'America's Got Talent': Golden Buzzer winner Joseph Allen on the 'life-changing' moment and what he truly wants now
'America's Got Talent' season 14 is almost done with its audition rounds and its search for the best of the talent out there.
From magicians, singers, dancers, stunts, comedians, ventriloquists, musicians, etc. AGT has us hooked onto our screens every Tuesday night. Through the four weeks, we also got to witness four Golden Buzzers. It's no mean feat that you have your name attached to one of those golden buzzers.
Ask Joseph Allen that. Well, we did. The June 4 episode of America's Got Talent, the very second one of the audition rounds, saw Allen receiving the coveted Golden Buzzer from Howie Mandel.
Hailing from Texas, 21-year-old Allen left the judges and audience stunned after he performed an original song that he wrote for the judges.
Allen is a motocross racer and student in Phoenix, Arizona. Before his performance, he revealed that he always had a way of accomplishing his dreams. Allen also taught himself how to engineer and produce music. After his performance, the judges gave him a standing ovation and the 21-year-old collapsed to the floor in tears. Mandel went on to tell Allen how inspired he was by his performance, so much so, that he got up from his chair and stood on the table and gave a massive stomp on the golden buzzer for Allen. In an exclusive interview with MEA WorldWide (MEAWW Allen spoke about his audition performance and leaving a footprint in the show.
Starting off by talking about how it was to perform in front of Simon Cowell, Mandel, Gabrielle Union and Julianne Hough and how their feedback affected him, Allen said, "It was very surreal. It's like these are people that you see on television, you see through computer screens and phone screens all the time. So to be standing right in front of them, it's something that can definitely take your breath away, and it's just cool to be in the presence of people who are so well established in the industry."
Talking about his audition and if he expected his original song to wow the judges and audience, he said, "Oh man, it's crazy. I don't know it was a lot, like when it first happened like being able to just kind of get that exposure overnight. It was definitely something that was life-changing."
Continuing, Allen revealed what his mindset was like before going on stage. "The mindset before the audition - I was just very determined. I just wanted to make sure that whatever I did that when I got off the stage, my family and friends that all came were going to be proud of the performance that I put in. So, I just really wanted to make sure I wasn't going to let them down and I wasn't gonna let myself down. And I feel like I put a lot of work in terms of practicing and getting ready for it. So yeah, determined is the best way I can describe how I felt before going on stage."
Revealing what he thought was the best that could come out from this audition, Allen said, "Well, I think it crossed every contestant's mind that the best thing that could happen is, getting the golden buzzer and in my head, the thought of getting the golden buzzer was something that was so astronomical. I will probably talk about that even when I'm in my retirement home. So, I would say I did give it thought, in terms of getting the golden buzzer and to be able to pull it off, that was a dream come true."
Allen revealed that the Golden Buzzer changed his life overnight, adding to it he said, "I would say the biggest change is in myself. I realized I'm carrying myself differently now because I understand there are people that look up to me now. There are people that are anticipating what my next moves are going to be. So for me, I would say the biggest change is just my mentality, making sure that I'm doing what's necessary to not only make my family proud now but to also make my fans proud."
During his audition, Allen revealed that he wanted to leave a footprint for people to remember him by, and now he successfully accomplished it. Talking about how it feels, Allen said, "It's crazy when I said that on stage, I didn't really give it that much thought and it's so crazy. Now that it's almost turning into a movement, people all over the world wanting to leave their footprint. I guess in some paradoxical type of way by me saying I wanted to leave a footprint, it actually left one, and it's still leaving one. So, yeah, it's just something that I'm still trying to wrap my head around."
Allen also said that his biggest inspiration is Jesus Christ. Continuing he said, "My biggest inspiration is Jesus Christ, he was the greatest communicator to ever live. And I'm just trying to make sure that whenever I communicate on stage, people can feel it on a deeper level. I would say in terms of collaboration, in terms of the industry, it is most definitely Drake, he is an artist that has figured out how to create a following that is on a level that almost breaks the charts. He's definitely one of the artists that I look up to and I want to make sure that I'm compared with names like that."
We asked Allen what he expects to gain from the AGT stage, and he said, "People's trust, I want to make sure that my fanbase can trust that, whatever work I'm putting in, I'm not slacking. I want them to trust and know that whenever Joseph Allen is about to do a performance or go on stage or give us new music that he put some actual effort and some actual heart behind it and I feel like once I gain that trust, that's when it can really establish your career."
Till now apart from Allen, the season has seen three other golden buzzers, the first was Kodi Lee a blind, autistic singer and pianist who was Gabrielle Union's choice for the buzzer, followed by Allen, the third round saw Simon Cowell press the buzzer for talented violinist Tyler Butler-Figueroa and the fourth round saw Terry Crews pick the Detroit Youth Choir as his choice for the buzzer.
'America's Got Talent' season 14 airs every Tuesday night on NBC. Check your local listings for more information.