Season 14 of America’s Got Talent was the best season of the show. So much has been written about the controversy surrounding AGT and it’s standards and practices. However, there was another exceptional outcome from the season.
Kodi Lee, who was just 22 years old at the time of his first appearance on the show, stole viewers’ hearts from the moment he appeared on camera. Lee is blind and has been living with autism. He’s also a musical prodigious savant. Lee first appeared in episode 1401 of the show. He sat down at the piano and played Leon Russell’s “A Song For You.” The first note that he sang left the audience and judges in absolute awe. His performance was so moving, judge Gabrielle Union pressed the golden buzzer for him, sending him straight to the quarterfinals.
Kodi’s mother spoke of her son’s exceptional talent just before his audition, saying, “We found out that he loved music really early on. He listened and his eyes just went huge, and he started singing. Through music and performing, he was able to withstand living in this world, because when you’re autistic it’s really hard to do what everybody else does.” For Kodi, it apparently wasn’t that hard. He won the $1 million prize and other top honors for his participation on the show.
Off camera, there was trouble brewing at America’s Got Talent. Judges Julianne Hough and Gabrielle Union were fired after their inaugural season on the show. Reports that staff members respectively chastised the women for their choices in hair and makeup, as well as racist comments and behaviors taking place on set soon surfaced. Gabrielle Union spoke up about her time on the show and raised questions about the toxicity of the America’s Got Talent work environment. She lodged complaints about a number of issues with the show including an alleged inappropriate comment made by guest host Jay Leno in which he targeted the Asian community. NBC later met with Union to discuss those issues and more. Fans and celebrities alike rallied around the actress and former judge to lend support to her. As of January 2020, NBC, as well as SAG-AFTRA, were still investigating those claims.
The reason why America’s Got Talent season 14 was the best is because it was a game changer. Lee was a true star in every sense of the word. Hearing his soulful voice and learning of his backstory as a young man with autism was absolutely inspiring. The moment he received the golden buzzer was also a highlight of the season. Even though the behind-the-scenes drama has since overshadowed the rest of the season, there was a lot of good to come from that, too. Through her courageous and diligent efforts, Gabrielle Union stood up for the Asian community, which is largely underrepresented and overlooked in Hollywood. She also proved brave enough to risk her own reputation by speaking up about a number of things that she knew to be inconsistent local and state employment laws. This level of courage, as well as the talent displayed on the show, made this the best season of America’s Got Talent to date.
Next: Gabrielle Union Firing Controversy Is Tarnishing America’s Got Talent’s Reputation
Source: CNN, Talent Recap
