'Tonight, I am choosing my own destiny': Lavender Darcangelo performs in 'AGT' finale

Fitchburg singer Lavender Darcangelo performed “You Will Be Found,” a ballad from the musical “Dear Evan Hansen,” during the final round of NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” on Tuesday night.

“I love singing in front of people, and it’s what I want to do for the rest of my life,” Darcangelo, 28, said. “Tonight, I am choosing my own destiny.”

Celebrity judge Heidi Klum, who chose to advance Darcangelo to the semifinals after her first appearance on the show, promised to continue supporting Darcangelo no matter the show’s results.

“I am so very proud of you,” Klum said. “I found you, you found me, we found each other, and no matter what happens tomorrow, you’ll always have me.”

“I felt like I was in the end of a movie where someone’s got to sing the big song, and it happened,” judge Simon Cowell said. “You could hear a pin drop. Every single person in this room was listening to every single word.”

Darcangelo, who is blind and autistic, said music has always been her passion and “America’s Got Talent” has always been one of her dreams.

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“When I was 10 years old, I wanted to be on this show, but I was afraid people would not accept me because of my disability,” Darcangelo said. “I chose my family, I chose the kind of job I want to have, and I chose to come to ‘America’s Got Talent.’”

Viewers have until 7 a.m. Sept. 27 to cast their votes online for their favorite contestant. Results will be revealed in the season finale, which will air live on NBC at 8 p.m. that night.

The contestant who gets the most votes will win the show’s grand prize of $1 million and a regular live show in Las Vegas.

After Darcangelo’s audition, which aired in July, Klum gave her the “golden buzzer,” a decision that automatically advanced her to the semifinals.

In previous seasons, some golden buzzer recipients have gone on to win the grand prize.

They include pianist Kodi Lee, who, like Darcangelo, is blind and autistic, and singer-songwriter Grace VanderWaal, who won the show’s eleventh season at age 12 and has gone on to tour with Imagine Dragons and Florence and the Machine.

During the Tuesday night watch party at River Styx Brewing in Fitchburg, all heads turned to the projection screen when “America’s Got Talent” began.

Michelle Sullivan, decked out in a T-shirt that read “Be Kind,” sat with a group of coworkers in the back of the room.

“I think Lavender is just amazing,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan works at a grocery store where the Darcangelo family often shops, and she said Lavender had gotten to know her well enough to come up with a nickname for her based on the texture of her voice.

“Lavender comes in often with her personal care assistant. She calls me “soap-head,’” Sullivan said.

This article originally appeared on Worcester Magazine: Lavender Darcangelo competes in 'America's Got Talent' season finale