America’s Got Talent video: See Maya Neelakantan, young guitarist
Just in case you wanted to be blown away ahead of tonight’s America’s Got Talent, why not check out Maya Neelakantan?
If there is one thing that this NBC show tends to excel at time and time again, it is finding a way to uncover some incredible talent out of totally unexpected places. Who would have predicted that a ten-year old from India would come on an US-based reality competition show and rock out to “Last Resort” by Papa Roach? Yet, here we are!
You can view the full audition here, and the big question we just have is how Maya managed to get so incredible as a guitarist at such a young age, while also performing songs that were composed from well before she was born. She also seems really composed for such a young person, which is tough when you can get nerves on a show like this.
If you are wanting a little more backstory, what we can say is that Maya was most likely discovered for the show through YouTube, where she has been posting covers for years for a number of rock guitar solos. Along the way, she’s gotten a chance to meet some of her heroes. We imagine that for some big names in the genre, it has to be rather touching that they’ve inspired someone from a totally different part of the world and in an entirely different culture. Music is truly the global language, right?
Based on this audition alone, it’s a foregone conclusion that we’ve got someone here who will be in the live shows. How do you top this? Really, it comes down to whether or not Maya wants to try to go with something even more challenging on a technical level, or a song that is extremely familiar to viewers? Personally, we tend to think that excelling in the latter could be the better move when it comes to something people want to go back and rewatch.
Related – See another audition for this episode of America’s Got Talent
What do you think about Maya Neelakantan and her mad guitar skills?
What do you want to see her perform next? Be sure to share right now in the attached comments! Once you do just that, remember to come back — there are some other updates coming here down the road.