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Originally appeared on E! Online<\/a><\/p>\n Tom Sandoval<\/strong><\/a> is stepping out into the blinding lights.<\/p>\n The Vanderpump Rules<\/em> alum and his band Tom Sandoval & The Most Extras<\/a> <\/strong>made it to the quarterfinals of America’s Got Talent<\/em><\/a>, performing a cover of The Weeknd<\/strong>‘s “Blinding Lights” during the Aug. 19 of the NBC competition.<\/p>\n While judges Howie Mandel<\/strong>, Mel B<\/a><\/strong> and Sof\u00eda Vergara<\/strong><\/a> applauded Tom for his energy, Simon Cowell<\/a><\/strong> felt the overall performance fell flat, hitting the buzzer halfway through and telling the frontman, “That did not sound good I’m afraid.”<\/p>\n Tom’s response to the criticism? “Right before I went on, my in-ears kinda went out,” he said of the audio monitors, “so I was flying in the dark there.”<\/p>\n Still, Tom insisted he was “not” making excuses for his shaky performance when Mel B called him out. As he put it, “I had a blast.”<\/p>\n The TomTom founder made his AGT<\/em> debut in June<\/a>, performing a cover of A-ha<\/strong>‘s \u201cTake on Me.” The performance earned high praises from the judges, with Mel B raving that Tom’s particular rendition of the 1985 smash hit “gave me happy vibes.”<\/p>\n More from E! Online<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cYou made me smile,\u201d the Spice Girls<\/strong> alum told him. \u201cAnd apart from that song being one of my favorite songs, you all look like you were fully enjoying yourself.”<\/p>\n Indeed, as Tom later noted, there was a reason why he chose to take on “Take on Me.”<\/p>\n “That was a tough one because we have a lot of songs that we play,” he told E! News<\/a>. “A-ha’s ‘Take on me’ is a song growing up I always loved the music video. I never thought I would ever be able to sing that song or hit those notes.”<\/p>\n But after training with vocal coaches, Tom added, “I’m able to sing now and it’s been just such a great feeling being able to have a sense of accomplishment being able to perform the song.”<\/p>\n