The AGT executive producer couldn’t hold in his emotions during a heartfelt audition a year after Nightbirde’s death.
Nightbirde was the true definition of a bittersweet story. Diagnosed with breast cancer at 25, the singer-songwriter, whose real name was Jane Marczewski, was still determined to live life to the fulles
She auditioned with an original song, “It’s OK” for Season 16 of America’s Got Talent. Her talent and emotion won her a Golden Buzzer from Judge Simon Cowell, who developed a friendship with the singer, advising her to prioritize her well-being rather than return to the competition as her illness took a turn for the worse around the time of the Live Quarterfinals.
Sadly, Nightbirde was never able to make it back to the AGT stage. She died at the age of 21 in 2022, though her legacy lives on through her music, which her family has released in her honor. Looking back at her incredible Audition during the Golden Buzzer Season 20 special retrospective, Cowell said that had she continued in the competition, Nightbirde might have made it all the way to the Finals — and maybe even won the entire season. She’s certainly a winner to Cowell, who ranked her Audition as his all-time favorite Golden Buzzer moment.
Nightbirde’s emotional Golden Buzzer Audition
In many ways, her Audition was like any other. Nervous but excited, Nightbirde took the stage with a wide grin on her face, happy to have a chance at the spotlight after years trying to make it in the music business. But she did have to explain what she was going through.
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“Last time I checked, I had some cancer in my lungs, my spine, and my liver,” she said to the audience. “It’s important that everyone knows I’m so much more than the bad things that’ve happened to me… I have a 2% chance of survival, but 2% is not 0%. 2% is something, and I wish people knew how amazing it is.”
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The crowd was rapt as she sang, hanging on her every word, and her song went to the top of the iTunes chart the very next day. “Your voice is stunning,” said Cowell afterward. “There was something about that song, the way you just almost casually told us what you’re going through…Everything about that was really special.”
How the Mzansi Youth Choir received the only Audience Golden Buzzer
Nightbirde’s impact on the AGT community was felt immediately, and just a year after her death, the South African Mzansi Youth Choir Auditioned for Season 18 with an arrangement of “It’s OK” that moved Cowell to tears and had the audience demanding a Golden Buzzer — which they got! It was the first and only time the Audience Golden Buzzer has been given, but in Nightbirde’s honor, it couldn’t have been more appropriate.
