In late May, a video recording of Kodi Lee’s performance at America’s Got Talent went viral on social media.
Regardless of his disabilities, Lee showed off his talent as a talented pianist and beautiful voice, making everyone stand up and clap their hands incessantly.At 22, Lee still looks like a teenager.
Because he was blind, Lee needed his mother to lead him on stage. After a few short exchanges with the notoriously difficult judges, Lee stunned them with a performance on piano and vocals from Donny Hathaway’s A song for you.
“What just happened is truly magical,” said judge Simon Cowell. “I will remember this moment for the rest of my life.”Judge Julianne Hough wiped away tears as she praised Lee’s performance.
Meanwhile, Judge Gabrielle Union said, “I wanted an artist who would change the world. I believe Kodi is such a person.”
It was Judge Gabrielle Union who gave Lee a ticket to go straight to the live section of the final round of America’s Got Talent.
The video of Lee’s performance of this song has attracted more than 300 million views online on social media platforms such as Facebook and YouTube.
“The Queen of Television” Oprah Winfrey admired Lee’s extremely convincing performance on her Twitter account: “I love this moment. I stood up and clapped in my living room at home.”
Although she is blind and autistic, according to Kodi’s mother Tina Lee, she has displayed exceptional musical talent from a young age.
Sharing with NBC, Tina said she still remembers when her son was 2 and Kodi’s dad started playing Mary had a little lamb on the piano.
And then Kodi stepped forward and started playing on its own. At that time, she and her husband were extremely surprised at the memory as well as the ability to perceive the rhythm and melody of the child.
Lee almost learned the piano as a child and only started taking formal piano lessons about four years ago, when he was 18.
Lee said she doesn’t limit herself to any particular genre of music. “I love all genres. I love pop music,” said Lee, adding that she loved contemporary artists and that Maroon 5 was her favorite band.
Kodi Lee had his first “public performance” at the age of 6, the story was born out of a series of coincidences.
Meanwhile, while having lunch at Disneyland, young Kodi Lee enthusiastically applauded the performance of an a cappella group.
Immediately, the band’s singers gave a warm applause and asked Kodi to sing along with them.
Lee admits that singing with the band “was quite difficult at first,” but then things got easier.
The boy’s performance was so impressive that the group invited Lee to join them for the rest of the performance in the house.
Tina Lee said her child’s experiences as a performer have helped Lee a lot in adjusting, getting used to meeting strangers, and feeling comfortable in a crowd.These are also two things Lee was very afraid of before. “It became our agreement.
We said if you want to play you have to shake people’s hands, you have to let people come and say hello, “she said.” And it worked. “
During Lee’s stellar performance at American’s Got Talent, the judges as well as the audience not only admired his exceptional talent.
They are particularly impressed with the mother, Tina Lee, who has been by his side both literally and figuratively.Looking at the austere face of the mother, one can partly feel the difficulties she went through to help her son succeed today.
The mother said one of the reasons she was so emotional when she took the stage after Kodi’s performance was that she couldn’t stop thinking about all the time that had passed and the effort of mother and daughter to get this moment.Kodi will continue to participate in America’s Got Talent Live Competition on August 13.
And whatever the outcome, he was determined to build a career in music, including performing in Southern California.“I will continue to play for people. I want to make people happy,” Lee said.
Mother’s pride “It’s so proud to see that. He worked so hard. It’s hard to explain, but every mother will, you’ll take her baby where she wants to go.”
Later, in an interview with Metro (UK) newspaper, the mother also shared more about the stigma many people have around her son when he learned that Lee was blind and autistic. The son’s success dispelled all the problems in the heart of a resilient mother.
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