Although America’s Got Talent is best known for featuring singers, dancers, and comedy acts, sometimes when watching the show, it’s nice to see an act that is truly unique. This is certainly what viewers got with Taiwanese musician NiNi, who auditioned for the show earlier this month with her distinctive musical act involving traditional Chinese instruments. Both the judges and the audience looked bewildered by her performance at first, but soon found themselves in awe of her musical talent.
NiNi played two original pieces, the first of which was played on a Liuqin, a Chinese mandolin, and a Sanxian, a Chinese lute. At this point, it seemed that none of the judges knew what to make of her; Simon Cowell tilted his head on one side as she delivered squeals and shouts over her playing, whilst Howie Mandel furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. In fact, it was only when NiNi began playing her second piece on an electric hybrid lute called a DaoYu, that they began to sit up and take notice.
Grabbing the guitar-like instrument, NiNi’s performance energy immediately escalated as she began to shred with a level of speed and accuracy that almost seemed impossible. Instantly the audience leapt to their feet, screaming and applauding loudly, with one particularly overawed audience member shown with her mouth wide open in astonishment. Even Simon Cowell was impressed, looking over at his fellow judges and muttering “bloody hell”, clearly in awe of the phenomenon he was witnessing.
But NiNi is no stranger to such performances, having established herself as an accomplished purveyor of Taiwanese folk metal over 4 years ago. One of her most popular online videos (which has reached over five million people) shows her playing a piece called LongMa on the Sanxian, which combines traditional Asian melodies with thundering rhythms and war-like backing vocals. Invoking musical styles from both the past and present, one viewer dubbed the piece “fresh and timeless simultaneously”.
It will come as little surprise that all four of America’s Got Talent judges wanted to see NiNi progress to the next round. What might come as a surprise, however, is just how enamoured Simon Cowell was with both NiNi and her performance, saying “you are so charismatic, brilliant. It’s one of my favourite auditions I’ve seen for a long, long, long time”. Following this high praise, viewers are now desperate to see NiNi’s next performance and to find out whether or not she’s got what it takes to win the America’s Got Talent crown.
Check out NiNi’s incredible instrumental performances on her YouTube Channel and continue supporting her musical journey through her Facebook page.