Judges Make Young Girl Break Down Before Simon Makes Move Nobody's Ever Seen Before

Mar 04, 2021 by apost team

Simon Cowell has become one of the most popular celebrities of the 21st century. He started out as a producer for the television shows “Pop Idol” in the U.K. and “American Idol” in the U.S. After “American Idol” enjoyed many years of success, producers released spinoffs in countries across the world. Cowell also became one of the major figures on these shows in his role as a no-nonsense (and sometimes harsh) judge.

But in this story from “America’s Got Talent’s” 12th Season in 2017, Cowell proves that he does have a softer side when he comes to the rescue of a young talent during her audition.

Although Cowell was done with “American Idol,” he was not done being a judge. He helped to create “America's Got Talent” in 2006 and “Britain's Got Talent” in 2007. And as most know, he has worked as a judge on both versions of the show. Like chef Gordon Ramsey, Cowell is known for his sometimes scathing comments on the show. When he doesn’t like an act, he doesn’t pull any punches and is quick to criticize. But almost everyone, even someone who can occasionally be a curmudgeon, has a softer side. And that softer side came out during the auditions on “America’s Got Talent” back in 2017 during Sara Carson and Hero’s appearance on the show. Along with her loyal dog Hero, Carson performed a pirate-themed routine set to music that could have been pulled straight from “Pirates of the Caribbean.” 

As the dramatic music plays, Carson, dressed as a swashbuckling pirate and armed with a short cutlass, stages a choreographed sword fight with her dog. 

In a back-and-forth dance that really showcases Carson’s skills as a dog trainer, Hero weaves through his owner’s legs, jumps off her back and even grabs ahold of the cutlass.

Everyone in the audience seems to be captivated by this performance, with some giving Carson and Hero a standing ovation just half-way through the performance. And from the grin on Cowell’s face, it’s clear that the Englishman thoroughly enjoyed Carson and her canine friend’s pirate-themed battle. If the harshest judge of the bunch enjoyed it, then surely the other judges did too, right? Unfortunately, a look toward judges Howie Mandel and Mel B during the performance reveals that while they occasionally grin, they don’t seem to be as convinced as Cowell.

“Do you know what Medieval Times is? Have you ever been to Medieval Times?” Mandel asks after the performance is over. “If they took that concept and made it a one woman show, this is what I think it would be.”

For those familiar with Medieval Times, a chain restaurant that stages medieval-style games while you eat, it’s clear that Mandel’s comment isn’t a compliment.

“I didn’t see an amazing trick. I didn’t see one amazing trick,” Mandel adds.

While both Cowell and the vocal majority of the audience are in disbelief with Mandel’s assessment, Mel. B says that she agrees with Mandel. And sadly, both judges vote no, meaning that Carson and her super dog Hero have been eliminated.

Carson is devastated. As the audience boos Mandel and Mel B’s decision, the young woman breaks down into tears.

apost.com

“We don’t want to make anybody feel terrible,” Mandel says. “Listen, what you do is far beyond anything…”

Before Mandel can finish his thought, Cowell gets up from his seat and approaches the stage.

“Look, I’ve never done this before,” Cowell says on stage. “Never. But I’m asking you, on behalf of Sara and Hero … Trust me on this. I saw something you didn’t see.”

In a surprise reversal, Mandel changes his “no” to a “yes” as the crowd chants his name, giving Carson and her acrobatic dog Hero another chance at fulfilling her dreams on the show and winning $1 million dollars.

On YouTube, viewers from around the world weighed in on Cowell’s decision — and the consensus seems to be that while Cowell can be a bit rough-around-the-edges, he made the right decision in this instance.

“This brought me tears,” one commenter wrote. “I kind of didn't approve of Simon all (these) years but now I take all that back for just one incident like this. (He’s) the real Judge.”

Faris Amro, another YouTuber, largely echoed this sentiment, writing, “Training a dog like this is extremely hard, all of these guys are musicians, they don't understand how hard it is to train a dog to do such amazing tricks, thank god Simon understood.”
And it seems that Simon’s intuition was correct given that Carson and her amazing canine companion made it to the finals on the show’s 12th season, advancing to the top five along with Darci Lynne, Angelica Hale, Light Balance and Mandy Harvey.

But competition was tough at the top, and in the end, Carson and Hero finished in fifth place. However, that didn’t mean an end to Carson and Hero’s performances.

"Since America's Got Talent, we've been busy doing lots of live appearances,” Carson told BayToday back in April 2020. “We did a lot of halftime shows for sports. We did a lot of NBA basketball appearances. My favorite places to appear with the NBA were probably San Francisco and New Jersey.”

In the same interview, Carson explained that she’s currently living in Los Angeles with her husband, dog trainer John Devine. Seeing as both are dog trainers, it’s no surprise that Carson and Devine have spent much of their time working with dogs like Hero.

"We currently have six boarded dogs that we're still working with,” Carson told BayToday. “Training for a typical dog is usually a minimum of two weeks with us, possibly up to a month. We also do service dog training, mostly for medic alert type situations. My husband also does personal protection training of dogs. The service and protection training takes several months."

And as for Hero, Carson assured his fans that the 8-year-old dog is the “leader of our pack” and “still going strong.”
For fans who want to keep up with Carson and her amazing pack of dogs, readers can check out the “America Got Talent” star’s Instagram, her Twitter or the website “The Super Collies.” There you can find plenty of dog photos and videos — and a few cats as well!

What did you think of Carson and Hero's performance? Would you have voted yes or no? Let us know — and be sure to spread the word about this talented duo to your friends, family members and fellow dog lovers.