‘Greatest Showman’ singer Loren Allred wows in ‘AGT: Fantasy League’ semifinals — but receives a mild criticism

Loren Allred performs on “America’s Got Talent: Fantasy League.”
Loren Allred performs on “America’s Got Talent: Fantasy League.” | Trae Patton, NBC
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Loren Allred, the powerhouse vocalist behind the hit song “Never Enough” from “The Greatest Showman,” is one step closer to winning an “America’s Got Talent” spinoff that features some of the show’s best contestants from over the years.

On Monday night, the former Utahn was one of 10 acts competing in the first round of the “AGT: Fantasy League” semifinals, and her performance gave her a pretty good shot of landing her in the finale — though it didn’t come without some criticism.

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Loren Allred performs in ‘AGT: Fantasy League’ semifinals

For her semifinal appearance, Allred — who grew up in Utah and graduated from Cottonwood High School — showed off her wide vocal range with a cinematic arrangement of “Over the Rainbow” that had all of the judges and audience on their feet.

“Wow, wow, Loren, that was what I call a masterclass,” “AGT” judge Simon Cowell said. “That’s how you do it.”

“I think I can speak for everyone in this room, but you were giving us all the feels,” Heidi Klum added. “You just sounded so beautiful.”

But not everyone was on board with the song selection. While judge Mel B noted that Allred has “a voice that is just to die for, literally,” she said she would’ve chosen a different song for the singer if she had been her mentor (Allred is on Cowell’s team for “Fantasy League”).

“I mean, you could sing absolutely anything,” she continued. “You could’ve had everybody in this audience crying.”

But ultimately, whether Allred advanced to the finale was up to the audience. At the end of Monday’s episode, the show revealed that Allred placed in the top three for audience votes — but only the act with the most votes could move forward, and that distinction went to the performance group Pack Drumline.

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Looking back at Loren Allred’s ‘AGT: Fantasy League’ audition

For “AGT: Fantasy League,” the show’s four judges each drafted their dream team that consisted of 10 acts from “AGT” over the years. Allred got picked for Cowell’s team, and made her “Fantasy League” debut with a dynamic performance of “Never Enough.”

In the audition clip, which has more than 3 million views on YouTube, the Brooklyn-based singer shared how she was a 24-year-old waitress when she met the songwriters for “The Greatest Showman,” who asked her to come and sing the demo for “Never Enough.”

“I was so excited to just have my voice be in the film,” Allred said in the audition clip, the Deseret News reported. “I felt so proud, because people were hearing my voice and that’s what I had dreamed of.”

And although she does receive full credit on “The Greatest Showman” soundtrack, per the Deseret News, the singer realized over time that very few people knew she was the voice behind the hit song — and she wanted that to change. So now, a year and a half after appearing on “Britain’s Got Talent,” where she placed as a finalist, Allred is back in the “Got Talent” franchise for “Fantasy League.”

For her audition, Allred performed an updated version of “Never Enough” that earned enough audience votes to land her in the semifinals.

“I mean, how lucky are all of us right now that we got to witness this live right in front of our eyes,” Klum said, per the Deseret News. “It was just absolutely beautiful.”