Watching America’s Got Talent as a child, junior Taylor Engle may now end up being on the show. Engle finds it quite funny since he has never seriously sang or played the guitar.  

“I sing for fun with friends, like in, in a car and stuff. I got pretty good, but I never thought I’d be like, singing in front of people,” Engle said

Engle and his friends decided to try out for the show for fun and all chose to sing, as it was the easiest talent to showcase with little time or preparation.

“So I was with a bunch of friends and we all decided to just try out for America’s Got Talent. Just for fun to see what was going on, and we all try to individually. Everyone sang because it’s one thing you do on short notice,” Engle said.  

To audition for the show, applicants must submit a 30-second video clip of their talent online, followed by a virtual audition via Zoom. Engle was the only one of his friends to receive a response from the show’s producers.

He sang Love Story by Taylor Swift, Leave Her Alone by Dylan Scott and The A-Team by Ed Sheeran for the producers. Engle briefly met Simon Cowell during one of the Zoom meetings, who asked him to perform for additional producers.

“So it was a brief introduction, he said ‘I am Simon Cowell.’ I was like, ‘I know, and my name is Taylor Engle.’ Then he said, ‘So I’m going to have you perform for some more of our producers, Good luck’,” Engle said.    

On his third audition, Engle had forgotten to submit a third song, and had to quickly learn The A-Team on his guitar

“It’s still very nerve-wracking. I remember getting a call the day before my last audition. I had forgotten to submit the song I was going to sing. I panicked. I was listening to The A-Team by Ed Sheeran and said, “I spent 17 hours listening to that song and learning it on my guitar,” Engle said.

Despite the nerve-wracking experience, he completed the audition process and is now waiting to hear if he will be selected to appear on the show.