‘America’s Got Talent’ results: Did Tyler make it to the ‘Champions’ finals?
Tyler Butler-Figueroa, the 12-year-old Raleigh native who has become famous across the country for his violin playing, delivered an emotional performance of an American classic on Monday night’s “America’s Got Talent: The Champions” semifinal show.
Tyler’s performances are usually very high-energy and end with the entire audience on their feet.
On Monday, the audience sat stunned and teary-eyed as Tyler performed Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World,” accompanied for part of the song by a vocalist.
He introduced the song by explaining how much having cancer changed him.
Tyler was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia when he was four-and-a-half-years-old. He underwent three years of chemotherapy and last year celebrated four years being cancer-free.
“Going through cancer changes the way you see things,” Tyler said. “I’m grateful for having life and having music to express my feelings.
“I really want to share with everybody how beautiful the world is through my eyes.”
Did Tyler advance to the ‘AGT’ semifinals?
There were 12 semifinal acts performing Monday, and six of them made it through.
After Tyler’s performance, judge Howie Mandel called his performance “beautiful” and “captivating.”
Judge Simon Cowell, who gave Tyler a Golden Buzzer pass last season, gave Tyler advice and said he thought he could win the show this year.
When host Terry Crews announced the acts moving on to next week’s finals, Tyler was the second name he called.
Tyler will perform in next week’s finals.
The other acts advancing through SuperFan votes: Hans the accordion player, singer Marcelito Pomoy, dog trainer Alexa Lauenberger and stunt troupe Sandou Trio Russian Bar. The judges picked Duo Transcend to advance along with them.
The other four acts making it to the finals are getting there through Golden Buzzer passes awarded during auditions: Boogie Storm, V. Unbeatable, Silhouettes (all dance groups) and Angelina Jordan, a singer.
Another Raleigh native on ‘AGT: Champions’
Last week, the military quartet Voices of Service, featuring Raleigh native Christal Sanders Rheams, performed, but they were not selected to move to the semifinals.
The group appeared on last season’s “America’s Got Talent” along with Tyler and also made it to the finals. Voices of Service made the Top 5 before being eliminated.
Rheams is an active duty member of the U.S. Army who graduated from Enloe High School in Raleigh and attended UNC-Chapel Hill. Voices of Service travels to hospitals to sing and bring comfort to veterans with PTSD.
When are the ‘America’s Got Talent: Champions’ finals?
The 10 finalists perform next Monday, Feb. 10, at 8 p.m. on NBC.
Six of those 10 acts advance from Monday’s semifinals, and the other four are Golden Buzzer acts.
This story was originally published February 3, 2020 at 10:00 PM.
