'America's Got Talent': 13-Year-Old Contestant Earns Simon Cowell's Golden Buzzer
Another young performer is headed straight through to the live rounds of America's Got Talent. The NBC reality competition series returned Tuesday night with another round of auditions that saw 14-year-old singer Sara James heading from her small town in Poland straight to Hollywood after Simon Cowell pressed his Golden Buzzer.
The latest Golden Buzzer moment came after James wowed the panel of judges with her rendition of Billie Eilish's "Lovely." Traveling all the way from her small town in Poland, which has a population of fewer than 3,000 people, James took the stage in Los Angeles, expressing before her performance, "I hope Simon's gonna be impressed and he's gonna like it, you know? I hope so!" As James took the stage at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in front of an audience as big as her hometown, it was immediately clear that she would be continuing on in the competition, the teen wowing with her stunning vocals that not only earned her a standing ovation from the audience, but also all four judges.
Following her performance, Cowell expressed his disbelief at James' talent, telling the young performer, "We've heard a lot of singers over the years, but wow, This wasn't perfect, but you have a real star glow about you." Acknowledging that this was James' first time in America, Cowell went on to share, "I remember when I came to America for the first time... that was a moment I'll never forget. And I want to make this a moment for you to remember forever." He then shocked the audience and viewers alike when he hit his Golden Buzzer.
Speaking about the moment following the episode, Cowell told PEOPLE that he "pushed my golden buzzer for Sara because she is, in my opinion, a total star." The AGT judge said the teen "flew across the world to audition on AGT to see if dreams come true – that really resonated with me, as 20 years ago I came to those thoughts as well. I just didn't have her talent!" Cowell added that he believes he and all of his fellow judges were "all prepared to jump on that Golden Buzzer. [Her] act's so good."
With her Golden Buzzer moment, James will now advance straight to the live shows. She told PEOPLE that she has "a bunch of ideas" for her next performance, adding that she is excited to get back "on stage and show everything I have to the judges." New episodes of America's Got Talent, currently still in the auditioning stage, air Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC. Stay tuned to PopCulture.com for the latest updates!