‘AGT’ Contestant Had No Idea Her Mom Signed Her Up to Audition, But She Still Blew Simon Cowell Away

Anna Wilson went into a taping of America’s Got Talent thinking that she was just there as a fan — but really, she was mere moments away from auditioning, thanks to her mom.

On the Tuesday (July 15) episode of the competition series, the 21-year-old Marylander looks stunned as she sees her mother, Carrie, walk out on stage in front of judges Simon Cowell, Howie Mandel, Mel B and Sofia Vergara. Anna’s initial shock quickly turns to anxiety, however, when Carrie explains that she isn’t the one auditioning, as she’d signed up her daughter instead.  

As Anna starts to cry, all four judges look equally surprised. “I’d be so mad at my mom,” Mel B says, with Vergara agreeing, “I would kill her.”

After talking a bit with Anna, who joins her mom on stage, Cowell gives her about an hour to prepare a song. When she returns, the aspiring singer reveals that she’ll be performing Adele’s version of Bob Dylan’s “Make You Feel My Love” because “I always dedicate it to my mom, so I thought it was a full-circle moment.” 

Even so — and despite Anna’s deep vibrato sounding lovely on the ballad — Cowell quickly cuts her off mid-song. “Anna, I hate to do this,” he tells her. “I think that song is a bit boring.”

Rising to the occasion, the contestant then pulls out a second track: Maren Morris’ “My Church.” The energy in the room palpably increases as Anna belts out the lyrics and adds her own flair to some of the notes, earning applause and cheers from the crowd.

Afterward, Cowell is clearly impressed. “I think most people put in your position would’ve just ran, but you were willing to take the challenge,” he says to Anna, who looks nervous but stoic. “It showed that you’ve got guts, and I really, really like you.”

Mandel and Vergara agree. All of the judges except for Mel B, who declared that she just wasn’t “feeling it,” end up passing Anna on to the next round, where, hopefully, she’ll have more time to prepare before her next performance.  

On Instagram, Anna gushed about the experience. “I’ve dreamed of becoming a singer ever since I was a little girl,” she wrote Monday (July 14). “I’ve imagined what it would be like to audition in front of Simon Cowell, and to actually audition with him right there in front of me was the most surreal feeling of my life. I want to thank my mom, because without you, this experience would have never been possible.”

Anna’s performance marks just the latest impromptu audition of AGT season 20, which kicked off in late May. A week prior, Cowell cut off a hopeful named Bellina to ask her granddaughter, Lilliana — who was accompanying her grandmother on guitar — to sing instead.

America’s Got Talent airs Tuesdays on NBC and streams on Peacock. Watch Anna’s audition above.