America’s Got Talent contestant Lily Meola performed a soaring original song titled “Butterfly” during the reality contest’s semifinal round on Tuesday.
The 27-year-old Hawaii native was backed by a piano and string quartet as she belted her heart out, singing on the ballad for a lost loved one, “Fly/ I know we’ll meet between heaven and the sky/ I, I’ll try/ I’m gonna try to find the good after goodbye/ Butterfly.”
The emotional performance ended up earning a standing ovation from judge Heidi Klum, who blew air kisses to the singer after she had wrung all the feeling out of the song’s final note.
“I’m so, so, so, so proud of you,” the supermodel told Meola during her critique. “You are so beautiful, you have the most beautiful voice. It’s soaring through the room. I think you are incredible and I wish you the best of luck. And I hope I see you at the finale!”
(Indeed, Klum has been in Meola’s corner since the beginning of the season: During the audition round, she awarded the Hawaiian singer her Golden Buzzer after the latter’s performance of another original song, “Daydream.”)
While Meola closed out the episode, she was up against tap dancer Bayley Graham, kids group Acapop!, dancing magician Jannick Holste, fellow singer Lee Collinson, U.K. “professional idiots” The Lazy Generation, opera singer-turned-vocal impressionist Merissa Beddows and more. The finals results for which acts will advance to the season 17 finale will air Wednesday night on NBC.
Watch Meola’s stirring performance of “Butterfly” below.
