America’s Got Talent 2025: 13 year old Evelyn Errante blows audience away singing “Defying Gravity” from Wicked.
America’s Got Talent 2025 returns after a one week break from new shows to air the eighth audition episode on Tuesday July 29. NBC recently dropped a preview of the audition from 13 year old Evelyn Errante, who performed a powerhouse version of “Defying Gravity” from the musical Wicked.
The enthusiastic young girl from Phoenix, Arizona, could not be more excited to perform in front of judges Howie Mandel, Mel B., Sofia Vergara and Simon Cowell.
According to the Daily Independent, Evelyn enjoys singing and writing country/pop music and boasts over 57K followers on TikTok.
Evelyn, who dreamed of performing on the AGT stage all of her life, hopes to perform on Broadway someday. She loves musical theater, but also wants to sing mainstream music. Sofia joked that musical theater is Howie’s favorite (It’s not!).
And as many AGT kid singers do, Evelyn performed employing a mature tone and an adult take on phrasing and dynamics. Her voice was both rich and able to hit the song’s trademark big notes. The beloved tune is not for the faint of heart. The audience, however, were thrilled. But were the judges be impressed?
Howie Mandel hates musical theater
Sofia said, “You are perfect for what you want to do. It was very beautiful.” The judge compared Evelyn to a princess. “I think you are going to go very, very far.”
Musical theater hater, Howie, stayed a hater: “You’re a lovely young lady who knows exactly what she wants to do, and what you want to do is not something that I really respond to.” The crowd booed!
“The good thing is, you can sing like that at 13,” said Mel B. “By the time you get to 18, your voice is going to be amazing.” Mel continued, speaking from experience, “I’ve done Broadway twice and it’s hard work. I would keep on going, keep on training.” The judge concluded, “That was a great audition. It wasn’t perfect. You’ve got a lot of work to do, but I’m going to say yes.”
Simon hesitated, but eventually said YES
Simon was the deciding vote. “This was difficult, because I cannot bear that song,” However, he added, “A lot of people love it. I get that.” He continued, “You’ve got a lot of guts to come out here and sing that song. You’ve got so much ambition, we should encourage somebody like you on this show.” Simon said yes, ultimately. It would be very dumb for Simon to turn a talented singer down merely because he hated the song choice. But it’s all part of the act! Throw a little suspense in the results.
Three yeses and a no from Howie means that Evelyn has the chance to compete in the Live Rounds. America’s Got Talent airs Tuesdays at 8 pm ET/PT on NBC, streaming next day on Peacock.
