On the most recent season of America’s Got Talent, America was introduced to one of the best contestants they have seen thus far. Courtney Hadwin is one of the biggest talents that has ever been on America’s Got Talent and the country showed her tremendous support by voting for her every week. But who is she?
Hadwin claims to just be a normal teenage kid, but her singing talent is anything but normal. She is a fourteen-year-old girl from England. She is, in general, a very shy girl who seems to have a strange manner about her. However, as soon as she gets on stage, the shyness goes away. She captivates her audience with her complete mastery of the stage.
Hadwin had previously been on The Voice: Kids, so talent competitions weren’t new to her, but this one was different. She was older, practiced, and more confident. This was also a much larger audience with much harsher judges. She didn’t let this get to her, as all three of her performances were some of the best that the judges had seen.
For her first performance on America’s Got Talent, she sang “Hard to Handle” by Otis Redding. She walked shyly onto stage in a floral dress with a microphone in her hand. When the judges asked her how she was, she said she was a bit nervous, but it was soon clear that she had nothing to be nervous about. Hadwin began to sing and it became evident that she had a big voice for her petite stature. She was all over the stage with her impressive vocal range. At the end of the performance, Howie Mandel, a judge for the show, said that if he could, he’d sign her to a record label. But, because he couldn’t do that, he gave her the golden buzzer, meaning that she would automatically advance to the semi-finals. Hadwin began to cry tears of happiness while her father ran out on stage to pick her up and hug her. After this performance, the judges were in awe of what they had seen and were eager to see more.
The next time Hadwin performed, which was during the semi-final round of the show, she sang “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” by James Brown. This performance was somehow even livelier than her first. She had total and complete control of the stage. Her unique dance moves set her apart from anyone else on the show. She sounded eerily like Janis Joplin, with her bold and unique voice. She wasn’t afraid of what anyone thought about her because she was being truly and genuinely herself. Not only does she have a similar singing style to Joplin, she has a similar clothing style as well. Hadwin looks like she walked straight out of the 1960s. At the end of this performance, Simon Cowell, another judge on the show, told her that she shouldn’t change a thing about her performance. This is noteworthy because Simon is known as the toughest judge to please. This performance was also one that the American public was able to vote on. It was now up to America to decide whether or not Hadwin would go to the finals.
Luckily, America loved her, and she made it into the final round with ease. In this round, she performed “River Deep-Mountain High” by Tina Turner. This performance was one of her best. The judges loved her and so did the audience. She brought them everything she had. However, Hadwin did not make it into the top five finalists.
Although she didn’t win America’s Got Talent, Hadwin is definitely going places. It is not everyday that we see a voice and personality that is as unique as Janis Joplin’s. Janis would be proud of the work that Hadwin will continue to do.