12-Year-Old with Incredible Broadway Voice Earns Golden Buzzer on 'America's Got Talent'
Viewers of “America’s Got Talent” were anxiously waiting to see who judge Julianne Hough would grace with the final Golden Buzzer of the 14th season.
On the final night of the auditions, 12-year-old Broadway fanatic Luke Islam not only brought the new judge to tears but also secured himself a spot in the live shows.
Luke shared his love for Broadway shows that has been growing since he was only 6 years old in his pre-taped introduction.
“I love the audience. I love the crowd. I love the stage, the props, the costumes,” the New York pre-teen said. “I want to be up there. I want to do what they do.”
He shared his hopes with the judges before his audition that “AGT” would help him achieve his life-long goal to become a Broadway star. He even told Julianne Hough how much her and her brother’s dancing on “Dancing with the Stars” has inspired him.
With maturity beyond his age, Luke passionately performed “She Used to Be Mine” from the Tony-nominated musical “Waitress.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BztuaTtDMj7/
He was brought to tears after the audience and the judges gave him a standing ovation and the first step to his dream came true.
“What’s so important, if you move forward. Don’t put yourself if in a general music pool,” judge Simon Cowell told Luke. “You’ve got to sing songs as if every one of your performances is an audition for the best producers on Broadway.”
Julianne Hough brought even more tears to the young singer’s eyes as she began to praise him for the incredible talent he had just displayed.
“You have such talent and grace. You have something so special,” she said. “You have an essence inside of you that has given you a gift.”
“I believe that not only are you going to become a star and get your dream to come true, but I don’t think you need to wait that much longer because…” She then pressed the last Golden Buzzer of the season, which caused Luke to become so emotionally overwhelmed that he dropped to the ground in tears.
As judge Howie Mandel said, this is only the beginning of this young man’s dream coming true.
Even seven-time Grammy nominee Sara Bareilles, who wrote the songs for “Waitress,” couldn’t hold back tears after watching Luke’s performance.
“bye everyone,” she tweeted. “going to be weeping forever and ever.”
bye everyone. going to be weeping forever and ever. ?❤️???? https://t.co/2x0l79kEje
— Sara Bareilles (@SaraBareilles) July 10, 2019
Another cast member of the musical shared the performance and said that the entire cast was crying over how beautiful his performance was.
“You have the whole ensemble crying over this video- currently group texting about this,” she wrote on Twitter. “So moved. We love your heart and that voice!!!!”
Luke. I am a cast member of @WaitressMusical on Broadway and you have the whole ensemble crying over this video- currently group texting about this. So moved. We love your heart and that voice!!!! ??? @SaraBareilles @ShoshanaBean SBs’.. look at this LOVE ??? https://t.co/d1u3kdjkB6
— Jessie Hooker-Bailey (@JHookityHooks) July 10, 2019
The musical’s official Twitter account even shared a throwback video of Luke performing another song from “Waitress” at a karaoke event just a year earlier.
The musical wrote, “We knew he’d be a star when he made his Broadway debut at Waitress Karaoke last year!”
Luke Islam has the potential to go far in this season of “America’s Got Talent.”
Click here to check out all of the other Golden Buzzer recipients Islam will have to compete against later this season.
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