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'AGT' Fans Are Furious With Simon Cowell After His Tense Exchange With a Contestant

Photo credit: Youtube
Photo credit: Youtube

From Country Living

  • America's Got Talent judge Simon Cowell got fed up with singer Lamont Landers on Tuesday night's audition episode.

  • When Simon told the AGT contestant that his song selection was "too safe," the young artist shrugged off the criticism.

  • After getting in a heated exchange, Simon gave Lamont one more shot.

  • The tense moment on the show is making fans extremely upset with Simon for a few reasons.


The old tough-as-nails Simon Cowell came out to play last night on America's Got Talent during Lamont Landers's audition.

When the 27-year-old musician started singing Al Green's "Let's Stay Together," the AGT judge abruptly stopped the performance after only a few seconds.

“That’s a very safe, what I would call, wedding song. What’s your other song?” Simon asked the artist. When Lamont told Simon he could sing Marvin Gayes's "What's Going On," the former American Idol judge said that tune was also too "safe."

“Your problem is you don’t take risks,” Simon told the young singer. But when the vocalist shrugged in response, Simon began to get annoyed. “Lamont, I wouldn’t shrug to that. I wouldn’t. So you want to come back this afternoon with another song? It’s not me, it’s you."

Things only got more awkward when Lamont went over Simon's head and asked the audience what "they wanted," seemingly ignoring the music executive's request. That's when Simon really snapped.

“Lamont, you are getting on my nerves right now because I actually like your voice, so I would suggest you think about what I’m saying and am going to give you another shot. Don’t be cocky.”

Finally, Lamont agreed to go backstage and come up with a new song to sing in the afternoon. But while talking with AGT producers backstage, he vented some frustration. “I just wish I’d known ahead of time. It’s hard to prepare with, like, an hour or two to come up with a whole new thing.”

Photo credit: Getty
Photo credit: Getty

Still, Lamont's work backstage paid off in the end. Even though Simon interrupted Lamont during his second try, the young singer totally crushed his rendition of Calum Scott's "Dancing on My Own." After that, Simon told the vocalist that he respected him for coming back.

"I think there is a wall in front of you, which is the fear of failure,” the judge said. "It’s frustrating to be criticized when you think you’re right but something’s getting in the way and you get frustrated. Sometimes someone gives a little bit of advice and it opens the door. I think the door just opened for you here.” And with that, Simon, Gabrielle Union, Howie Mandel, and Julianne Hough gave Lamont four yeses and sent him through to the next round.

Even though things seemed okay between Lamont and Simon after that, fans watching at home were fuming over the whole exchange. A lot of folks were angry at Simon for allowing Lamont to come back for a second try, as well as being so hard on the singer in the first place.

"Simon you get on my nerves when you hate on talent," one fan tweeted. "Seriously Simon? Why you give some acts numerous chances to impress while X-ing out other ones? The guitar guy tonight was irritating," another claimed.

With that being said, there were plenty of other fans who thought Simon's criticism was totally valid and made a world of difference, including host Terry Crews.

"Ok, @LamondLanders, you took that pressure and came back and rocked it," he wrote on Twitter during the show. Plenty more tweeted that Simon was "right" and were glad that the judge gave Lamont a second chance.

Now the question is though, will Lamont take Simon's advice and pick more risky songs in the judges' cuts round? We'll all find out when the next part of the competition begins in mid-July.

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