When 14-year-old Montgomery, Alabama native Reid Wilson stepped on stage, he charmed the America’s Got Talent judges with his sweet southern charm then quickly showed them another side of himself, belting out Lesley Gore‘s 1963 classic “You Don’t Own Me.”
Singing through the lyrics—You don’t own me, I’m not just one of your many toys. You don’t own me, don’t say I can’t go with other boys—the young singer held the attention of all four judges. “We weren’t expecting that,” said Simon Cowell, who said he closed his eyes during the performance to listen to Wilson’s voice. “I opened them again,” he said, “and there’s a sweet, young kid.”
Heidi Klum added, “I think you’re absolutely incredible. I loved it when you took the mic off [the stand] and gave a little more stage presence. Well done.”
Before performing, Wilson said it was his dream to perform on a bigger stage, but he was nervous. “I’m definitely nervous,” shared Wilson, “but I’m going to put my all into those two minutes to sing my heart out and just try not to miss a note.” Sofia Vergara admitted that she thought Wilson’s nerves at the beginning would affect his performance.
“You were so nervous at the beginning,” said Vergara. I was [like] ‘He’s not going to be able to put his stuff together,’ but you did, and you did amazingly. It sounded spectacular from here.”
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