See How 17-Year-Old Mia Morris Became a 1-Woman Band on AGT with 5 Instruments
Talk about an incredibly unique America's Got Talent Act!
The world was introduced to a new kind of performance in America's Got Talent Season 17 — courtesy of one supremely talented 17-year-old!
Mia Morris had something special planned for her Audition: transforming herself into a one-woman band while performing her original song, "Gone My Way." But it wouldn't be a straightforward affair. By incorporating a loop pedal into her performance, the Nashville native intended to dazzle audiences and Judges alike by being as creative as humanly possible.
As the audience looked on in anticipation, Morris picked up instrument after instrument, stopping to quickly play each one before capturing their sounds on the loop pedal. The result was a one-of-a-kind performance. Morris let her vocals shine and even laid down an impressive live drum beat (adding another layer of instrumentation) in the song's latter half.
Oh, and the song itself — reminiscent of some of Gwen Stefani's early work — was exceptionally catchy, too.
After her performance ended, the live audience rewarded Morris with a huge ovation. Howie Mandel could barely find the words to register his emotions.
"I just think you're a star," Mandel. "I think looping is so cool, the fact that you're playing every instrument… I can watch a concert, I can watch you doing this. I just love what you did."
The rest of the panel was similarly impressed.
"Absolutely genius," remarked Simon Cowell.
"My dream is to share my music and my writing with the world," Morris said. It's safe to say she accomplished that goal with this performance.
Heidi Klum explains how to let Acts down easy on AGT
Unfortunately, not all Acts are as jaw-dropping as Morris' — and that's when Judges are put into a bit of a predicament. Letting people down easy is part of the job, but it's never simple. In a June 2024 interview with Parade, Heidi Klum explained her thought process when she has to break bad news to Acts.
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"You don't want to sit there and crush someone's dream or even hurt someone's feelings, none of us want that, so it's hard sometimes," she explained. "But some people really think that [what they're doing] is really amazing, and the whole audience is booing. You see many, many question marks around their head and they don't understand why people are not loving what they just did. And it's not easy then to also say something, but at some point, you have to also be honest and be able to voice what you just saw, you know? I try to wrap it in the nicest possible way."
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Klum realizes, however, that she plays just a small role in an Act's success. After all, AGT fans are the ones with the final say.
"Ultimately, it's not up to us, that's why it's called America's Got Talent — America is the ultimate Judge on who should win," she said.
