Calysta Bevier wowed the “America’s Got Talent” judges during Tuesday night’s show. The 16-year-old Ohio native told her emotional story of overcoming stage 3 ovarian cancer and moved the audience to tears with her rendition of Rachel Platten’s “Fight Song.”
“On the way to my first round of chemo my iPod was on shuffle and the song came on, but as I was driving to my chemo I really listened to the lyrics this time and they really made sense to me,” Bevier told CNN. “After that I decided it would become my anthem and it still is to this day.”
Simon Cowell was so moved by her performance that he hit the golden buzzer, pushing her through to the live semi-finals. We spoke to Bevier who told us the audition was filmed back in March, but that she’s currently in LA preparing to hopefully win Cowell over once again. “I’m a little nervous for the live shows,” Bevier said. “I want to show Simon he didn’t make a mistake.”
But Bevier’s motives go far beyond just wanting to become an international pop star. “I also did it for the kids that were in the hospital with me and all the other kids that have cancer and show them there is hope.”
Bevier, who caught the attention of Ellen DeGeneres last year when the host saw a YouTube video of her singing, says she hopes she inspires people to go after their dreams. “I feel like a lot of people take for granted what they have in their lives and they kind of just ride along and don’t really do much. You can’t just sit around if you have something you want to do. You need to go for it because you don’t know how long you have.”
Making it to the live semi-finals isn’t the only thing Bevier is celebrating this summer. On Aug. 28 she will hit one year of being cancer free. “I haven’t told anyone yet, but I want to have a party,” she said. “Honestly I don’t ask for much, just family and friends to be there.”