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America's Got Talent season 19 got to the third part of its Live Shows segment with Quarterfinal 3, which screened on August 27. 11 acts, selected in the audition round, competed to get the limited spots in the semi-finals.
With the Golden Buzzer in Heidi's hands, episode 13 was to send four more contestants to the semi-finals. Among the acts performed was Maya Neelakantan, who became the reason for an instant media frenzy with her performance of Metallica's Master of Puppets. She was also the first contestant to perform a Metallica number on the America's Got Talent stage.
Fans of America's Got Talent took to X to praise her performance, her guitar work, and the fact that she deserved the right to perform a Metallica song for the first time on the coveted stage.
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"Maya Neelakantan would make @Metallica proud. She can shred the guitar," a fan said.
"Maya ROCKED. One of the best ones tonight. This second half of the show has been insane," said another fan.
"Maya mixed it up Metallica with her culture. Such a rock star," said a third fan.
"Hearing a girl shred Metallica on America's Got Talent was insane. She just had a massive blockbuster concert," a comment read.
Some America's Got Talent fans pointed out that she was the first Metallica act in the show's history and applauded her for it.
"Oh d*mn, good for her for being the first act Metallica gave the okay to," an X user wrote.
"Master of Puppets! First time Metallica has allowed #AGT to use their music. Wild!" another X user wrote.
"Metallica needs to invite Maya on tour with them that was so good," a fan wrote.
"Amazing guitar playing from Maya!!" wrote another.
Maya Neelakantan's journey on America's Got Talent season 19
Maya Neelakantan, at only 11 years of age, impressed the judges and the audiences with her electric guitar performance on Master of Puppets by Metallica. Dubbed "Rock Goddess" by Simon Cowell after her audition act on Last Resort by Papa Roach, Maya's Live Shows performance was highly anticipated as she had received a standing ovation from all four judges the last time she was on the stage.
She told the judges that her father learned how to play the guitar from YouTube videos and then taught her how to play it. Simon replied that he tried learning how to play the guitar when he was Maya's age, and felt that the guitar was one of the most difficult instruments to learn. He also recalled that his teacher gave up on him.
Simon added that although he didn't expect what was to come when he saw Maya come to the stage because she looked "shy," he was pleasantly surprised to see the switch. Just like the auditions, Maya in the Quarterfinals, performed her own rendition of the song by playing a base tune first which transitioned into the hit number.
Some audience members were shell-shocked, while others thoroughly enjoyed the breathtaking performance. The rise in the level of difficulty was apparent in her second act of the season as she chose a song that needed faster fingerwork.
The results for America's Got Talent Quarterfinals 3 come out in episode 14, on August 28, at 8 pm ET, on NBC.
