America’s Got Talent 12 winner Darci Lynne announces new single “Push Our Luck” amid judges criticizing her new direction
The judges of America’s Got Talent may not like 16 year old ventriloquist, Darci Lynne, branching out as a singer-songwriter, but she’s doing it anyway! Sorry Simon Cowell!
The young entertainer recently announced her debut single, “Push Our Luck” for a February 5 release date. “I’m just over the moon about debuting as a singer-songwriter and couldn’t be more thrilled for people to hear ‘Push Our Luck,’ ” Darci shared in a press statement. “I wrote this song about those first-time feelings when you’re out on a date. I think most of us have stayed out after curfew because we were having so much fun, so I really hope when people listen to this song they’re brought back to a moment, a person or a time where they pushed their luck.”
Darci won America’s Got Talent season 12 in 2017. At 12, she was the youngest contestant to ever win the show–garnering over 67 million views on their YouTube channel and the most votes for a final performance in the history of AGT. Six years later, Darci returned to compete on America’s Got Talent: Fantasy League, the new AGT format that pits judge against judge to determine who can put together the best lineup of acts.
Competing on Team Heidi Klum, Darci surprised the judges with a new act. She entered the stage with her beloved puppet Petunia. But soon, she set her sidekick aside to pick up an electric guitar and belt out a rendition of Elton John and Kiki Dee’s 1976 hit “I’ve Got the Music in Me.” Eventually she invited her puppet Petunia to sing with her. She didn’t abandon ventriloquism altogether. But she did make it clear that she wants to do more.
“I think we were distracted away from what you do so brilliantly,” said Simon
The judges reactions were mixed. Mel B. felt that her act with Petunia is what captured America’s hearts. “I loved the simplicity of what you were doing back then,” Mel said. “I just feel like the music and everything else overshadowed what you’re so good at.” Simon agreed with Mel. “There are very few people in the world who can do what you do. The singing and the ventriloquism together is your…unique selling point. I think we were distracted away from what you do so brilliantly.”
As it turned out in the end, the audience disagreed with Mel and Simon. They put Darci through to the semi-finals. Did Darci go back to what made her famous–a straight up ventriloquism act–for her semi-finals performance, despite being clearly interested in branching out in other directions? She’ll appear again in the semi-final round on Monday February 5. AGT: Fantasy League airs on NBC at 8 pm ET/PT.
Recorded at Yackland Studios in Nashville, “Push Our Luck” was written by Darci with Maggie McClure and Shane Henry, a husband-and-wife duo known as The Imaginaries. All Oklahoma natives, Darci and The Imaginaries first collaborated on their feature film, “A Cowgirl’s Song,” currently on Netflix. Darci wrote and recorded “Just Breathe” with The Imaginaries for the soundtrack along with a video reaching over 2 million views.
Currently Darci can count over 7 million followers on social media.
