When Mzansi Youth Choir from South Africa walked onto the America’s Got Talent stage, no one expected the kind of emotional landslide that was about to hit. The group explained they were there to honor someone very special: Nightbirde, the late AGT singer whose original song “It’s OK” and Golden Buzzer audition had inspired millions — including them.
Dressed in all white, they began a breathtaking choral version of “It’s OK.” Their harmonies were tight, the arrangement fresh, and the emotion unmistakable. As they sang, Simon Cowell — who’d given Nightbirde her Golden Buzzer just two years earlier — was visibly moved, wiping away tears as memories of her iconic audition flooded back.
The audience could feel it too. By the time the choir hit the final chorus, people were on their feet, cheering through tears. Then something that had never happened before on AGT took place: the crowd’s reaction was so overwhelming that the show awarded the first-ever Audience Golden Buzzer, with all four judges and host Terry Crews joining in to send Mzansi Youth Choir straight through.
It wasn’t just a great performance — it was a full-circle tribute. A choir inspired by Nightbirde’s courage stood where she once stood, singing her words back to the world and proving that her message, and her music, are still very much alive.
