Kennedy Township girl set to debut new song after ending run on ‘America’s Got Talent’
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Ashley Marina Yankello’s run on “America’s Got Talent” came to an end Tuesday night when judge Howie Mandel delivered the news by video link that the Kennedy Township singer would not be advancing to the quarterfinals of the NBC-TV competition.
According to Mandel, the decision to eliminate the youth from the show’s 15th season was a difficult one that wasn’t unanimous among the four celebrity judges.
“It’s ‘no’ for now,” he said, but the panel advised her not to give up on her musical aspirations.
Yankello, who drops her surname for performances, has turned 13 since that show was recorded several weeks ago. She told the Tribune-Review later Tuesday that her experience on AGT was a rewarding one, providing her new insight into show business and connecting her to many new fans.
“Definitely, I have gotten a lot of publicity from AGT,” she said. “I have some amazing fans with so much positivity.
“I learned there is a lot of good talent out there, and you have to be very confident in yourself and have other people be confident in you.”
Thank you to @AGT & the fans for the opportunity & support! Please watch me on @WPXI @SeeAndBeSeen tomorrow to see me perform a new original song I wrote based on my reflection of my AGT audition ❤️ @SimonCowell @sofiavergara @heidiklum @howiemandel @terrycrews @agt pic.twitter.com/8bbtPCcb2O
— Ashley Marina (@Iamashleymarina) July 29, 2020
Unlike in past seasons, the “judge cuts” round of the current AGT competition was condensed into the single, two-hour show that aired Tuesday. Yankello was not among the 10 acts that were asked to provide new performances for the judges to view remotely on a large screen, in keeping with pandemic social distancing.
Nevertheless, she co-wrote and recorded a new song she’d hoped to perform on the show and instead plans to debut Wednesday on YouTube.
Titled “Pity,” it was inspired by the emotional roller coaster Yankello endured during her earlier audition before the AGT judges — abrupt rejection by judge Simon Cowell of two songs she began to sing and a hurried search for a third number, followed by a comeback performance that won over the judges and the studio audience.
After the audition show aired June 16, Yankello received many sympathetic comments through social media.
“When I was putting together the song, I took into consideration my own feelings while trying to put together something I thought the public would relate to and what they thought about my audition,” she said.
“You’ll Always Be My Hero,” the song that Yankello wrote for her father, Mark, and that scored points with the judges during her AGT audition, has continued to bring attention to the young singer.
She recently recorded a new version of the song, to update her original rendition of it more than a year earlier.
“She sounded a lot younger when she originally recorded it,” said her father. “It’s a little bit different arrangement with more mature vocals. Kids, they grow fast.”
Earlier in July, the song topped The FAB Chart music listings. A video clip of Yankello’s AGT audition, including the song, that aired June 16 on NBC has attracted about 17 million YouTube views.
Before its wide exposure on the NBC show, Yankello performed the song at some father-daughter dances. Now, her father said, “she’s been getting a lot of interest for her to perform that song for weddings,” during the bride’s dance with her dad.
Yankello, who is enrolled at the Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School in Midland, Beaver County, had planned on other public performances this summer, in addition to her televised appearances on AGT. That was before the covid-19 pandemic shut down such in-person gigs.
Instead, she said, “I’ve been trying to occupy myself and be more active in social media, interacting with a lot of my fans.”
Her music isn’t the only artistic avenue that has brought Yankello exposure. She’s had non-speaking parts in the Netflix series “Mindhunter,” and Sony Pictures’ “Faith Under Fire: The Antoinette Tuff Story.”