Astrid, a 34-year-old Australian choir director, made a long journey to showcase an entirely original idea on the America’s Got Talent stage. The former high school music teacher captivated the judges right away when she introduced herself as the potential director of “the biggest choir in the world.” The panel didn’t know what to anticipate since Astrid wasn’t just there to sing; she was there to use the most important element in the room—the audience—to create a magnificent, spontaneous musical performance.
When Astrid announced her song selection—the classic 1980s hit “Africa” by Toto—the unexpected audition officially began. She wanted to create a three-part harmony choir in the entire theater. With the words neatly posted above them, she promptly assigned the audience members to their roles, telling the high voices to sing a “blue” portion, the medium voices a “green” part, and the low voices a “red” part. As soon as they realized, the audience joyfully joined in. The entire audience was singing in breathtaking harmony by the time the well-known chorus came on, resulting in a genuinely community and poignant performance that demonstrated Astrid’s brilliance as a director.
There was disagreement among the judges on whether the act was more about the audience than the artist. Howie Mandel, on the other hand, vehemently disagreed, calling Astrid’s move “really smart” because she showed that she could get everyone to sing in unison in a matter of seconds, so enabling the audience to “win the show.” The majority of the panel voted in her favor despite one dissenting “no,” acknowledging the performance’s inventiveness and uplifting quality. The Australian choir director demonstrated that her innovative concept merited a place in the following round, and the judges agreed.
