Ansley Burns is an upbeat, energetic 12-year-old from Easley, South Carolina. The tween has loved singing ever since she was a little girl. And so, in 2019, she decided to try her luck on America’s Got Talent.
In a filmed piece before her audition, Ansley talked about how much she loves singing and AGT.
“When I was little, I used to sing and pretend like I was on America’s Got Talent,” Ansley said. “My grandma would get her phone and she videoed me, and now I’m in chorus at school, so I sing a lot.”
Ansley told the judges she was going to sing “Think” by Aretha Franklin. Simon was a bit skeptical that a little girl like Ansley could pull this big song off. He was even more skeptical when he heard the backing track Ansley chose.
Ansley sang her heart out, but Simon couldn’t get past the overpowering backing track. He stopped her mid-way through the audition.
“Ansley, Ansley, sorry babe,” Simon said. “I don’t think this backing track was working for you. I think it was a horrible, horrible backing track, so I don’t think we can judge you properly on this, I really don’t. We really like you, but that was terrible.”
Ansley was naturally confused and upset about this turn of events, and so Simon offered her his water to help her calm down. He told her it was magic water. The ‘magic water’ worked, and soon, Ansley was ready to perform again.
“Well, that just happened,” Ansley joked, which made the audience crack up.
Simon asked Ansley to sing the song acapella. After taking a moment to compose herself, Ansley launched back into the song. Without the overpowering backing track, the judges could clearly hear Ansley sing. They realized she was incredibly talented!
As soon as Ansley finished, the judges and the crowd gave her a standing ovation. Simon also gave her a huge thumbs up!
All four judges gave her enthusiastic ‘yeses,’ and she advanced to the next round.
“We’re gonna remember you; you have a great voice,” Simon said.
While the AGT stage is the biggest stage Ansley has ever performed on, she’s no stranger to singing competitions.
In January 2018, 11-year-old Ansley performed in a singing competition in her home state of South Carolina. She performed Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You,” and she won Best Singer In the State-Youth Division!
Ansley also regularly performs in and around her hometown.
In May 2019, she was invited to the sing “The National Anthem” at a baseball game at Clemson University.
Ansley has also posted many other videos of her singing on her YouTube channel, including this incredible video of her singing “Hurt” by Christina Aguilera.
As can be seen in these videos, Ansley is a talented singer who has some amazingly powerful vocal cords! We can’t wait to see how far she goes on AGT.
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