Performing on "America’s Got Talent" has to be nerve wracking, but knowing you are about to sing what Simon Cowell believes is the "worst song" is another level of pressure.
Jimmie Herrod, 30, brought down the house with his "unbelievable" voice on "Tomorrow" from 1982's "Annie." But he wouldn't have performed the song at all if Cowell had it his way.
"Do you know that is (the) worst song in the world," Cowell said ahead of Herrod's audition during Tuesday's episode. "You should do another song."
A coy Herrod replied, "I don’t have another."
It's a good thing Herrod didn’t switch after Cowell judged a book by its cover, because he turned the grouchy judge into an "Annie" believer. Cowell gave Herrod a standing ovation, adding, "Wow wow wow. It’s not (the) worst song anymore."
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The only person not on their feet in the entire auditorium following Herrod's performance was Sofía Vergara. "I didn’t like it that much," Vergara said, followed by a long pause that seemed to last for two whole minutes.
"I loved it," exclaimed Vergara, who hit the Golden Buzzer and sent Herrod straight to the live shows. "That was so amazing. I had goosebumps. You deserve it."
Cowell was genuinely bamboozled by Vergara's rouse: "You got us! That was good."
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Now it was Cowell's turn to trick Vergara, who notoriously has a hard time stomaching danger acts. Cowell enlisted the help of stunt couple Ryan Stock & Amberlynn, who competed on Season 11 and went viral following a botched crossbow stunt.
"I was shot in the neck with a flaming arrow," Stock said ahead of the duo's fake audition.
And they have a reputation. "I don’t know you guys but I’ve heard the stories," Vergara said.
After successfully completing several stunts involving a crossbow, the couple called up Cowell and Vergara to recreate a dangerous crossbow stunt. Stock positioned Cowell with a balloon over his head, while Amberlynn blindfolded Vergara and walked her to the crossbow.
After Vergara was blindfolded, Amberlynn removed the arrow from the crossbow entirely without telling Vergara. The "AGT" production team then silently rushed to the stage to make it appear that Cowell had been shot with a bow in his heart, complete with prosthetic blood.
Once Cowell was positioned on the floor, Amberlynn instructed an unknowing Vergara to pull the trigger. Everyone joined in on the act by gasping and shouting for a medic.
After several painstaking minutes of Vergara believing she impaled Cowell, the trickster revealed to his fellow judge, "I got you. I’m alive."
Vergara was not impressed and looked visibly upset. "You know I’m Colombian and we get revenge," she said.
Game on. "America's Got Talent" returns next week at 8 p.m. EST/PST on NBC.
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