The Mzansi Youth Choir delivered an extraordinary performance on season 18 of America’s Got Talent (AGT) which earned them an audience and Group Golden Buzzers and a spot in the semi-finals in August.
The choir left Simon Cowell in tears after hearing their motivation behind choosing to audition that specific song.
Jane Marczewski, better known by her stage name Nightbirde, sang the same song and received a Golden Buzzer during the 16th season, but was unable to progress to the next round of AGT due to cancer. On February 19, 2022, she passed away.
The choristers were inspired by the admirable way in which Nightbirde approached her challenges in life and felt it would be appropriate to continue her legacy, singing their interpretation of her original song.
With the audience chanting “Golden Buzzer” it made it difficult for the judges Cowell, Heidi Klum, Howie Mandel and Sofia Vergara to ignore the call to press the big gold button.
As the choir celebrates their 20th year in existence they were humbled by Cowell’s statement: “You defined what this show absolutely is all about”.
The choir’s music director, Sidumo Nyamezele said: “This is the first season where the Audience Golden Buzzer was introduced, and Mzansi Youth Choir made history by receiving nothing less than all six Golden Buzzers simultaneously”.
The choir’s artistic director and choreographer, Alfred Phakathi added: “This was an absolute spectacular experience for the choristers, who handled the pressure with such poise and grace, mainly due to their numerous collaborations with local and international artists and various tours locally and abroad.
“We are immensely proud of them for this extraordinary achievement, for which they worked so hard.”
Watch the performance here.