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'AGT' judges roll their eyes at one of the most surprising instrument choices — then came a major twist

Heidi Klum said, "I was like, Oh gosh, I hope something else is gonna happen, and then you started all this other stuff; it was all so cool."

Everyone loves an 'America's Got Talent' performance where the performer comes on stage with an underwhelming stage presence but then continues to knock it out of the park with their performance. This is something that happened with Medhat Mamdough, a beatboxer and flautist from season 16 of 'America's Got Talent.' Mamdough is the "first Egyptian to participate in America’s Got Talent for beatboxing while playing the recorder," as reported by Egypt Today.

As he stepped on stage, Howie Mandel asked Mamdough what he was going to do. He said he was going to "play the recorder." Mandell, surprised by how this individual would pull off performing on 'the world's largest stage' using such a simple instrument, exclaimed, "The what?" Simon Cowell, looking equally dreadful upon hearing the word 'recorder,' shared the sentiment, "Can I ask you a question? Who is a recorder player in the world or in history whom you look up to?" As the Egyptian native fumbled to find his words, Terry Crews, known for playing the flute on 'AGT' as well as 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine,' coughed loudly from the wings.

The audience laughed as Cowell stated, "No, no, no, you play the [flute]." Cowell then continued to tell the flutist to finally begin his performance. Mamdough was clearly nervous, as it was visible in his expressions; he nervously adjusted his voice to begin performing. Everyone watched from the edge of their seats as Mamdough's recorder pierced through the pin-drop silence in the room. Erupting into a melody, everyone was quite impressed by Mamdough's performance, but he wasn't done yet.

As he continued performing, out of nowhere, he upped the ante by beatboxing. The audience cheered; clearly, no one was expecting the flutist to have this trick up his sleeve. As he finished performing, the judges and the audience rose to their feet, the dreaded Cowell now looking in admiration. Heidi Klum said, "When you started, I was like, Oh gosh, I hope something else is gonna happen, and then you started all this other stuff; it was all so cool."

Finally, Cowell's turn came to speak, and to no one's surprise, he began by expressing his disappointment with the beginning of the performance: "I'm going to be honest with you. I mean, I was dreading this because, you know, it's not personal. I just hate recorders because, you know, I used to have to play them at school." Mandell, being the wordsmith he is, perhaps summarized the entire performance perfectly: "It's something that we were forced to play in school. You took something that is so disliked and made it trendy." Mamdough got a unanimous yes from all four judges. However, despite progressing to the next round, the judges eliminated him during the 'deliberating round' as his "card could briefly be seen on the board," as reported by Fandom.