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‘AGT’ judges were moved to tears by this son and mom’s heartfelt duet — trust us, you will be too

"You know, you took a song that I love the I loved your rendition as much," Howie Mandel shared.

Get your tissue box ready, as you're in for an emotional performance. During the second episode of 'America's Got Talent' Season 20, a 23-year-old contestant named Cole Swensen stunned the esteemed judges Howie Mandel, Simon Cowell, Mel B, and Sofia Vergara with his rendition of 'Viva La Vida' by Coldplay. For his audition on the NBC talent competition, Swensen was joined by his mother, Judy. Following his performance, which featured Swensen playing guitar and his mother, Judy, on cello, he received a standing ovation from Mandel and Mel, as well as the studio audience. At that point, Judy was visibly overwhelmed with emotions.

As per NBC, when Mel was asked to give her feedback on Swensen's performance, she enthused, "Well, you have a really distinctive tone in your voice, and you controlled it, and you sailed through that song, and you made it your own." Soon after, Mandel chimed in, "You know, you took a song that I love, and I loved your rendition as much, and to see the love emulated on the stage like that, my heart is just exploding. It was beautiful." 

An emotional Vergara said, "It was beautiful. It was, like, amazing to see, you know, a family come together and the love that guys have between each other, and I got, like, really emotional. You've got all my love." At last, Cowell exclaimed, "Uh, I think this would have been a really good audition on your own." Then, Mel interrupted Cowell mid-sentence and went on to say, "What about Judy?" to which the latter replied, "It would have been a really, really good audition if you had just sung this on your own. However, with your mom, it was a great audition. It made everything I don't know way more interesting, and I don't know, and actually made you, in my opinion, very cool for doing that because you are not following the herd. You're doing what you want to do, and that makes you stand out. I loved it. Really loved it."

Earlier in the episode, the soft-spoken musician gushed over his mother and said, "My mom is the kindest person I know. She’s my number one supporter." Along with this, Swensen also revealed that his mother encouraged him to pursue a music career. "A large reason why I pursue music is because of my mom. She gave up her career and her dream of music, and I am able to take her place, so she’s going to be here playing with me," Swensen added.

When 'AGT' uploaded the video of Swensen's audition on YouTube, the fans couldn't stop raving over him. One social media user wrote, "Something about this audition felt so much more authentic than some acts that got golden buzzers!" Followed by a second user who penned, "I liked his version much better than the original. Actually heard the lyric and the depth of meaning for the first time. Mom is the coolest. Not a shred of pretension from either of these two. Pure generosity." Another netizen commented, "She never took her eyes off him. The love and the pride she has for her son were there for everyone to see. Also, an amazing version of an amazing song."