--- title: America's Got Talent: Teenage Christian Guardino Wows Judges description: The 16-year-old singer Christian Guardino brought the judges — and the audience — to their feet with his rousing performance. canonical: https://time.com/4818057/christian-guardino-americas-got-talent/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-06-14T15:52:11.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:30.460Z og:title: Unassuming Teen Blows Away the 'America's Got Talent' Judges og:description: The 16-year-old formerly blind singer received a standing ovation og:url: https://time.com/4818057/christian-guardino-americas-got-talent/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Unassuming Teen Blows Away the 'America's Got Talent' Judges twitter:description: The 16-year-old formerly blind singer received a standing ovation twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Watch This Unassuming Teen Blow Away the _America's Got Talent_ Judges ## Video: Tyra Banks Is Replacing Nick Cannon as the New Host of 'America's Got Talent' [Watch (HLS stream): Tyra Banks Is Replacing Nick Cannon as the New Host of 'America's Got Talent'](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/RE6FxWUg.m3u8) (1:20)  _Published 2017-03-13. Former "America's Got Talent" Host Nick Cannon wishes Tyra Banks the best of luck with her new hosting gig_  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Jun 14, 2017 3:52 PM UTC  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Jun 14, 2017 3:52 PM UTC Sixteen-year-old Christian Guardino has been in the media spotlight before: four years ago, the formerly blind young singer was profiled in [_National Geographic_](http://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2016/09/blindness-treatment-medical-science-cures/) after a medical treatment gave him back his eyesight. But now he’s surprising audiences in a whole new way, thanks to an uplifting vocal performance on Tuesday night’s _America’s Got Talent_ that left [judge Simon Cowell](http://time.com/4362496/simon-cowell-grace-vanderwaal-americas-got-talent/) speechless. The Patchogue, N.Y.-based teen started off onstage admitting right off the bat that he was nervous. But Cowell helped calm him down, suggesting he had a “good feeling” about Guardino’s potential. And true to [Cowell’s instinct](http://time.com/money/4281354/american-idol-stars-most-money/item/simon-cowell-2/), Guardino quickly dispensed with his anxieties when he launched into a rousing rendition of the Jackson 5’s “Who’s Lovin’ You.” As he belted out the soulful tune, judge [Howie Mandel](http://time.com/4699325/tyra-banks-replacing-nick-cannon-americas-got-talent-host/) rose to his feet almost immediately. The audience (and the rest of the judges) soon followed suit. “I mean, what just happened?” shouted excited fellow judge Mel B. after he had finished the song. Guardino got the Golden Buzzer from Mandel thanks to his impressive voice, which catapults him into the live round of the show. In the meantime, he’s been receiving messages of support from both Mandel and fellow Golden Buzzer recipient and _Talent_ contestant Mandy Harvey, [who wowed crowds last week.](http://time.com/4808965/mandy-harvey-americas-got-talent/) > [](https://twitter.com/mandyharvey/status/874812522318180352) > [](https://twitter.com/howiemandel/status/874807226052993024) > [](https://twitter.com/tyrabanks/status/874808055669563392) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4818057/christian-guardino-americas-got-talent/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4818057/christian-guardino-americas-got-talent/"},"headline":"Watch This Unassuming Teen Blow Away the America's Got Talent Judges","datePublished":"2017-06-14T15:52:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:47:30.460Z","description":"The 16-year-old singer Christian Guardino brought the judges — and the audience — to their feet with his rousing performance.","url":"https://time.com/4818057/christian-guardino-americas-got-talent/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","viral"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4818057/christian-guardino-americas-got-talent/","name":"Watch This Unassuming Teen Blow Away the America's Got Talent Judges"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Tyra Banks Is Replacing Nick Cannon as the New Host of 'America's Got Talent'","description":"Former \"America's Got Talent\" Host Nick Cannon wishes Tyra Banks the best of luck with her new hosting gig","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/RE6FxWUg/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-03-13T14:06:15.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/RE6FxWUg.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4818057/christian-guardino-americas-got-talent/","duration":"PT1M20S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4818057/christian-guardino-americas-got-talent/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```