‘America’s Got Talent’ recap: Tyler the violinist gets his shot to be ‘Champion’
Raleigh’s Tyler Butler-Figueroa made his first appearance on “America’s Got Talent: The Champions” Monday night, re-introducing himself to America with a rousing performance of “The Git Up” by Blanco Brown.
Before his number, Tyler was shown in an interview speaking about his experience on last season’s “America’s Got Talent,” where he made it all the way to the finale.
“It changed my life a lot,” Tyler said. “It’s been amazing, but a really long journey to get here.”
In his first appearance last season, Tyler got a Golden Buzzer from judge Simon Cowell, which means he went straight to the live shows. He said Monday night that getting the Golden Buzzer was “a dream come true.”
Tyler also addressed that finale night, when he failed to make it to the Top 5.
“It was just a hard moment for me, but after ‘America’s Got Talent,’ I still get fan mail from different people saying I inspire them to keep fighting,” Tyler said.
Tyler is not only an inspiration to budding musicians, he has become an inspiration for children across the country who are fighting cancer or who count themselves among cancer survivors.
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.
Before his performance Monday night, Tyler said he wanted to show Simon that he was right for giving him the Golden Buzzer last year, “and I want to show him that I am a champion.”
Tyler performs ‘The Git Up’
Tyler’s version of “The Git Up” started off slowly and then picked up in tempo, with young dancers falling in behind him. Tyler danced while performing (which is crazy hard), doing the same steps as the dancers. When it was over, all of the dancers crowded around Tyler and embraced him in a giant hug.
Judge Howie Mandel told Tyler: “You are amazing, and I’m a huge fan of what you can do. You’re so authentic and you’re so wonderful.”
Judge Alesha Dixon told Tyler that she saw him “put a little swag on the violin playing.” She added that it was “absolutely fantastic” and “you nailed it.”
Judge Heidi Klum called him “adorable.”
Cowell told Tyler: “You reminded me with that performance just how good you are. You’re an extraordinary young man. Let’s hope the fans put you through where you belong, which is the semifinals.”
Did Tyler make it through?
The voting for “The Champions,” which brings together 40 contestants pulled from “America’s Got Talent” series from across the world, is very different than last season’s regular “AGT” show.
Viewers will not get to vote this season.
Instead, a group of SuperFans have been put in control. Each of the judges (plus host Terry Crews) get one Golden Buzzer pick each, to be used across the audition shows, and they’ll get some wildcard votes later — but the Super Fans select everyone else.
Of the 10 acts that performed Monday, four advanced: two were chosen by a panel of SuperFans, one advanced via Golden Buzzer (this week, that went to the dance group V. Unbeatable) and one was voted on by the judges.
The SuperFans picked the dance act Duo Destiny and ... Tyler!
When Tyler’s name was called, Simon Cowell stood and cheered.
The third pick — this one by the judges — went to Alexa Lauenburger, who has a dog act (it’s cute).
There are still some wildcard picks that happen later, when judges get to pick contestants eliminated in the first round and they’ll return to the competition (which will still be judged by the SuperFans who didn’t pick them the first time). But we’re not sure how many wildcard picks judges get.
Another Raleigh act to come
We still have another Raleigh native yet to perform. Christal Sanders Rheams with the military quartet Voices of Service is also back for the “Champions” series. Like Tyler, Voices of Service made it to last season’s finale but didn’t win.
Look for them to perform next Monday night.
Beyond that, the 10 finalists perform on the February 11 show and the winner will be named on the finale, which airs February 18.
This story was originally published January 20, 2020 at 10:04 PM.
