America’s Got Talent is officially back for Season 21! Nearly days ahead of the show’s 2026 premiere, they shared a Golden Buzzer clip featuring singer Lai Noelle. Here’s everything that happened in the early release clip.
Simon Cowell Steals Golden Buzzer from Sofia Vergara
During AGT‘s first early release of the 2026 season, 14 year old singer Lai Noelle can be seen taking the stage. She’s visibly nervous at the time of her audition, and even needs water to calm down. Before starting her song, Simon Cowell asked the singer why she chose this season to audition for.
“I believe I was more ready this year,” Lai said. “I definitely got better in my performances and being more confident in myself.”
The singer then went on to perform “Die on This Hill” by Sienna Spiro. Mid-song Sofia Vergara can be seen asking Cowell if she should hit the Golden Buzzer. Cowell replies no, then ends up hitting the Golden Buzzer as soon as judge remarks begin.
Vergara is then seen visibly annoyed at Cowell, since he took the opportunity away from her. Lai Noelle is the first contestant of 2026 to earn the Golden Buzzer on AGT 2026. To see more performances, be sure to tune into the show’s premiere on Tuesday, June 2 at 8PM ET on NBC.
Who is Lai Noelle?
It appears that Lai is relatively unknown ahead of America’s Got Talent‘s 2026 premiere. As of writing, she has 3,096 followers on Instagram, 13,400 followers on TikTok, and 97 subscribers on YouTube. Her most viral TikTok has 560.2k views on the platform. It is a video of her singing “I Love The Lord” by Whitney Houston. Her second most viewed video is of her singing “Mount Everest” by Labrinth.
In the comments of all of her viral videos, fans are comparing her voice to different mainstream singers. Her Whitney Houston video amassed comments about her sounding like Houston, while her Labrinth video featured comments stating she sounds like Jennifer Hudson.
How far do you think Lai will go on America’s Got Talent? Would you have hit the Golden Buzzer for her? Let us know on X!
Words by:
Corey Cesare Corey Cesare is Talent Recap's Managing Editor and featured YouTube Host. She has a love of all things pop culture and an unhealthy obsession with celebrities. Corey earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Cinema/Screen Studies from the State University of New York at Oswego in 2021. She spends her spare time shooting astro, nature, and portrait photography, and coming up with movie ideas that she hopes to make into a film someday.
