{"id":51563,"date":"2025-07-09T14:07:15","date_gmt":"2025-07-09T14:07:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/51563\/"},"modified":"2025-07-09T14:07:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T14:07:15","slug":"woman-who-signed-up-grandma-for-agt-asked-to-sing-in-her-place","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/51563\/","title":{"rendered":"Woman Who Signed up Grandma for \u2018AGT\u2019 Asked to Sing in Her Place"},"content":{"rendered":"

Simon Cowell pulled off a memorable switcheroo on the July 8 episode of \u201cAmerica\u2019s Got Talent\u201d when he interrupted a contestant\u2019s audition to ask the woman\u2019s granddaughter to sing in her place<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Gina Bellina came out onstage to sing an original song with granddaughter Lilliana accompanying her on guitar, letting the show\u2019s judges know Lilliana secretly got her on the show.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy granddaughter is the reason I\u2019m here,\u201d she told the judges before she performed. \u201cBehind my back, she signed me up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t sure if she was going to be mad, but I just felt like if I told her beforehand, she might get psyched out and not do it. So, luckily she was excited,\u201d her granddaughter said.<\/p>\n

Bellina then began singing an original song, with a band behind her, including her granddaughter strumming a guitar. Cowell, though, stopped her in the middle of the performance to ask if Lilliana sings. When Lilliana said she does, Cowell asked her to sing the song \u2014 or another one of her choice \u2014 in place of her grandmother.<\/p>\n

\"GinaGina Bellina watched granddaughter Lilliana on “America’s Got Talent.”Trae Patton \/ NBC<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a lot of pressure,\u201d she said, as she made her way to the microphone.<\/p>\n

With her grandmother standing a few feet to her right, Lilliana then performed the song and blew away the judges with her soulful voice, while earning a standing ovation from the audience when she finished. Her grandmother appeared to be visibly moved by the response, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, Lilliana, you\u2019ve got Gina here, but weirdly, Gina got you here,\u201d Cowell said. \u201cSo, because you\u2019ve got the better voice \u2014 and you\u2019re actually very cool and I like you and I think people are going to root for you. So, as long as Gina, you\u2019re prepared to let Lilliana sing, this could work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s OK, darling,\u201d Bellina said to Lilliana. \u201cIt\u2019s for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"GinaGina Bellina was originally accompanied by granddaughter Lilliana on “America’s Got Talent.”Trae Patton \/ NBC<\/p>\n

\u201cYour granddaughter has a beautiful voice. Gorgeous voice,\u201d Mandel said.<\/p>\n

Mel B was not as moved, though, and was the lone judge who didn\u2019t vote her through to the next round.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think, singing-wise, I thought you sounded good, but I have to be honest, you didn\u2019t quite get there for me,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Sofia Vergara, however, was impressed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like that Simon told you to sing because we would have never known that you had this beautiful, beautiful voice. I think people are going to love you because you\u2019re so good,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

After advancing to the next round, Lilliana and her grandma shared a brief hug onstage before walking off together.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told you,\u201d Bellina said to her<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m still shaking,\u201d Lilliana replied.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Simon Cowell pulled off a memorable switcheroo on the July 8 episode of \u201cAmerica\u2019s Got Talent\u201d when he…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":51564,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[171,173,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-51563","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-tv","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114823669547965284","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51563\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}