Just a 20-year-old fast-food employee, she walked into the massive audition room in a fit of nerves – something she confessed to right away.
Joining the judges on UK’s X-Factor, young Rebecca Grace walked cautiously into the space with her hands knotted and stood nervously in front of Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne, Nicole Scherzinger, and Louis Walsh.
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“How’re you?” Cowell asked her, but she didn’t have the nerves to reply. “How’re you?” He said again cracking a smile.
“I am so nervous,” the young girl uttered, wringing her hands a bit more.
The nerve-racked auditioner began to find her comfort zone a bit more after speaking with Cowell and explained that for the last bit, she’d been working at McDonald’s – but her dream of singing on a big stage had brought her to X-Factor.
Rebecca Grace’s family stood outside the audition room watching her on a television screen alongside the show’s host. They, too, appeared nervous – but soon began smiling as Grace started singing one of Kelly Clarkson‘s most-emotional songs.
This truly talented young girl took a step back and started singing “Piece By Piece” with just the sound of a piano to back her up. With each note resonating from her body, the room was filled with real, raw, emotion as she sang her heart out.
Each person within earshot fell immediately silent and you can tell how stunning of a moment this was for both Grace and the X-Factor crew.
Clearly, each of the judges was more than impressed by Rebecca Grace’s performance and so was the rest of the world. Her riveting tribute to Clarkson went viral and garnered millions of views when it was first aired.
After all was said and done, Simon gave his usual critique – and it left her in tears, but not for the reason you’d think.
Check out Rebecca Grace’s full performance of Kelly Clarkson’s “Piece By Piece” and Simon’s reaction below.