Samantha Johnson stuns the ‘AGT’ judges — and Howard Stern finally finds the voice he’s been searching for
With a bright smile on her face, Samantha Johnson walked onto the stage of 'America's Got Talent.' “Would you say this is the biggest audience you’ve ever sung in front of?” Heidi Klum asked the contestant, to which Johnson said yes. Wishing her luck, the judge invited Johnson to take the stage. As the loud cheers from the audience dimmed, a sweet piano tune began to play. “Looking out on the morning rain,” Johnson sang, raising her hands, feeling the track. Her next words grabbed the judges’ attention.
Klum looked at the contestant, folding her hands and widening her eyes. The lyrics, “I had to face another day,” further inspired the audience as she looked directly into their eyes. With an engaging vocal range, giving the feel of a blues track, Johnson also had power in her voice. Mel B enjoyed the smoothness in Johnson’s calm vocal range. “Before the day I met you, life was so unkind; but you're the key to my peace of mind,” Johnson sang, as she had perfect hand gestures to express the track and the emotions included in it. “Because you make me feel, you make me feel” is where the singer had a higher vocal range. With her skills, the contestant impressed everyone as she came down to a low pitch from a higher range, word by word.
The best part of her performance was the smile she wore throughout the song. Soon, Johnson took the mic off the stand and moved around the stage. Her performance even impressed Nick Cannon, who looked at the camera in surprise. Next, the crunchiness in her voice had both Klum and Howard Stern highly impressed. At “And I just want to be (want to be) close to you; you make me feel so,” Johnson added more power to the song. However, on the word “alive,” she chose to soar higher again, holding the note impressively long.
Her routine made Cannon say, “You made me feel.” As soon as the performance concluded, the judges gave Johnson a standing ovation. Klum was then heard saying, “Samantha Johnson is in the house.” The judge added that Johnson was born to sing. Mel B, on the other hand, said there was no way anyone could dislike what they saw on stage. She especially loved the chorus, where the contestant’s voice opened up.
“You know, you are saying it like a natural woman; you sang like a supernatural woman,” Howie Mandel mentioned, also telling the contestant on stage that she is going to go a long way. “We get a lot of singers in this competition, so to really stand out, you’ve got to do something exceptional,” Stern mentioned. He then told Johnson that she was exceptional. "You were terrific," he added. Sharing their judgment, Klum mentioned, “Samantha, the four of us loved you, so the four of us would give you a big yes.” According to Fandom, the Season 10 act was eliminated in the Semifinals in the Judges’ Choice.