She’s 17 and Blind. When She Finished Her Song, Simon Walked Onto the Stage and Asked for Another One

Putri Ariani had dreamed of being on America’s Got Talent since she was a little girl. In 2023, at 17 years old, she traveled all the way from Indonesia to make that dream come true. It was her very first time in America.

Putri is blind.

“My biggest challenge is people look at me just as a blind person, not that I’m a musician,” she said before she went on stage. “But when I’m singing, I feel like a superstar.”

Her parents were with her. When judge Sofía Vergara asked how long she had been singing, Putri laughed. “Maybe since I was born?”

She told the judges she hoped to study at Juilliard one day, and that her dream was to be a great singer, like Whitney Houston.

Then she sat down at the piano and sang a song she had written herself.

When she finished, Simon Cowell did something he almost never does. He stood up, walked onto the stage and leaned down beside her at the piano. “Hi, Putri, this is Simon,” he said.

He told her father that her voice was “amazing” and asked if she had a second song. She did. She sang Elton John’s “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word.”

Afterward, all four judges stood. Howie Mandel said, “A lot of people don’t believe in angels, and I think one just landed on our stage.”

Then Simon pressed his Golden Buzzer. As gold confetti fell, Putri jumped up and down, and her parents ran out to hug her.

“You are, I think, one of the best singers we’ve ever had on our show,” Simon told her.

Did her voice give you goosebumps? Share this with a friend who loves beautiful music.