A 9-year-old stunned the 'AGT' judges with his original song — but all fans had the same thing to say
On July 23, 2024, a 9-year-old Belton Journeyy blew America's Got Talent' judges away with his performance of an original song, 'Paradise.' Journeyy appeared on the stage with his piano, and the lyrics flowed something like this: "Am I dreaming... All I see is purple clouds...there is water, but you can not drown...it feels like I'm thinking out loud...and the mirrors are broken...how can I see with all this?" He continued describing his paradise and sang with full feeling, "There are people who can never die; raindrops when you cry; here the bugs don't bite. Welcome to my Paradise."
Judges were awestruck throughout the performance and gave him a standing ovation, and so did the audience. Simon Cowell went first: "You've just got it, haven't you? And I love hearing people write their own material." "It's a glimpse of who you are, and I really like you," Cowell added. Heidi Klum also commented on Journeyy's performance: "I'm very impressed by you... You have a beautiful voice."
Sofia Vergara noted, "I think this season we have so many cool kids." Then added, "You are one of them. I love your music; I love you. You are a superstar already." Succumbing to the stream of praises, Howie Mandel also told Journey, "For somebody your age standing there, so confident, you have the voice, you have the talent... and I think you are amazing." Cowell later told Journeyy that his talent is "God-given" and "rare"; he also added, "Great things are going to happen to you; I can feel it."
Fans on YouTube couldn't stop raving about the little boy's singing skills. One said, "I wouldn't be surprised if this kid became one of the biggest musicians/artists in the next 5-10 years! Legend in the making, fr." Another added, "His writing is insane; paradise is a double entendre with a pair of dice. In the first verse, he explains settings and feelings; he lists three things, referencing both meanings of paradise/pair-of-dice, and then after mentions three more things for 6 sides of the dice, then sings about rolling the dice on his dreams of paradise and asks kids, 'How is he writing so in depth?'" Another chimed in, "Insane! His beautiful old soul, his velvety voice, his writing, his style, his little sweet face, his soulful eyes, his hair... little sir, you are a gift to this world!" One fan on Twitter even said, "He should have gotten the golden buzzer."
Journey sang a rendition of “Three Little Birds” by Bob Marley for his quarterfinal performance, which, yet again, garnered a lot of praise from judges. He sang it so beautifully that it prompted Klum to say, "I have to applaud you because it's quite gutsy to take this very, very famous Bob Marley song—very gutsy. So good on you for doing that; you sounded beautiful." Vergara also declared his performance as the "best" and "most exciting thing to happen tonight." Unfortunately, it was his last performance on the AGT stage. Despite getting all the love from judges and fans, Journeyy could not continue to the semi-finals. Per Daily Voice, Journeyy's mom posted a message on Instagram for his fans: "Of course Journeyy is taking it hard like we all are. But I am so proud and thankful to God. Can't wait for what is next in his plan."