Courtney Hadwin

Courtney Hadwin is an English singer-songwriter.

In her audition for the 13th season of America's Got Talent, Hadwin sang Otis Redding's "Hard to Handle".

She appeared a bit shy or bashful as she talked before singing on AGT.

Simon Cowell told her "... you sing and you're like a lion."

Howie Mandel referenced the Monterey Pop Festival, Janis Joplin, and Clive Davis.

He was the first to weigh in on Hadwin's performance of Hard to Handle.

He couldn't have been more enthusiastic as he compared her rendition to Joplin's debut.

The performance inspired Mandel to give her a Golden Buzzer, sending her directly to the live shows.

Mandel compared Hadwin's singing to Janis Joplin.

The audition video received more than 50 million views on AGT's YouTube channel in its first five months.

In April 2015, Hadwin auditioned for her first singing competition at TeenStar in Newcastle, England, with her version of Bob Dylan's "Make You Feel My Love", and reached the competition's grand final.

She also gained notice when she was filmed performing Great Big World and Christina Aguilera's soaring duet "Say Something" in September 2015.

She sang the song during lunchtime at the school.

In April 2016, she won Hartlepool's Performer of the Year Award, and was a finalist in the Beyond The Lights award ceremony.

She rose to fame by competing prominently on the first season of ITV's The Voice Kids UK 2017 and the 13th season of the NBC competition show America's Got Talent (AGT) the following year.

Her latter audition went viral.

She was the opening act for Sister Sledge at a South Tyneside Festival concert in July 2017, where she sang for more than 18,000 people.

For her final performance on 16 July 2017, she sang the torch song "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going", from the Broadway musical Dreamgirls, before being eliminated as a finalist.

Considerable controversy arose on the Internet about Hadwin's "hidden" prior experience on The Voice Kids UK in 2017, and about whether or not Hadwin was as shy and bashful as she first appeared at her audition.

Family, school teachers, and friends came to her defense, saying she has been shy throughout her childhood, and many noted that other contestants also had prior experience as contestants before appearing on AGT/BGT.

Hadwin's grandfather spoke about how she is painfully shy and has sung in her sleep.

By the time of her second performance in 2018 on the first live TV broadcast of AGT that season, the video of her audition had been viewed 200 million times, according to show host Tyra Banks as she introduced Hadwin.

Hadwin lives in England; she has a younger sister Melissa and a younger brother Paul.

She is from Peterlee which is in County Durham.

Eric Idle, Jamie Bell, and Rowan Atkinson also come from County Durham.

Her parents are Paul and Ann-Marie Hadwin, née Storey.

She has a younger brother, Paul.

She attended Hesleden Primary School and until autumn 2018 studied at The Academy at Shotton Hall in Peterlee.

She has also trained at Shotton Hall Theatre School, Peanuts Master Classes, Kate Sirs School of Music and Julie Miles' Vocal Ovation.

Hadwin was a 2018 finalist on TV's America's Got Talent.

She previously appeared on the first series of The Voice Kids in the UK and afterwards on America's Got Talent: The Champions.

In January 2018, she sang in Southampton at an event for U-Support, raising funds for children with life-limiting illnesses and disabilities.

Hadwin blind-auditioned for The Voice Kids UK, where she performed Tina Turner's "Nutbush City Limits".

will.i.am, one of the three coaches, had her repeat part of her act on The Voice Kids so he could see her dance some more.

She was picked by judge Danny Jones, who became her mentor on the show.

During the battle round, she performed "Dancing in the Street" against Eboni Green and Hollie Firmin.

For her semi-final performance, she sang James Brown's "I Got You (I Feel Good)".

Hadwin returned for AGT's quarter-finals on 14 August 2018, singing "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" by James Brown.

When introducing Hadwin to the live TV audience for the quarter-finals, host Tyra Banks announced that Hadwin's audition had been viewed more than 200 million times.

For her semi-final performance on 11 September, she sang "Born to Be Wild" by Steppenwolf, then returned for the final show on 18 September to perform Tina Turner's "River Deep – Mountain High".