Roland Abante. Image: Screengrab from YouTube/America’s Got Talent
With his signature gravelly voice, Filipino fisherman Roland Abante again wowed the judges of “America’s Got Talent” after performing a rendition of “I Will Always Love You” during the show’s “qualifiers” round.
Abante received a standing ovation from judges Simon Cowell, Heidi Klum, Howie Mandel and Sofia Vergara, as well as the audience, with his performance of Whitney Houston’s classic hit, as seen on the show’s YouTube channel on Wednesday, Sept. 13.
After his performance, the Cebu City-based singer earned rave reviews from the judges for his “spectacular” rendition, with Cowell noting how much “America loves” Abante.
“I loved it. How could you not? I mean, particularly when I saw the film, and what happened after the audition and how much this means to you. You are singing your life out on the stage,” Cowell said. “That’s what makes competition exciting. People who’d come from all over the world to kind of fulfill their dreams. And I think, well in fact I know America loves you and rightly so.”
Meanwhile, Mandel praised Abante for his “perfect voice” and “perfect song” choice, where he pointed out that he “made everyone in the world” fall in love with him.
“The perfect song, the perfect voice. It was spectacular. You know you said ‘I will always love you.’ I think you just made everyone in the world love you. This was memorable. Only two can go through and they got to vote for you. I believe that this was the performance of a final,” he said.
The results of “America’s Got Talent” qualifier rounds will be announced on Sept. 13 (U.S. time) where two performances will advance to the finals. Per the show’s website, contestants will compete for a spot in five qualifier rounds before making it to the final.
The Visayan singer previously made headlines with his rendition of Percy Sledge’s “When a Man Loves a Woman” last June, which also earned a standing ovation from the judges.
Abante was part of the singing competition “Tawag ng Tanghalan” in 2017 prior to the U.S.-based contest. EDV