Nigeria’s Okwuchi Makes America’s Got Talent Finals

By Anita Eboigbe, NAN/

Nigerian singer and plane crash survivor, Kechi Okwuchi earned a ‘golden buzzer’ for her stunning performance on America’s Got Talent: The Champions, earning her a place in the finals.

Kechi got another chance to aim for the top spot on the talent show, on Monday, as she was picked to participate in the Champions’ finale edition.

She originally auditioned for the 12th season of the talent competition in 2017 where she made it to the finals.

Performing Callum Scott’s ‘You Are The Reason’ for the champions show, Kechi earned judge, Simon Cowell’s ‘golden buzzer’.

Her performance elicited loud cheers from the audience and judges, following which Simon initially teased the Plane Crash survivor for her version of the song, implying that he “didn’t like it much”.

As loud boos rang out, he added that he ‘actually loved it’ – pressing his Golden Buzzer to give the 28-year-old singer an instant spot in the finals.

Kechi, who suffered third-degree burns on 65 per cent of her body in the 2005 Sosoliso plane crash, burst into tears, trying to call out to her mother Ijeoma Okwuchi who also sobbed in the audience.

Simon walked onstage to hug her, his voice cracking with emotion as he said, “I have always wanted to do that for you. You so deserve it. This is what defines the word champion.”

Kechi shared her excitement at getting a second chance on the show, on her verified Twitter handle @Kechi_agt. She described the experience as one of the top three moments in her life.

She tweeted,”I will never ever forget this moment and this feeling. Not ever. I am incredibly grateful to God for giving me yet another performance to look forward to on the @AGT stage. Whatever happens, I’m humbled.#AGTChampions.”

She also expressed her excitement on her Instagram page @Kechi_agt where she wrote, “The moment the gold coffetti started flying around me, I don’t know…my emotions overflowed.”

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