19-Year-Old Planet Fitness Employee Takes ‘America’s Got Talent’ by Storm With “Spectacular” Aretha Franklin Cover

America’s Got Talent is really living up to its name so far in season 19. So much so, in fact that judge Simon Cowell spontaneously changed the rules regarding the coveted Golden Buzzer. Cowell and his fellow judges—Heidi Klum, Howie Mandel and Sofia Vergara—have not held their praise back during some of this season’s most memorable performances. A clip from tonight’s (Tuesday, July 23) episode shows young singer Brooke Bailey earning a standing ovation from all four AGT judges.

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Watch This Soulful ‘America’s Got Talent’ Audition

Brooke Bailey is a 19-year-old music major at College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, California. She began her America’s Got Talent audition with some soulful harmonizing before launching into a passionate rendition of Aretha Franklin’s “Ain’t No Way.”

By the time Bailey sang the last note, most of the America’s Got Talent audience was on their feet. Several wiped away tears as the young singer did the same onstage.

“You had me right at the beginning where you went, ‘Mm mm mm,’” Klum said. “You really do belong on the stage. My favorite audition of the day.”

This was more or less the consensus across the judging panel. “Seeing the feeling that you put into the song, it’s spectacular,” Vergara said.

The final critique came from the notoriously hard-to-please Cowell. The prickly British record executive had no pointed criticisms this time. “For you to manage what you’re doing with a job to do something you love is incredible, actually,” he told the Planet Fitness employee.

“What I would say, if you go any further, I would definitely have a band behind you because I think you’re the kind of artist who would be best where you don’t have the structure of a backing track,” Cowell continued. “And I really like you as a person.”

[RELATED: 4 Things to Know About Reid Wilson, the 14-Year-Old Boy Who Belted Out Lesley Gore’s Women’s Lib Anthem “You Don’t Own Me” on ‘America’s Got Talent’]

Social Media Reacts To Brooke Bailey Performance: “Breathtaking”

America’s Got Talent posted a sneak peek of Bailey’s performance to its official Instagram page Saturday (July 20.) And many in the comments section seconded the judges’ glowing reviews.

“Could listen to her sing all day!” wrote one Instagram user. “Breathtaking.”

Another user agreed: “Oh my goodness… she is something special.”

Featured photo via Instagram

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