12-year-old Kadie Lynn was one of American’s Got Talent‘s youngest competitors this past season. She blew the judges, and the audience, away with her rendition of Merle Haggard’s classic tune “Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Star“. While some fans thought she should get the Golden Buzzer, which would have sent her straight to the live shows, it all worked out because we got to see more performances from her.
She followed up her impressive audition with a cover of Miranda Lambert’s “Mama’s Broken Heart” in front of country legend Reba McEntire, who was serving as a guest judge. McEntire praised her saying, “You have a stage presence that I didn’t find ’til I was in my 20s,” and judge Simon Cowell promised her he’d fight for her until the end.
For her first performance in the live rounds, Kadie Lynn got soulful with Maren Morris’ breakout song “My Church“, which earned her high praise from all four judges. Thanks to America’s vote she advanced to the Semi-Final round of the competition, where she performed a heavenly version of Lee Ann Womack’s 2000 hit “I Hope You Dance“. The maturity in her voice is well beyond her years and she further proved herself that she was a contender.
It seems she already had “I Hope You Dance” in her repertoire, seeing as we have unearthed a video of her singing it in 2013, when she was just nine years old. Her mom, Deborah, shared the performance on her Facebook page and it will completely blow you away.
Kadie Lynn was not even double digits yet, and she was singing a technical song like “I Hope You Dance”. She hit every single note correctly with ease and is the picture perfect country girl clad in bedazzled jeans with a large belt buckle and cowboy boots to round out the outfit.
Every time she hit the long note in the chorus, the audience went wild! She proved she had talent in this performance, and again on her time on America’s Got Talent. We not only love this video because it showcases her talent, we also love it because it shows how much she improved in a few years. Who knows what she will be capable of in a few more years!
We can’t wait to see what Kadie Lynn has in store for us in the future. Watch her incredible performance below!