Christian Guardino Wows On 'America's Got Talent' Semifinals

PATCHOGUE, NY — Patchogue's Christian Guardino, 17, who wowed the judges and got the golden buzzer on "America's Got Talent", continues to soar as he performed in the semi-finals Tuesday night, singing "What's Going On" by Marvin Gaye, putting his own talented spin to the popular song.

He brought the judges to their feet in a resounding standing ovation after his soulful performance.

"You're going on. . . You need to be here. You should be here. America needs you . . . You are beautiful inside and out. You are so inspirational. I love you, young man," judge Howie Mandel told the Patchogue teen.

Simon Cowell added, "It was fantastic. . .a perfect, perfect song choice for you."

Guardino will find out Wednesday night when "AGT" airs on NBC at 8 p.m. if he'll be going on to the finals next week. Only 5 of the 11 acts can get through to the finals, for the chance to win $1 million.

On the show, Guardino said he hopes his song and its message brings people together.

Guardino was in danger of going home but got the Dunkin' Save in the quarter finals.

"When I get overwhelmed, my vision get affected," he said on AGT Tuesday night. "It's almost like the whole world disappears." Growing up with vision challenges was difficult, he said. "Tonight, I know I'm going to be nervous and I know I'm going to be scared. I'm not going to let my nerves get in the way tonight."

Guardino has set social media on fire as friends and strangers cheer him on both locally and around the world.

His mother Beth Guardino spoke to Patch about the story of her son, a baby who was born nearly blind — and whose success is a story so miraculous that it moves those who hear it to tears.

Her son, Guardino said, has had music in his soul from the moment he was born.

Christian, who turned 17 on the day after his audition for AGT and attends the Patchogue-Medford School District, "has been singing for a long as he can remember," she said.

Born with extremely poor vision, Guardino said a vision teacher came to work with him with an eye toward early intervention.

"He started humming to those videos, and it was definitely recognizable; he was humming 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.' He was five months old."

Later, Guardino would give her baby son a bath, and she'd sing scales for him; from the first, he'd repeat them back to her.

"He was always really interested in music," she said.

Despite his vision challenges, gene therapy, his mom said, helped immensely. While he used to be night blind, when he went to audition, he was able to see.

"If he'd gone to audition before gene therapy, he would never have been able to see the judges or the audience," Guardino said, her voice laced with tears.

When she watched the playback of the audition, she saw her son looking to Simon Cowell, trying to judge his reaction. "Prior to that, he'd have been looking into the darkness," she said.

Since the gene therapy four years ago, when normal genes are transplanted into cells to correct genetic disorders, a new world has dawned, literally, for her son.

"He's seen stars for the first time, the snow falling," she said.

"When he got the golden buzzer," — the golden buzzer means a contestant is propelled straight to the live performances — "it was absolutely surreal," Guardino said. "It was like watching our story come full circle. To see where our struggles were, and where we've arrived, it's a miracle."

Photo, video via YouTube.