Night 7 of auditions on “America’s Got Talent” season 17 continued on July 19 with another slate of audition performances from acts vying for this year’s $1 million prize. Host Terry Crews was back in the theater with series judges Simon Cowell, Sofia Vergara, Heidi Klum and Howie Mandel after offering up his Golden Buzzer to saxophonist Avery Dixon on Night 1. Howie and Simon sent two more acts straight through to the lives when they gave singers Maddie and Sara James their Golden Buzzers on Night 2 and Night 3, respectively. Sofia then gave hers to the all female Lebanese dance group Mayyas on Night 4 and Heidi handed the final one to singer songwriter Lily Meola on Night 5.
By the seventh installment of first round auditions, there should have been no more golden confetti to rain on the stage, but that didn’t stop Simon from gathering the judges and Terry around to give the rare Group Golden Buzzer to the undeniable country talent of the girl group Chapel Hart. Watch their full audition in the video above.
The three women of Chapel Hart introduced themselves as lovers of country music that never felt like there existed a place in Nashville for singers that look like them. As Black women, the Mississippi trio of two sisters and a cousin acknowledged to Simon that it’s been hard for them to secure a record deal because “country music doesn’t always look like us.” Simon heard that and said “sometimes you just have to break down the door” and added that they may have just done that with their performance. Howie added that it’s “their win” that country music doesn’t look like them because it’ll make them original. Sofia called their audition perfect because of the song and their energy, saying she’s proud of them.
Their original song, “You Can Have Him, Jolene,” was a smart, modern update to the Dolly Parton classic “Jolene.” They told the judges that Dolly is “by far” their favorite and that from 1973 to 2022 it’s time that women stop fighting over the same man. In their performance, the women put on a romp of a show with uptempo beats and mixing in choreo to make the entire performance as fun and bouncy as country music can often be. Following their audition, the crowd erupted into cheers and a growing chant of “Golden Buzzer!” The judges admitted that they’re a golden-quality act, but without individual buzzers to give out by this point in the competition they had to put their heads together in order to agree that the group is “amazing” enough to award a Group Golden Buzzer!
How much did YOU like Chapel Hart and do you think they can take home the $1 million prize? Sound off on them and the rest of the new season in the comments below and with other fans in our reality TV forum. Also be sure to make your predictions to influence our reality TV racetrack odds.
