Lavender Darcangelo earns golden buzzer on America’s Got Talent
Fitchburg native makes live finals
LEOMINSTER >> Tears of joy streamed down Lavender Darcangelo’s face after America’s Got Talent judge Heidi Klum hit the golden buzzer in response to the talented young woman’s incredibly moving performance.
All four judges and the entire audience gave Lavender a standing ovation during the auditions episode that aired this past Tuesday after she closed the show by singing “Out Here on My Own” by Irene Cara from the musical “Fame,” a song with uplifting lyrics that match the 27-year-old phenom’s positive attitude.
The blind and autistic vocalist and disability advocate is a Fitchburg native who lives in Leominster and said onstage she dreams of building “a school where the classes are based off of what kids are naturally curious at, so a school I would have thrived in.”
“I auditioned for AGT because I have bigger dreams that go beyond music, and I believe that music is the way to go in order for those bigger dreams to happen,” Lavender said Friday.
“If I win a million dollars and if I get enough exposure to the right people, what if I could found a school with a non-traditional approach where the learning is through joy and the classes are based on what kids are naturally curious about,” she continued.
“I want to found a school that I would have thrived in.”
Two of her biggest cheerleaders joined Lavender for the AGT audition, her dads Wil and Jamie Darcangelo, who adopted her in 2017 after she asked them repeatedly to make her part of their family. Jamie, a nurse, and Wil, a singer and pastor of First Parish Church in Fitchburg and First Church of Christ in Lancaster, moved her into their home the day they got home from their honeymoon, and she legally became their daughter a year later.
Wil accompanied his daughter up on the stage, a moment he described as “surreal.”
“This is something we’ve imagined for a really long time,” he said Friday. “It was all such a wonderful experience, and the best part was that she could truly feel all of the acceptance she so very much deserves.”
The other three AGT judges on the popular NBC show were also blown away by Lavender’s story and song, with Simon Cowell calling her performance “unbelievable” and “honestly sensational.”
Klum, who sealed the deal as Lavender’s mentor and coach when she hit the buzzer, gushed “I feel like I just fell in love … I would love to be your cheerleader and hold your hand all the way to the finish line.” When she pressed the button, goldcolored confetti fell all around Lavender, Wil and Jamie, and Klum went up on stage and hugged the singer.
“When Howie Mandel told me about the standing ovation, I couldn’t believe it,” said Lavender, who was visibly moved when she heard that.
“When Heidi hit the golden buzzer, I figured that this was all a dream and that I was four years old lying on the bed again and daydreaming like I always did every night about being on TV. But obviously, this was not a dream this time. This was real!”
According to her website Lavender was born with perfect pitch and an immediate love for music. She began singing at the age of three, a full year and a half before she started talking, and met Wil in 2010 when she joined the music mentorship program he founded.
She is currently working on her debut solo album called “Mosaic,” which, through its wide variety of songs and musical styles, will honor and raise awareness of the diversity within the autism and disability community.
Lavender is a Performing Arts Fellow of the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism and has designated the foundation to receive a portion of the proceeds from the sales of “Mosaic.” As of press time nearly $2,000 has been raised to help fund the album through a GoFundMe that Wil set up.
When asked what the AGT experience has been like for her, Lavender said that she made up a word that means “trying an adventure that is both scary and fun at the same time — Scun!”
The golden buzzer advanced Lavender straight into the live AGT finals that start Aug. 22 and while she said it’s “hard to say what’s next, beyond the semifinals anyway,” she is floating on cloud nine and thrilled to be a part of this experience, a literal dream come true.