Courtney Hadwin is one of the golden buzzer winners on America’s Got Talent 2018 this season. She amazed the judges with her unique singing skills, quirky dance moves and surprising personality. To boot, she is just 14 years old. Because she comes off as a very shy girl, one wouldn’t expect for her to be such an outgoing performer. Hadwin hails from County Durham, England and chose to perform Otis Redding’s “Hard to Handle” for her AGT audition. Judge Howie Mandel couldn’t help but to hit the golden buzzer for her, comparing her to icon Janis Joplin.
Ahead of Hadwin’s live performance for the quarter finals on AGT 2018, she took to Instagram to thank her supporters and ask for their votes as she sings her heart out on stage. Hadwin wrote this message:
So Today’s the day finally here and hopefully I do enough to get your votes. Please vote on all platforms as this is such a tough competition to get through on. Send me a picture or tag me and I will feature everyone that uses ALL there 10 votes on me and I will feature YOU on my story!!! Lets see if we can do this together!!!
To vote for Courtney Hadwin, during the quarter finals, via phone, her designated phone number is 1-866-602-4812.
Prior to being on season 13 of AGT, Hadwin was on The Voice Kids UK in 2017 and came in amid the top 6 in the competition. As a finalist on the show, Hadwin was mentored by McFly and McBusted star Danny Jones, according to Chronicle Live. Her initial audition on The Voice Kids UK was a performance of Tina Turner’s “Nutbush City Limits”. Though AGT wasn’t her first appearance on reality television, Hadwin said she was incredibly nervous for her performance.
Hadwin admitted to Express UK, “It’s just been hectic. I was really nervous before it. We wanted to do America’s Got Talent because it’s the biggest show in the world and it’s where all my idols are from.” Reflecting on the show-stopping performance that went viral, Hadwin also said, “It feels like I have switched bodies. I remember singing and then getting to a certain point in the song and seeing people enjoy it, which made me really happy. I must’ve been doing something right. It was just overwhelming knowing that these people, who the public love to listen to, had enjoyed my performance too. All of their comments were amazing.”
Though Hadwin’s performances take place in the United States, she’s had a lot of support back in the UK, telling Express UK that, “Everybody is just really proud and happy for me. I have had people coming up to me in the street saying well done. It makes me feel proud. It’s really weird at school, people I have never met before are coming up to me and saying well done and the teachers are really happy for me. My family is on top of the world. My little brother, Paul, thinks I am famous and he wants to be famous too.”