“Mandy, I don’t think you’re gonna need a translator for this,” “America’s Got Talent” judge Simon Cowell says to deaf singer Mandy Harvey just before hitting his Golden Buzzer, thereby sending her straight through to the Season 12 live rounds. It was a truly breathtaking moment for the 29-year-old woman, who went deaf due to a connective tissue disorder when she was only 18. Watch Harvey sing her original song “Try” in the viral video above.
“Growing up the only thing I wanted to do was sing,” Harvey says in the emotional pre-taped package. After she went deaf in college, she became determined not to give up on her dream. Thanks to her father’s support, Harvey re-taught herself to sing again with the aid of a guitar tuner and by feeling the vibrations. “Music now isn’t about the sound, it’s about the feeling,” she continues.
After singing “Try,” a song she wrote about never giving up, the teary-eyed “AGT” audience gave her a standing ovation. Harvey then earned an immediate Golden Buzzer push from Simon before any of the other judges — Heidi Klum, Howie Mandel and Mel B — could even give her a critique. Harvey will be joining last week’s Golden Buzzer act Darci Lynne Farmer in the live shows.
“America’s Got Talent” Season 12 has only aired two episodes so far, but it’s already catching America by storm thanks to its various viral performances. Will all of the renewed buzz help the show earn its first Emmy nomination this year for Best Reality-Competition Program? See the complete “America’s Got Talent” winners list in our photo gallery below, and be sure to watch our fun webchat with Mandel about the new season.
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