Northbrook teen could win 'America's Got Talent'
Aspiring opera singer Laura Bretan, a 14-year-old freshman at Glenbrook North High School, will compete in Tuesday night's finals of NBC's "America's Got Talent" and find out Wednesday if she takes home the $1 million prize.
After Bretan and the other nine finalists perform, the viewers will vote. The winner will be announced during Wednesday night's live finale.
"I'm so nervous, but so excited," said Bretan, who lives in Northbrook. "I just pray that God helps me do a good job."
Bretan blew the judge's minds when she first auditioned with the song, "The Prayer." They gave her a standing ovation and a rare "golden buzzer," which immediately advanced her to the semifinals.
"You were born with such a gift, it's unbelievable," judge Heidi Klum told her.
Even curmudgeonly Simon Cowell gushed about her talent.
"I have never heard anything like that in all the years I've been doing this show. Seriously. It was unbelievable," he said after her audition. "And what made it even better is you're such a sweet person, so humble, not even aware of how amazing you are."
Bretan's been singing since she was 4 years old, and now trains under vocal coach Nicoleta Roman, a Romanian lyric artist at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
While Bretan always sings opera on TV, she loves all kinds of music, including pop, Christian contemporary, Broadway tunes and Disney songs. When asked about artists she'd love to tour with, she put David Foster and Josh Groban at the top of her list.
The daughter of Romanian immigrants (her dad owns a flooring company, and her mother is a stay-at-home mom), Bretan was in Romania visiting family in January when she auditioned for - and later won - the "Romania's Got Talent" TV show. Winning "America's Got Talent" would be her second "Got Talent" win this year.
"Dreams can happen. So maybe?" she said.
Either way, Bretan said her life has already changed. People stop her on the street to ask for photos and autographs. She gets messages from fans around the globe, and she's already been invited to sing in Rome with Foster. She hopes to tour the world singing once the show ends.
"America's Got Talent" airs at 7 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday on NBC.