Australian choir director gets entire 'AGT' audience to sing Toto's Africa in perfect harmony
Thousands of strangers singing as one. That's what the world needs right now.
Bringing out other's talent is a talent all its own.
Ninety-nine percent of what you see on America’s Got Talent are acts that showcase an individual or group’s, well, unbelievable talent. That is, after all, the name of the game. However, ever so often there’s a performance that comes around that really isn’t about the performance at all, and more about bringing folks together—which is beautiful and magical and oh so needed. This is one of those times.
When Australian choir director Astrid Jorgensen took to the stage, she told the judges “I think I might run the biggest choir in the world.” Though it perplexed folks at first, it was actually a clever hint at what was to come.
As the guitarist began strumming an all-too familiar tune, Jorgensen quickly gave a rundown to the audience, telling them that higher voices would sing the parts in blue that appeared on a giant screen, middle-ranged voices would sing in green, and low voices would sing in red.
That’s right. Jorgenson wouldn’t really be performing at all. The audience would be.
“Be brave. You are the act!” Jorgenson declared. And before you knew it, everyone was singing in harmony to Toto’s “Africa.”
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Perhaps unsurprisingly, judges were a bit mixed on the act overall. Not because they didn’t enjoy it, but because it didn’t really fit the usual AGT fare. But, as Simon Cowell said, “I think what you did was really smart. Within about 20 seconds, every person in this audience was singing. To have the capacity to do that, and to let the audience win the show — that’s brilliant.”
It’s this ability to bring people together that really struck online viewers as well.
“She gave the audience an experience they will actually remember. She didn’t make it about herself, she literally united a gigantic crowd in song in a matter of seconds,” one person wrote on Youtube.
Another added, “She just left an entire audience with a memory they will never forget. That's astounding.”
Still a third wrote, “This IS the type of entertainment the world needs right now. UNITE, PARTICIPATE, COME TOGETHER, in fun, harmony, joy, playfulness, creativity, empowerment, etc.”
Celebrating “average” voices seems to be a major mission for Jorgenson. Not only does she regularly offer large-scale improvised music lessons just like this though her Pub Choir project, but she recently wrote a memoir, titled “Average at Best,” which aims to help people free themselves of perfectionism and “feel less ashamed of whatever voice they have.”
“By its very nature, ‘best’ is rare and elusive: you’re not going to get much of it in life. And I sure don’t want to miss out on deeply experiencing the fullness of my one precious existence, searching for the sliver of ‘best’,” an excerpt reads.
Honestly, how badass to go on stage for a show that aims to scope out greatness, and remind us all that there’s so much more to life than that.