America’s Got Talent was down to the final eleven of Season 17 when country music group Chapel Hart took the stage once more. The trio was such a hit in their audition that the judges and host Terry Crews banded together to give them a bonus golden buzzer, despite each of them hitting that golden buzzer once already. Unlike what fellow country artist Drake Milligan decided to do, they debuted another original song for the finale on September 13, and were emotional pretty much from the very beginning. After their performance, they opened up about how emotional they were feeling and the good, bad, and ugly.
After they auditioned with “You Can Have Him Jolene” and returned with “The Girls Are Back In Town” for the qualifiers (which was a sassier song than the first), they went for the patriotic and uplifting “American Pride” for the performance that could win them $1 million and a Las Vegas stage show. They were all in tears by the end, but clearly not out of sadness or frustration. When they spoke with CinemaBlend and other outlets after their performance, I noted that their emotions successfully made many of those who were watching (myself included) a little emotional, and Danica Hart responded:
That's what we need – a Facebook for group for all the folks who cried with Chapel Hart and we just hang out together.
Trea Swindle agreed, saying that it “always makes me feel a lot better to know that we weren't crying alone.” None of the judges were in tears, but they were certainly enthusiastic. Sofia Vergara congratulated them on their “heartfelt” performance, and Simon Cowell specifically noted that the chorus was beautiful. He mentioned that some of the vocals “were off because of nerves,” but he was happy that they did what they did. Howie Mandel also noted that their emotions affected their vocals, but still had compliments for the group.
Based on the reactions from the audience in the theater live, their emotions didn’t hurt the performance at all, and I would say made them come across as all the more authentic. When I asked them to share what was going through their heads when they received such a strong reaction from the audience, Devynn Hart shared:
I think from the beginning of the song, we were actually almost in tears before the song even started. And I think it was – like Danica said – it's just a combination of things. You know, the energy in the room was incredible before we even got started. The song itself, that song means so much to us. Thinking about our AGT journey as a whole overall, the ups [and] the downs, the good, the bad, the ugly, everything. I think all of that – not just the AGT journey, our career in general. All of those things hit us at once.
With all of that going through their minds, it’s no wonder that they were crying throughout the performance and immediately after! They have a lot to be proud of when looking back at their America’s Got Talent journey and their career overall to this point, and the future is undoubtedly bright for them. Whether or not they win that $1 million and Las Vegas stage show in the results episode on September 14, they’ve hit the country music scene in a big way on the massive AGT platform.
Danica Hart agreed with her sister that a lot of emotions “came together in that moment,” when they – as Devynn described it – ”just cried like babies.” Danica elaborated:
I don't know if we'll ever really be able to describe like how powerful that was to stand in front of 4000 people and lay it all on the line. A lot of tears and a lot of voice quivers, but I don't know if we'd trade it or if we had the opportunity to do another song, I don't think we would.
Their AGT performance did include more quivers than the studio version that’s already available, but that’s not a bad thing when it comes to live performances. The individual stories and quirks of the performers are part of what can make or break AGT winners, and Chapel Hart has been a big hit with voters leading up to the finale. In case you missed “American Pride,” take a look:
Country music as a whole has been a hit on America’s Got Talent Season 17, as two of the coveted spots in the Top 11 were earned by artists in that genre. Drake Milligan (who Simon Cowell once again commended for not quitting AGT after his first song became a huge hit outside of the show) closed out the night, and it should be interesting to see how the voters responded to both country performers. The competition is stiff on the whole, as the finale also brought back three more golden buzzers: saxophonist Avery Dixon (who was the first golden buzzer winner of Season 17), dance group Mayyas, and teenage singer Sara James.
Celia Munoz also returned after viewers voted to bring her back following her Grease tribute performance, and pole dancer Kristy Sellars opened the night with a routine that was even more incredible than her last, only one week before. Find out which Season 17 performer wins the top prize with the America’s Got Talent finale results episode on Wednesday, September 14 at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.
