Professional baseball player Pete Rose once said, “If somebody is gracious enough to give me a second chance, I won’t need a third.” When singer Johnny Manuel was given a second chance by judges on “America’s Got Talent,” he definitely didn’t need a third one, either.
Taking to the show’s stage for his second audition, Johnny was hoping to wow the judges with a stunning cover of one of his idols’ songs, Stevie Wonder’s “Lately.” Simon Cowell told him he hoped he blew them all away because they had all loved him during his first audition.
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Johnny started off and the crowd was clearly impressed with his performance, as were most of the judges.
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But Simon was noticeably unimpressed.
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When he finished and after the singer’s standing ovation settled, Simon was the first to chime in. “There’s no better way of singing that song than the way Stevie Wonder sings it. With all the trills and everything, I thought it was quite annoying.” He was quickly met with boos from the crowd.
Simon requested that Johnny try again. Knowing that his singing career was on the line, he jumped in and blew everyone away with a stunning a capella version of Whitney Houston’s “I Have Nothing.”
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Seal chimed in when he was done, “You hit notes that I could only dream of.” He continued, “You have to be ready at every situation. You never know when opportunity is going to knock on your door.” But when Seal stood up, the crowd went wild.
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Even other contestants were blown away by Johnny’s raw talent:
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Watch how Johnny reacts to Seal hitting the golden buzzer for him!
Share Johnny’s incredible audition. He took his second chance and never turned back!
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