"This is my dream, being on America's Got Talent," Celine Tam appeared to instantly win over the audience with her adorable admission; they "awwwed" in response. Mel B asked Ms. Tam what she intended to do for them; the girl confidently replied that she would be "singing," and told the judges about her younger sister, named Dion. The 9-year-old noted the connection between her and her sister's name and the superstar, "Celine, Dion."
"So I'm guessing your parent's love Celine Dion," Mel B asked the youngster. Ms. Tam affirmed Mel B's suspicions. The singer then explained to those gathered about how her singing voice was discovered, by her father, while she sang "My Heart Will Go On" in the car while he was driving.
The judge noted that it was a Celine Dion song.
Celine Tam wows audience and judges with powerful performance
"We've worked that out Mel, there's a Celine Dion connection," Simon Cowell teased Mel B. Mel then asked the singing sensation about what type of music she personally enjoys. Before she could answer, Simon Cowell interjected, "Celine Dion," as the audience laughed politely along. When asked what her dream was, Ms. Tam insisted that performing on America's Got Talent was it. When asked what performer's music she would be singing, she replied, "Celine Dion," as another voice said "duh," in the background.
After receiving a thumbs up from Howie Mandel, Celine Tam launched into her performance of Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On," to an enthralled audience, who first clapped in appreciation, and then stood on their feet, filling the theater with thunderous applause as the little girl hit note after note, seemingly matching Celine Dion's level of performance.
The power behind Ms. Tam's delivery appeared to move the audience, who appeared genuinely surprised with her mastery.
More auditions over coming weeks
Simon Cowell smiled and looked thoughtful, Mel B waved her arms above her head in time with the music, and Celine's mother looked on and cried. As well as being a No. 1 hit for Dion, "My Heart Will Go On" was the theme to the 1997 film, Titanic.
"My Heart Will Go On" earned the 49-year-old Canadian singer a Grammy for "Best Female Pop Performance" and was on Billboard's Hot 100 for 20 weeks.
Auditions for America's Got Talent will air again on NBC on Tuesday, June 20 and 27, at 8 p.m. ET. The AGT YouTube video, which was uploaded yesterday, on June 16, has already been viewed over 4 million times. In a previous audition, Angelica Hale, another 9-year-old, from Georgia, wowed the AGT audience and judges with her performance of Andra Day's "Rise Up."
