Anugrah Kumar of Christian Today writes about the acclaimed performance of 33-year-old Gospel singer Ben Waites on the show “America’s Got Talent.” Waites’ singing drew a standing ovation from the crowd while bringing one judge Sofia Vergara to tears.
Waites is based out of Nashville and was born with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita, restricting the movement of joints throughout the body. He uses singing to express his belief in the love of God to others. All three judges voted their approval for the audition. Waites also went viral, amassing more than 600,000 views on TikTok within 24 hours.
Kumar continues:
The judges, including Heidi Klum and Simon Cowell, also stood up to clap for the singer.
Cowell, who is known for directly and harshly criticizing the contestants, also turned soft as he called it a “great audition.”
Klum told him, “You do have so many emotions, and I was feeling them, too, but I’m looking at Sofia. Sofia is bawling her eyes out right now.”
Cowell added, “And Sofia does not cry.”
Vergara explained, “I loved it because, you know, it’s a beautiful song, but you made it yours, and it was special. It was different.”
All three judges voted for Waites to continue in the competition.
“I’m a Southern Gospel singer and a vocal coach,” Waites told the judges, explaining that the message of the song is to “speak to people no matter their age, their race, their background.”
The rendition carries “a message of hope.”
Waites, who was rejected during his first audition years ago when he was studying at Louisiana Christian University, told Baptist Press his primary motivation is to glorify God.
“At the end of the day I can only say that it’s a God thing,” Waites was quoted as saying.
Read full article here. You can see Waites’ performance below:
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