The live shows have arrived on America’s Got Talent Season 20 in the 2025 TV schedule, which fans have likely been waiting for after weeks and weeks of pre-taped auditions… but the timing couldn’t have been worse for singer Jourdan Blue. He’s felt like a frontrunner all season, getting a golden buzzer in the Season 20 premiere, accumulating millions of streaming views, and having the audience chanting his name when the tallies were being read in the live quarterfinals results episode. But he was sick with food poisoning before his first AGT live performance, and made the bold choice to perform anyway.
The NOLA-based singer revealed shortly after his live rendition of Calum Scott’s “Biblical” that he’d thrown up three times before walking out on stage, and the results episode the next night revealed how close of a call it was. Medics had been called to tend to him, and it wasn’t guaranteed until moments before his turn came whether he’d be able to perform live. (You can find both the performance and the results episode streaming with a Peacock subscription now.)
He did in fact perform live, looking less animated than his first song on AGT and sporting a sheen of sweat that evidently wasn’t due to nerves or bright stage lights. It was a bold move, considering that he had just a few minutes to convince viewers from home to vote him through. In the aftermath, he shared:
I’m glad that I was able to go out there and actually perform despite how I feel right now. I really hope that I did enough to make it through.
Fortunately, powering through the nausea paid off. He was one of the three acts advanced to the semifinals based on audience votes, unlike those who were subject to a mean trick from AGT producers. Jourdan Blue went on to explain that the producers did give him the option of having his dress rehearsal recording played during the live episode, and it wasn’t guaranteed until just moments before his turn came that he’d be able to belt his heart out despite food poisoning. Blue explained why he decided to try:
They told me that they could have just played a recording of me singing, and I was like, ‘That’s just not me.’
I’d say that “That’s just not me” is a great reason to risk it all, even if it could have backfired! It was then up to voters to determine whether singing live was a fatal mistake for his run on AGT or part of a great story that could carry him into the semifinals and possibly beyond. After he got the good news that he’d be moving on, host Terry Crews asked how he was feeling after all the adversity, and the singer responded:
This is absolutely insane. From feeling how I was yesterday to feeling how I am now is a pretty big difference, so I’m just so blessed. Thank you!
The boldness paid off! I don’t always root for singers to become AGT champions when The Voice and American Idol are out there as specifically singing competitions, but I’m hoping that Jourdan Blue at least makes it to the finals. If nothing else, I’m glad that he was in the first night of quarterfinals, so that he’ll presumably have plenty of time to rest up before he has to take the stage again. Check out the performance that earned him a spot in the semifinals despite food poisoning:
New live episodes of America’s Got Talent continue airing on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC, followed on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET by the live results episodes. The four acts from the first night of quarterfinals to advance are Jourdan Blue, LightWire, Sirca Marea, and Steve Ray Ladson, the latter of whom got the golden buzzer from Sofia Vergara.
