'America's Got Talent' season 14: Sophie Pecora says her performance felt 'surreal' after she was praised by the judges
'America's Got Talent' has been on a roll since it premiered. It has been serving the audience with fantastic talent and the audience seems all eager to lap it all up. Just three episodes in and we're already torn apart as to who is our favorite act and who will we be rooting for.
With the competition only heating up with each performance, we've already witnessed three well-deserved contestants receive the Golden Buzzer. Kodi Lee, a 22-year-old autistic and blind pianist and singer was the first contestant to receive the Golden Buzzer from Gabrielle Union, Joseph Allen who performed an original song about wanting to leave a footprint in the world received Howie Mandel's buzzer and then, it was Tyler Butler-Figueroa, an 11-year-old cancer survivor who performed his version of Kelly Clarkson's 'Stronger' on the violin which prompted Simon Cowell to press the buzzer for him.
Golden Buzzer performances aside, there were plenty of stand out contestants as well. 15-year-old Sophie Pecora's performance of her original song titled '7th Grade' certainly did catch our eye. Not only that, even the judges loved her, she received a standing ovation and yeses from all four of them.
MEA WorldWide (MEAWW) got in touch with the young singer and we had a wonderful chat with her about her original song and if she expected the response she got from the judges for her song '7th Grade'.
Pecora had introduced herself to the audience saying, “I’ve always loved singing. I used to pretend I was on stage and sing songs in front of the mirror. But growing up, I was a little shy and quiet so I felt very insecure when trying to make friends. So I started posting YouTube videos. I really wanted to relate to people and express my feelings. I started posting my own original songs, but back then I think I probably had like eight views.”
That's certainly not the case now. Pecora's song '7th Grade' wowed and touched everyone who heard it, talking about if she expected such a reaction to her audition, Pecora said, "I kind of thought a lot of people would relate to the song because being stressed in school seems like a common thing these days. I also feel like people of all different ages could relate. Like Howie said everyone knows what it feels like to be torn down."
The young singer received truly positive comments and responses from the judges after her performance, so we asked her how it felt to be at the center of all that applause, she said, "It was really surreal because everyone was watching me closely and listening to my song. I feel like they were REALLY listening because of the things they said. It was really cool they understood the song. I was really excited when all the judges stood up. The words I recall the most were when Julianne said “poetry in motion” (this part didn’t make it on the actual airing), but when she said this I feel it’s accurate because I love poetry, especially slam poetry."
Continuing she said, "I feel like it’s my style. It was cool she got this from that one song. Then when Simon said that I'm a good songwriter” (again, didn’t make the edit!) that meant so much because he’s heard so many artistes so it was cool that he liked my song. Oh! And when he said my delivery was really cool – that was awesome because I’m just doing what I do."
Talking about what made her decide that she wanted to audition this year Pecora said, "I thought it’s a great opportunity to share my songs with the world and hopefully attract new people who connect with my songs and who can really enjoy them. Also, I was excited to meet other creative people that are talented and doing what they love."
'America's Got Talent' season 14 airs every Tuesday night on NBC. Check your local listings for more information.