Simon Cowell [1] asked 27-year-old Lamont Landers to do something unconventional during his America's Got Talent [2] audition: to come back with brand-new music. During Tuesday's episode, Landers stepped onto the stage with a confident attitude and sang Al Green's "Let's Stay Together," but Cowell was sceptical.
"That's a very safe, what I would call, wedding song. What's your other song?" Cowell asked, during Landers' tense audition. He followed up his first choice with Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On," but the judges made it clear this wasn't what they were looking for. It didn't help that Landers seemed flippant towards Cowell's criticism and resistant to change. Still, Cowell decided to give him a second chance.
"You want to come back this afternoon with another song? It's not me, it's you," Cowell said, later adding, "Don't be cocky." Despite the sudden change of plans, Landers accepted Cowell's challenge and learned a new song in 30 minutes. Watch his full performance above to see how he finally won over the judges, and Cowell's final words of advice.