Sofia Vergara found the feeling she was waiting for in Gabriel Henrique’s vocal on ‘AGT’ [WATCH]
On August 1, “America’s Got Talent” season 18 continued with the eighth installment of audition episodes. In this initial stage of the competition, each judge is given one “golden buzzer” decision to make where they can send an act straight through to the live shows. On “Auditions 8,” Sofia Vergara finally found the feeling she was waiting for when Gabriel Henrique sang “Run to You.” Watch the full performance that in the video above.
Gabriel arrived on stage with his Portuguese translator, nervous to stand alone with his small amount of English proficiency. He told the judges that it’s his dream to sing for them in the United States and confessed that he arrived in a sad moment of his life because his dog ran away just two weeks prior to coming to the audition. It was clear to both Sofia and Heidi Klum that Gabriel was nervous leading in to his performance, but were on their feet cheering for him by the time he finished.
Once the standing ovation to his performance calmed down, Heidi told Gabriel that he’d be the off-spring of Whitney and Mariah because of his voice and that he’s “incredible.” Howie Mandel called him unexpected because he sounds like “the best and finest pop diva,” saying he’d have people at home wanting to know who he is. Simon Cowell said he’s interesting and that he probably doesn’t know how good he actually is.
Sofia closed out the comments by admitting to not having that many words to describe her reaction. She called the audition perfect and his voice beautiful. She explained that as a judge they’re “waiting for that feeling” and that he delivered “something very beautiful and heartfelt. When it came time to voting, Sofia said that instead of going that route that she’d rather hit the Golden Buzzer for him.
As the latest golden buzzer act of the season, Gabriel joins Heidi’s selection Lavender Darcangelo, Howie’s choice Murmuration, Terry’s pick Chioma & The Atlanta Drum Academy, Simon’s choice Putri Ariani, and the audience selection Mzansi Youth Choir as the acts that advanced straight to the live shows beginning August 22.
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