Nene (pronounced “nay-nay”) Royal, a teenager from Phuket, Thailand, is a breakout star of Season 21 of America’s Got Talent.
On the eve of her 16th birthday, the visibly excited solo musician stepped onto the AGT stage in a simple black dress, electric guitar in hand, and captivated the audience and Judges, but couldn’t have predicted that she was about to achieve viral fame.
“I start playing guitar since I was 7 and my biggest dream is I really want to be superstar on tour,” Royal explained, admitting that while she was nervous to be on the biggest stage of her career so far, she was accompanied by her father, and “he’s very supporting me.” So sweet.
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With a scream-growl, she then launched into a punk-rock cover of The Cranberries’ 1994 grunge hit “Zombie,” which she performed at full volume, whipping her hair and pushing her voice to a rasp. “That was spectacular. You have a very big chance to do really good in this competition. I loved it,” Judge Sofía Vergara told her afterward.
Calling her “such a surprise,” Judge Howie Mandel agreed, telling a teary-eyed Royal, “you are a rockstar, young lady.” Judge Mel B added that she can “kill it on the guitar,” and Judge Simon Cowell said, “your tone of your voice it was, like, really authentic.”
Nene Royal’s performance is a mega-hit online.
In just nine days, Royal’s audition amassed more than 219 million views to date across YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, the most of any Act so far this season. Royal herself already had a healthy social media presence, but her numbers are going up, too, and she’s currently at more than a million followers on both Instagram and TikTok.
Perhaps the biggest endorsement of her performance is this comment on her Instagram post of her performance: black heart emojis from The Cranberries. Dolores O’Riordan, the Irish singer who wrote “Zombie,” sadly died in 2018, so this stamp of approval is as close as you can get to an official gold medal in “Zombie” covers, of which there are many. Since 1994, this anti-war, anti-terrorism song has gone on to become a favorite worldwide; listen to Miley Cyrus’ version here.
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“Girl didn’t audition but gave a free mini concert 🙌😍😍” commented one viewer on the same post. “I have never rewatched an AGT audition video this many times, I LOVE HER 🤩🤩🤩” wrote another fan, basically summing up everyone’s feelings.
With four “Yes” votes, but no Golden Buzzer, Royal remains in contention for a spot in the Live Shows.
Over the next few weeks, the Judges will deliberate over the Acts who received Yes votes to decide the final line-up for the Live Shows, which begin on August 18. Assuming Nene is included in one of the Live Show rounds, you’ll have a chance to vote for her then by creating an account online via the AGT app or through the NBC website. In the meantime, keep tuning in on Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. ET to see how the Judges make their decisions, and whether your favorite makes the final cut.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.nbc.com ’
