Luke Taleno isn’t short of courage. Or talent, as it turns out.
Taleno stepped into the America’s Got Talent auditions on Tuesday night, June 2, with a performance that was nothing short of golden, and a story that reads like a book.
Born in Cuba, and a cancer survivor, Taleno relocated at the age of just three to the United States, his parents chasing a “good life,” he explained in the preamble. Before he could speak a lick of English, he understood the language of music and its power to connect people. “Actually, that was how I got to learn the language. And the best way I could express myself.”
At 13, he was diagnosed with leukemia. “Writing songs, and music, got me through it,” he remembered.
After high school, Taleno took on odd jobs to pay the bills. “Music was the only thing I loved.” So, he started busking, rapping on the streets. Trying to find that small window of opportunity to chase his dream. Last season, he watched AGT from the audience, as a guest of his friend Jourdan Blue. That experience “made me realize,” he recounted, “this is what I’m supposed to do.”
He didn’t waste the opportunity then to get in front of Simon Cowell. “Remember this face,” he told the British hitmaker and AGT judge a year ago, “because next year I’ll be on this stage. And I expect that golden buzzer.”
Under the bright lights of the AGT stage, he pronounced: “I’m here for a reason, everything in my life prepared me for this moment right here.“
Taleno didn’t waste the opportunity before the entire panel of judges, either. Performing an original number, “From Seat to Stage,” a nod to his real-life AGT experience, Taleno showed he could walk it, and talk it.
“That’s how you take your moment,” Cowell remarked at the close. “I loved it. It was amazing,” Sofía Vergara enthused. “I am so glad that you made it to the stage because you deserve to be on the stage. Good job.”
Mel B doused the vibe by pointing out it wasn’t the greatest of all auditions. His breath work needs improvement, the Spice Girl explained. Cowell wasn’t having any of it. “I really admire people who just do it,” he stated.
Taleno just did it.
Howie Mandel, after giving a standing ovation, spoke last. Taleno, he said, is the poster boy of authenticity. “Last year you predicted something, and I have just one question,” he reacted. After a pregnant pause, and a response to his own question, Mandel hit the Golden Buzzer. With that, Taleno automatically advances to the Live Shows for AGT season 21.
Watch below.
