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Heidi Klum Explains Why She Gave the Dremeka Choir a Red X

"Is that really a million-dollar Act? I don’t know, you know?" Klum told NBC Insider.

By McKenzie Jean-Philippe

As Howie Mandel explained earlier this month, the America's Got Talent Judges can't always come to an unanimous decision with the hundreds of Acts they see each year. This fact was put on full display when the Dremeka Choir auditioned during the June 28th episode.

How to Watch

Watch the Season 19 premiere of America’s Got Talent Tuesday, May 28 at 8/7c on NBC and next day on Peacock

The choir's performance took an unexpected turn when the group put a heavy metal spin on the songs "O Fortuna" and Britney Spears' 2003 pop hit, "Toxic." The renditions delighted a majority of the Judges, with Simon Cowell describing it as "fantastically creepy."

He added, "I'm more for going over onto the dark side occasionally, so I get it."

Sofia Vergara said, "I thought it was so unexpected. I thought it was going to be super boring, I was dreading it. But then suddenly I was like in some kind of movies with dragons or vampires or something. I thought it was very spectacular and creative."

In the end, Heidi Klum gave the Dremeka Choir a Red X and was the only Judge who wasn't necessarily impressed by the Audition. 

"Is that really a million-dollar act? I don’t know, you know?" Klum told NBC Insider. "It was not really resonating with me because at the end of the day [it was] not really pleasant for me."

The AGT Judge and supermodel explained that in some cases her mind can change, like we saw during Week 1 for Ben Lapidus' "Parmesan Song" Audition.


"We all X’ed [Ben]... and the public was, like, screaming, 'Parmesan, parmesan!' and I’m like, 'They all want more parmesan,' so I was, like, 'Let’s hear it one more time,' you know?" she said. "When we heard it again, the room was singing, 'We want more parmesan.' That, to me, was kind of uplifting. I feel like that was fun, it really got the audience crazy. I think with the choir, it wasn’t for me."

She continued, "I was the odd one out, but I feel like, you know, that’s life. We’re four different people with four different opinions and sometimes it’s unanimous and sometimes, it just isn’t, and you don’t want me here just to say yes because you love something. You want me here because I have my own opinion."

As we saw during the episode, the choir still earned three "Yes" votes—and an enthusiastic response from the audience—and is moving on to the next round. Fans will see exactly how far the group makes it in competition in the coming weeks.

America's Got Talent Season 17 airs every Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.