Simon Cowell raves over 10-year-old's heavy metal performance on 'America's Got Talent': Watch
Simon Cowell had a revelation of the rock ‘n’ roll kind.
During Tuesday’s episode of “America’s Got Talent," the British media mogul was blown away by 10-year-old guitarist Maya Neelakantan.
The Indian musician electrified with her bold instrumental cover of “Last Resort” by Papa Roach. The heavy metal performance prompted immediate cheers from the studio audience and looks of astonishment from “AGT” judges Cowell, Sofía Vergara, Heidi Klum and Howie Mandel.
In the end, Neelakantan earned rave reviews from the judges with her raucous audition and precocious talent.
“I was about your age when I tried to learn the guitar. It is one of the most difficult instruments in the world, so I gave up,” Cowell said, jokingly adding, “Actually, no, my teacher gave up on me.”
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Simon Cowell praises ‘rock goddess’ Maya Neelakantan
Cowell continued to gush about Neelakantan, praising the young guitarist’s commanding stage presence.
"You know what I love about this audition? We just weren't expecting this,” Cowell said. “You were so shy, and you're 10! And then you turned into, like, this rock goddess."
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Neelakantan nabbed four yeses from the judges, which takes her to the next round of the “AGT” competition.
“I always say, 'Make noise amongst the noise,' and you just did that,” Cowell said.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'AGT': Simon Cowell wowed by heavy metal audition
