As the old saying goes, you can’t judge a book by its cover.
Although this famous idiom originally referred to literal books and their packaging, it has evolved over the years to mean we shouldn’t be prejudiced or have surface opinions of people without getting to know them or letting them speak for themselves. While it’s difficult not to go through life without at least some preconceived notions about how things work and what people are like, there are always moments that shock or surprise us and make us re-evaluate things.
This performance on Got Talent Global was just one of those times.
The act we’re talking about is Linkin’ Bridge, a group of four men from Louisville, Kentucky.
As the clip begins, the men introduce themselves as Big Rome, Montre Davis, Shon China Lacy and Ekoe Alexanda.
As it turns out, Montre and China are cousins who started singing together, though they met the other two members as teenagers and continued to hone their craft with them. Backstage, the men seem a little unused to being on camera and are slightly stand-offish.
As they come out onstage, that attitude only continues.
Right as they appear, Simon Cowell asks them to introduce themselves.
They introduce themselves as Linkin’ Bridge before being further asked to say each of their names. Once again, the audience is a little unsure of what to expect from these four, perhaps because of their slight discomfort with being onstage in front of so many people. Finally, Simon asks them why they came on the show to which they answer that it was all Andre’s idea and that he is just a “big dreamer.”
With all that out of the way, they’re ready to do their act.
Although the crowd is not entirely sold on the group from the beginning, they shut down any objections as soon as they start singing!
After taking a moment to gather themselves, the group begins an a capella performance of “Over the Rainbow” in style of a barbershop quartet! Despite how initially tough they may have seemed, their singing is so sweet and tender that it takes the audience and the judges by surprise.
Although their vocal performance itself is warm and incredible, it’s truly the shift in attitude that really wins the crowd over.
While the whole crowd starts cheering immediately, Linkin’ Bridge is only getting warmed up!
After their first verse, each one of the members gets a chance to do a solo of their own as well.
Needless to say, their singing only gets more and more powerful as it goes on—at one point, the audience is cheering so loudly over the singing that the performers almost can’t hear themselves sing! At the very end of it all, the four members come together again in one last harmonious note before bowing out of the song.
When it’s all over, the crowd all rise to their feet and gives them a roaring round of applause!
Needless to say, a big part of how we react to things has to do with our first impressions.
The truth is that how we carry ourselves communicates a lot about who we are—but not everybody is equally able to interpret those signals correctly. In some cases, our outward appearance is actually the opposite of our true self, or it’s a shield we’ve designed to keep ourselves safe and to keep others at a safe distance.
Whatever the case may be, Linkin’ Bridge showed us beyond a doubt that we need to let others speak for themselves before making any judgments, because there’s always the chance that we’ll be completely blown away!
Congratulations to Linkin’ Bridge on their amazing performance! Check out the full clip below:
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