July 28, 2026, 5:02 a.m. ET
- Sarah Hardwig, a blind singer from Southwest Florida, acquired a standing ovation and 4 “yeses” from the judges on “America’s Got Talent.”
- Hardwig was identified at 5 months outdated with Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis, a situation that left her virtually fully blind.
- The 23-year-old Naples native moved to Nashville in 2021 to pursue her music profession after graduating from Belmont University.
- Fans will discover out if Hardwig advances to the live rounds through the “Live Acts Revealed” episode on July 28.
Will Southwest Florida’s Sarah Hardwig make it to the live rounds on “America’s Got Talent”?
She and the NBC present’s followers may discover out Tuesday, July 28, through the “Live Acts Revealed” episode. That’s when “AGT’s” 4 judges finalize many of the prime 44 acts acting on the present’s upcoming live episodes. Those begin Aug. 18.
Tuesday’s episode may also announce who strikes on to the brand new Judges Callbacks rounds, which begin Aug. 4. Performers who did not make the preliminary minimize get a second probability to earn a slot within the live episodes.
Sarah Hardwig’s inspiring story and highly effective voice won the blind musician a standing ovation during her July 21 audition on “America’s Got Talent” and gushing praise from the show’s judges. The 23-year-old bought “yeses” from all 4 judges.
Judge Howie Mandel stated he cherished Hardwig’s message and vitality.
“That was beautiful and heartwarming and you are the epitome of resilience to show up here and to sing your heart out and to move three or four thousand strangers in this room — and hopefully millions of people at home…” he stated. “This show is about inspiration, and you’re inspiring.”
The Naples native — who moved to Nashville in 2021 to pursue her music profession — has develop into a breakout star on the present, together with a write-up in national entertainment news site Billboard.
A lifetime of constructing music in Naples and Nashville
Sarah Hardwig may be hitting the nationwide stage for the primary time, however she was already a well-known face in Southwest Florida. Until she moved to Nashville, she’d been singing in Naples and Fort Myers since she was a little bit woman.
Hardwig says she’s recognized music could be her “thing” since she was 5 years outdated, when she sang the kids’s track “One Small Voice” for her kindergarten commencement. But her love of music is even older than that.
“I knew music was my calling when I was around three or four years old,” she told The Naples Daily News/The News-Press. “My mom and dad would always tell me that I would always stand in front of the TV and listen to music playing from the TV.”
She went on to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at baseball video games with the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels, Minnesota Twins and Boston Red Sox. She additionally carried out at Lee County’s annual Island Hopper Songwriter Fest and as a part of kids’s vocal ensembles for Opera Naples and The Naples Philharmonic.
She graduated from Nashville’s Belmont University in 2025 with a degree in songwriting. Now she’s working on her music career, recording music and performing at popular Nashville venues like The Bluebird Cafe, the Tin Roof and the Listening Room Cafe.
“I play songwriter rounds,” she said. “I write songs and all that stuff. I’m trying to make music my career.”
Sarah Hardwig’s blindness
At 5 months outdated, Hardwig was identified with Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis, a situation that left her visually impaired.
“I guess there were a couple months before I was diagnosed where it was presumed that I could see stuff because I used to grab at things,” she said. “And I used to track my mom. I used to kind of track her movement with my eyes. And it started when my mom noticed that I was not tracking her anymore.”
Now she’s almost completely blind.
“I cannot see any shapes, shadows, colors, large print,” she said. “I cannot see any of that. The only thing I have is light perception, and that is it.”
Hardwig says she’d never let her disability hold her back, though.
She won the Tennessee Songwriters Showcase in 2023 and later that year won the Daniel’s Music Foundation’s Danny Award for musicians with disabilities. Then she made her debut at The Grand Ole Opry in 2024.
The country singer-songwriter plans to release several new singles this August, she said. Those will eventually be gathered in an EP.
How to watch ‘America’s Got Talent’
“America’s Got Talent” airs at 8 p.m. Tuesdays on NBC. It streams the following day on Peacock.
The show moves to two episodes a week starting Aug. 18 with live episodes, according to NBC’s website.
This season’s judges are Simon Cowell, Sofia Vergara, Howie Mandel and Mel B.
For extra concerning the present, go to nbc.com/americas-got-talent.
Charles Runnells covers arts and leisure for The News-Press and the Naples Daily News. To attain him, name 239-335-0368 or e mail crunnells@usatodayco.com. Follow or message him on Facebook (@charles.runnells.7), Instagram (@crunnells1) and X (@CharlesRunnells).
