America’s Got Talent: Lavender Darcangelo has a dream-like golden buzzer moment thanks to Heidi Klum
America’s Got Talent season 18 is back from the July 4 break with Week 6 of auditions. New auditions brought more backstories and talent that was more hit or miss compared to auditions 5 a couple of weeks ago. One singer was for sure a hit, however! (Read our Recap)
That singer is Lavender Darcangelo, a 27-year-old autistic and blind singer who was accompanied by both of her dads for her audition. She explained to the judges that she sang at the age of 3 before she even talked at the age of 4 1/2. Her dream is to “build a school where the classes are based off of what kids are naturally curious at, so a school I would have thrived in,” she explains.
Lavender performed “Out Here on My Own” from the movie Fame
Lavender’s dad, Will who adopted her later in life explains how they met at an after-school program. Due to him being a member of faculty, he said, “that’s not how it works” about Lavender wanting him to adopt her then. He continues, “several years went by, and she’s having struggles, and before you know, she moved in with me and my husband, Jamie, the day we came home from our honeymoon.” And a year later they adopted her. Jamie watches from the audience.
Lavender sings “Out Here on My Own” by Irene Cara from the movie Fame. Her tone is a mixture of theatrical and soulful. She navigates the song with ease, and although the approach is for the most part simple, her rendition is effective. I’d love to hear her tackle some Broadway songs. She has the voice for them. Her technical ability is solid. With a lot of singing talent, including fellow golden buzzer solo singer, Putri Ariani, it will be an interesting season when it comes to who goes the furthest.
Heidi Klum smashes her golden buzzer for Lavender
Simon Cowell calls the performance “sensational” and tells Lavender, “this is an audition I will never forget.” Sofia Vergara got lost in the moment calling the performance, “beautiful.” Howie Mandel says she “gives everyone hope that maybe we can all achieve our dreams if we just go for it.” Lavender calls AGT her “favorite show” because “it’s about being different and like I don’t know I’m just not normal.”
It’s a beautiful moment seeing how grateful Lavender is for her audition experience, and it all ends with Heidi Klum saying, “I feel like I just fell in love.” She adds, “I would love to be your cheerleader and hold your hand all the way to the finish line” before hitting the golden buzzer. Lavender says, “I don’t know if this is a dream or if I’m really awake.” She is joined by both of her adoptive dads on stage as she holds Heidi’s hand and sheds tears of joy. Heidi and host Terry Crews hand her a box of confetti to hold to share her big moment.
Lavender was not the only major talent this week. The other two acts that wowed me were MOS, a brass girl group, who brought great energy and talent to the big stage, and Mariandrea, a young dancer from Mexico who was extremely flexible and talented.
