Heavy/ABC/YouTube Quintavious Johnson on "American Idol." Inset: Competing on "America's Got Talent" in 2012.
Ten years after making it to the finale of “America’s Got Talent” (AGT) as a sixth grader, Quintavious Johnson is stepping back into the national spotlight. Now 21, the gospel singer floored judges Luke Bryan, Katy Perry, and Lionel Richie with his “American Idol” audition, airing on March 17, 2024.
“A second baptism for me,” Bryan exclaimed after Johnson’s soulful rendition of CeCe Winans’ “Alabaster Box,” which brought all three judges to their feet.
The Franklin, Tennessee, singer and worship leader was thrilled to receive a golden ticket to Hollywood, as seen in a preview video released by ABC. The judges’ feedback proved that he’s still got the musical gift that earned him fifth place on the ninth season of “AGT” and, most likely, a successful road ahead on “Idol.”
Here’s what you need to know:
Quintavious Johnson Says His Goal in ‘American Idol’ Audition Was to Inspire Others
After his successful run on “AGT,” Johnson, who turned 22 in November, continued to sing and work at his church, eventually becoming a worship leader. Even as a kid on “AGT,” he described is singing talent as a “gift God has given” to him, according to The Grio.
He still feels the same way today, he told Nashville’s WKRN on March 14, when he was asked to describe his sound.
“My sound is a penetrating sound, it’s a delivering sound,” he said. “It brings peace, joy, it’s from the Lord. It’s a sound from the heavens.”
“I really just wanted people to be impacted,” Johnson told the station of his “Idol” audition. “I wasn’t really even thinking so much about me, except for one part where I had to hit a note and I was like, ‘Now Lord, let this come out, please!'”
His goal clearly worked with the judges. After Johnson sang, Richie told him, ““What you gave us today was just inspiring, but more important, you feel every note. Great performance.”
Perry told him, “When someone comes in and says ‘I’m a worship singer and that’s my job,’ we get nervous because they usually check an obvious box, but you gave us everything in that one song, which is fantastic. There was a whole healing. There was a whole baptism for everyone.”
‘American Idol’ Contestant Quintavious Johnson Has Been Singing Since He Was a Baby
Johnson has already had a brush with “American Idol” stardom. Back when he was on “AGT,” he got to sing a duet in the finale with “Idol” alum Jennifer Hudson, who went on to earn EGOT status as an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony winner.
Following in her and other R&B artists’ footsteps would be a lifelong dream come true for Johnson. He told WKRN that his mom, Yolanda, says he started singing before he could talk.
“I started singing at 11 months, in the shopping cart,” he explained. “My mom was pushing it, she hummed something and I sang something back to her! And then, at two years old, I began to sing in the church choir.”
“Everybody in my family sang, so I grew up around singers,” he added. “They all could sing and they trained me, I guess.”
Comparing his time on “AGT” to auditioning for “Idol,” he told the station, “This is a whole ‘nother experience, it’s another perspective, it’s another viewpoint as a young man. I was a boy. Now I’m a young man, so that’s the difference.”
Even if Johnson doesn’t make it to the finale of “Idol,” he’s already benefitted from the friends he’s made through the show.
He told WKRN, “I made some friends that are probably gonna be with me for the rest of my life.”