On Tuesday night’s season premiere, the honour of the first-ever, newly introduced Audience Golden Buzzer at America's Got Talent (AGT), went to the South African Mzansi Youth Choir.

Before impressing the AGT crowd with their exquisite performance, the group from Soweto in Johannesburg paid tribute to the couple from Johannesburg, Marina and Jannie Zaaiman, who started the choir. The group said the Zaaimans were hijacked 20 years ago. The couple did not report the perpetrators to the police but saw the incident as an opportunity to change young lives by starting a choir, which has now made it globally. The Zaaimans changed a negative situation – that could have landed the perpetrators in jail – into a positive, with a successful choir that is now being recognised by the world. 

In the publication, Creative Feel, the couple recalled how the boys who hijacked them were barely old enough to be driving. “We tried to imagine the circumstances that could have led them to this point and decided we needed to make a positive difference. Surely there was some way we could help to influence the lives of young people growing up in our townships in a good way,” Jannie Zaaiman said.

Members of the Mzansi Youth Choir performing at AGT. PHOTO: AGT

The couple further revealed that the choir started small and they funded it from their own pockets. Mzansi Youth Choir grew in size and reputation over the years, attracting heavyweight partners such as Avbob, the National Lottery, Rand Merchant Bank, and many others. After growing in leaps and bounds, the choir not only wowed audiences at international talent search competitions but also received AGT's first-ever Audience Golden Buzzer and is now through to the top 18. 

They performed an acapella version of the later AGT contestant Nightbirde's song It's Ok, a performance which drew roars from the crowd and brought Simon Cowell to tears and left him speechless. NBC reported that Nightbirde’s brother responded to the choir’s tribute by saying that he believes his late sister, who passed away in February last year, has been honoured.

Keneilwe Melato explained how they chose this song: “When we heard Nightbirde’s song on AGT, when she auditioned it really touched the whole choir. We decided to record the song and pay tribute to her and she actually responded very beautifully, which we did not really expect but it was very beautiful. So the song has been such a pillar of strength for the choir during difficult times. When we got the opportunity to go to AGT, we were like, ‘that’s the song’.”

Amputee dancer receives first-ever Audience Golden Buzzer at Britain's Got Talent

Audiences of Britain's Got Talent (BGT) were left emotional after the dancing performance of a 27-year-old South African amputee dancer from Sebokeng, Southern Gauteng, Musa Motha.  

ALSO READ: Sebokeng amputee dancer gets standing ovation at Britain's Got Talent

South Africans are expected to back both the Mzansi Youth Choir at AGT and Musa Motha at BGT to raise the country’s flag high, going forward in the competitions.

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