The judges called it "stunningly beautiful," "outstanding" and "truly amazing," but somehow Jackie Evancho's rendition of "Music of the Night" wasn't enough to get her to the next round of "America's Got Talent: The Champions."
During Monday's episode, the 18-year-old Pine Township native brought the audience — and judges — to their feet by singing the song from "Phantom of the Opera."
"To see the Golden Buzzer wasn't given to me, I didn't mind at all," Evancho said afterward.
According to a Jan. 23 Facebook post, she accomplished a goal just by returning to the AGT stage: "(T)he reason I wanted to do the show was to walk onto that stage as a young woman and show the world I am no longer a child."
Being a child star didn't come without struggles, but Evancho is demonstrating that she's moved on in both her career and her life.
[embed width="350" height="450"] https://twitter.com/Nightline/status/1091029594386292737 [/embed]
Mission accomplished, from the reactions of judges Simon Cowell, Heidi Klum, Howie Mandel and Mel B.
[embed width="350" height="450"] https://twitter.com/LaramieWilliams/status/1092593108137766922 [/embed]
[embed width="350" height="450"] https://twitter.com/howiemandel/status/1092593346013421568 [/embed]
Viewers had their opinions too.
[embed width="350" height="450"] https://twitter.com/Syfy_Queen/status/1092625654053568514 [/embed]
[embed width="350" height="450"] https://twitter.com/RodLCleveland/status/1092593355777888256 [/embed]
[embed width="350" height="450"] https://twitter.com/cvillegirl01/status/1092594593516933126 [/embed]
Moving on to the final night of competition are sand artist Kseniya Simonova, magician Shin Lim, comedian Preacher Lawson, daredevils Deadly Games and singers Susan Boyle, Angelica Hale, Kechi Okwuchi, Cristina Ramos, Paul Potts and Brian Justin Crum.
[embed width="350" height="450"] https://twitter.com/AGT/status/1092607450610511872 [/embed]
That episode will air at 8 p.m. Feb. 11 on NBC. The winner will be revealed the following week during the results finale.
Shirley McMarlin is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 724-836-5750, smcmarlin@tribweb.com or via Twitter @shirley_trib.
