wasn't just her intentional movement that reflected the emotional complexity of the ever-popular hit. Her facial expressions, ranging from subtle fear to a clown-like smile to genuine sorrow to angry defiance, change on a dime, adding an acting element to her routine that takes it to the next level.

Add in the incredible control she has of her body as it twists and turns and seems to defy gravity, both gracefully flowing and disturbingly contorting, and it's easy to see why she earned a standing ovation and enthusiastic praise from all four judges.

Watch:

For someone so young to have such a strong grasp of her craft is quite extraordinary, and people were wowed by her talent as well as her showmanship.

"I had to watch this more than once. Her smile, energy, and face reminds me of a young Natalie Portman. You can tell she is more than a dancer also, very intelligent, expressive, talented, yes acting too. Wow! Congratulations!" shared one commenter.

"This young lady has a very bright future ahead of her! The passion that she emanated while dancing was above and beyond what we have seen in half the dancers that are older than her... Can't wait to see what she does next!!!" wrote another.

"Stunned. I would have given her a golden buzzer. The sharpness, flexibility, timing, theatrics, and costume use. 10/10," shared another.

One commenter pointed out that her dance felt like a monologue, and another person called it "absolute art." Many people expressed disappointment that she didn't receive the Golden Buzzer, which would propel her immediately to the final round. But if her other performances are anything like this one, she's got a pretty decent chance of making it to the finals without it.


This article originally appeared on 9.18.23

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Singing janitor blows away 'AGT' audience with incredible 'Don't Stop Believin' cover

55-year-old Richard Goodall hopped on a plane for the first time in his life and landed straight into a Golden Buzzer-worthy performance.

America's Got Talent/Youtube

Thank goodness he never gave up on his dream.

For some people, life is pretty streamlined. They discover what they’re good at from an early age, those talents get noticed, and they dedicate their life to that passion. But for many (if not most) of us, our dreams might remain tucked away in our hearts as we navigate through a slightly more complicated existence. One with a day job, families, bills and other obligations.

Thank goodness Richard Goodall, a 55-year-old janitor from Terre Haute, Indiana, never gave up on his own dream. Otherwise the world might have missed out on his remarkable singing voice.

Goodall, who recently received "America's Got Talent"’s highly coveted Golden Buzzer for his show stopping performance of "Don’t Stop Believin’" by Journey, shared his endearing backstory before taking to the stage.

Goodall told the audience that he spent much of his childhood up in his bedroom listening to music on his “Radio Shack stereo” and belting along to the tunes.

"Eventually, I was like, I got to find me a job, so I become a janitor at Chauncey Rose Middle School, which is only three blocks away from my house,” he continued. But throughout his 23 years of custodial work, he never stopped serenading students.

It was the students’ encouragement, in fact, that inspired Goodall to step aboard a plane for the first time in his life to make it to his audition, which he noted was a good metaphor for his “AGT” experience overall.

“I felt that front wheel come off the ground and you have this floating (feeling), you’re no longer stable. And that’s what this whole experience is like right now,” he said. “It’s a good off-balance, but until you actually do something, you don’t know if it’s right for you or not.”

Goodall’s courage paid off, because despite his nerves, he delivered a rendition of “Don’t Stop Believin’” that brought the crowd to their feet in a standing ovation. Many were even moved to tears.

Simon Cowell called Goodall a "hero," saying “That was special, genuinely special. I think America is going to love you.” Howie Mandell then joked that Goodall “cleaned up” before surmising that he probably had a bunch of students rooting for him at home.

Indeed, many former students who knew Goodall ended up praising him in the Youtube comments section.

“I can't express with words how lucky I feel to be able to say that I am one of the kids who always told him how amazing his voice is. My favorite part of walking through the hallway of Elementary school is hearing this phenomenon. Richard, you are indeed a true hero,” one person wrote.

“Growing up, Mr. Goodall was always singing to us between classes, or on our way to recess. Any time we would see him in the halls, he was always sooo nice. I couldn't believe it was him on our TV!” another added.

Goodall defined himself as being a simple person who just wants to “have fun” and “make people happy.” No matter where he goes in the competition, he is certainly winning at that. What a beautiful reminder that you never know when your time will come, so don’t stop believin’.

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America's Got Talent singer hits incredible high notes in stunning 'Over the Rainbow' cover

Loren Allred transported the "AGT" audience to a magical place.

Wikipedia/Alison Martinof SimonCowellOnline.com/Wikipedia

"Somewhere Over The Rainbow" is just one of those perfect songs

Some songs remain profoundly moving no matter how they are reimagined. “Somewhere Over The Rainbow,” though of course nobody sings it quite like Judy Garland, arguably could be considered one of those songs.

Several artists have indeed put their own wonderful spin on the tune over the years—Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, Aretha Franklin, Ariana Grande, to name a few.

And now, we can add singer Loren Allred to that impressive list.

Even if you’ve never heard of Allred, you probably have heard her. Most notably, she was the voice of “Never Enough” on the Oscar-nominated and Grammy award-winning “The Greatest Showman.” She also sang with Michael Bublé on “Help Me Make it Through the Night” for his 2019 Love album. Heck, if you’ve been to Disneyland California Adventures to see the World of Color show, you’ve heard her.

Allred recently performed the classic ballad on “America’s Got Talent: Fantasy League.” And while she honored the original’s sort of dreamy whimsy at the beginning with soft, angelic breathiness, Allred vocally soared over the rainbow with some powerful high notes.

But rest assured—though Allred’s rendition had more of a pop belt to it, it was every bit as magic as the original (and other covers).

As one person in the Youtube wrote, “Loren's rendition is a beautiful combination of some of the most memorable renditions such as Israel kamakawiwo'ole, Leona Lewis,, Katharine McPhee and of course the original by Judy Garland.”

Another added, “When I first saw it was Over The Rainbow, I said uh oh. Everybody knows this song (good) but everybody has sung it (bad). But you just took it to another level as you changed it to a singing lesson.”

Even judge Simon Cowel called it a “masterclass,” while Heidi Klum said “it gave us all the feels.”

“Somewhere Over The Rainbow” might have all the initial ingredients to tell a universally moving story, but it takes a master storyteller to really bring that story to life. Kudos to Allred for making that happen.


Watch below:

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