One of the really cool things about watching NBC’s America’s Got Talent is that a lot of the contestants have incredibly touching stories that you likely wouldn’t have had the opportunity to learn about if they didn’t appear on the show.
In this clip from AGT, the judges meet 19-year-old Amanda Mammana from Connecticut. Amanda lives with a speech impediment.
“As you can probably tell,” Amanda begins to tell the judges. “I have a bit of a speech impediment, and it was definitely something that caused me to shy away and to hide.”
In a really beautiful twist, Amanda goes on to tell the judges that she discovered that her stuttering seems to diminish when she sings.
“I will be singing a song that I wrote,” Amanda explains to the judges and the crowd. “It’s just about some hard times and if I could go back and change those things, I wouldn’t because they made me me.”
Not only does Amanda sing, but she also plays the guitar. She begins to play a pleasant melody, and the crowd is suddenly met with a powerful and sweet voice. Within seconds of beginning her original song, the camera pans to judges Simon Cowell and Sofía Vergara, who both appear to be pleasantly surprised and impressed.
Individuals sitting in the audience watch with wonder and tears brimming in their eyes, with one person even exclaiming, “Oh my gosh.” The lyrics in Amanda’s original song reveal a deeper look into her life and struggles.
To watch and listen to Amanda’s original song — and to hear what the judges thought — watch the clip in full.
