Janitor Shocks AMERICA’S GOT TALENT Crowd, Receives Golden Buzzer
By Movieguide® Contributor
AMERICA’S GOT TALENT Season 19 just kicked off, and it’s already been nothing short of amazing.
Richard Goodall, a janitor of 23 years in Indiana, possesses a special talent — one that earned him a Golden Buzzer from judge Heidi Klum.
“Golden Buzzer [winners] are an elite group of people. I never in a million years expected to be in that class,” Goodall told PEOPLE. “And I still can’t believe Heidi did that!”
Despite his need to pay the bills through his janitorial work, Goodall has always loved to sing.
“I was that kid up in my bedroom with the Radio Shack stereo,” he explained. “My favorite thing was just to sit up and listen to my music, and I just belt it out. Eventually, I was like, I gotta find me a job. So I become [sic] a janitor at Chauncey Rose Middle School, which is only three blocks away from my house.”
“I’m not a fancy person. I take out the trash. I wipe off the tables, I sweep the floors. I’m just having fun and I’m trying to make people happy,” he continued. “The kids would hear me sing and they tell me that I’ve got talent. That’s why I’m here, that’s why I got on a plane.”
“When I took off from Indianapolis, I felt that front wheel come off the ground and you have this floating [feeling], you’re no longer stable. And that’s what this whole experience is like right now,” Goodall added. “It’s a good off-balance but until you actually do something, you don’t know if it’s right for you or not.”
When his moment finally came to showcase his god-given abilities, he did not disappoint.
Goodall sang a cover of Journey’s, “Don’t Stop Believin” and absolutely stunned the crowd and the judges.
“Richard, you are my hero! Cause that was special, genuinely special. I think America is gonna love you,” judge Simon Cowell said.
“That was spectacular, that was fun, this was an amazing surprise. You were perfect to come to AGT,” Sofia Vergara added.
Judge Howie Mandell joked, “Maybe it’s because you’ve been doing it for 23 years, but you just cleaned up! I would imagine that every kid that has ever been in a school with you is just screaming.”
“Richard, Richard, Richard, you knocked me off my feet,” Klum said before giving him the Golden Buzzer. “I mean we all had the best time with you up on that stage. I really feel something with you up there and I hear you up there…and now, this is what I’m going to do for you, because I love you.”
“I’ve never even been on [a] plane,” Goodall added. “This was not on my radar to come to California, this was a dream come true.”
