DETROIT – As you saw on Local 4, the Detroit Youth Choir was back in the national spotlight on America’s Got Talent All-Stars.
The group returned to the show after finishing second in season 14, but now they’re headed to the finals after a performance that brought one judge to tears.
For 15-year-old Jayda Forney, Monday (Jan. 9) was a childhood dream realized.
“I have to take it in,” said Forney. “I remember watching America’s Got Talent when I was five years old sitting on the couch, and I was like, ‘Mom, I’m either going to be in a group or sing by myself up there.’”
It was Azaria Huggins’s second time on the America’s Got Talent stage. Watching it back was emotional.
“You feel a different feeling when you’re performing rather than seeing it on the scene, so the audience I felt moved watching us, and I thought, ‘We did that to people,’” said Huggins. “Altogether, it’s amazing.”
You’ve likely heard the tune before; They sang Thunder by Imagine Dragons, and it was for a good reason.
“A great song detailing Detroit,” said Choir Director Anthony White. “A story about, ‘Look, we came back and had something to say.’”
What they had to say through song and dance brought judge Simon Cowell to tears.
“He wants everyone to give their all, and I think his crying was a sign of relief because he was like, “They did it, they came back and did it,” Forney said.
The performance earned them the coveted golden buzzer.
The choir hopes their rendition of the song resonates with you as much as it does to them.
“Thunder, it sent a positive message because DYC, we are thunder,” Huggins said. “So I feel like performing that on the big stage in front of the world. I feel like that was our big chance to show the world that this is DYC.”