Oxford High School Grad Amazes 'AGT' Judges with Emotional Song

Last night Ava Swiss not only honored Oxford High School but represented the entire state of Michigan in a very big way. Her audition on American's Got Talent left everyone mesmerized and emotional, including judge Simon Cowell.

Eighteen-year-old Ava Swieczkowski, who goes by the stage name Ava Swiss, was inside Oxford High School when tragedy struck back on November 30, 2021. That's when a gunman entered the school leaving 4 of Ava's classmates dead and 7 injured including one being a teacher.

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Swiss gained notoriety shortly after the tragedy when she sang the song “Rise up” by Andra Day during the candlelight vigil following the Oxford High School shooting. She has commented several times she has used her love of music to help heal from the unthinkable, and last night she had a chance to show the world just how talented she is.

Swiss took the stage on the popular NBC show AGT. Looking a bit nervous, she told the story of why she chose the song she was about to perform.

“I chose the song “Remember” by Lauren Daigle,” Swiss told the judges. “I chose this song because back on November 30th, my brother and I were a part of the Oxford school shooting. We lost four of our students and seven others were injured, one of which was a teacher.”

It was clear that everyone, including the often tough Simon Cowell, was moved and touched by Swiss even before she began to sing, and what happened next left an entire audience emotional and blown away.

“For me, this is one of those auditions I will never forget. I really have so much respect for you. And on top of that, you’ve got a great voice. You’re somebody I’m so happy to have met. That’s the one thing over the years on this show, we’ve just met the most extraordinary people on this show and now we’ve just met you", Cowell said.

After four "yes" votes, Swiss will be moving on in the competition with the spirit of her lost classmates and the entire state, if not the country, cheering her on.

Watch her amazing performance below.

Check Out the Best-Selling Album From the Year You Graduated High School

Do you remember the top album from the year you graduated high school? Stacker analyzed Billboard data to determine just that, looking at the best-selling album from every year going all the way back to 1956. Sales data is included only from 1992 onward when Nielsen's SoundScan began gathering computerized figures.

Going in chronological order from 1956 to 2020, we present the best-selling album from the year you graduated high school.