Who Is Joseph O'Brien? Simon Cowell Interrupts Performance on 'America's Got Talent'

Simon Cowell gave one of the performers during the second week of Judge Cuts a second chance on Tuesday's America's Got Talent.

Before Joseph O'Brien took the stage, he watched two singers, Leah Mathies and Hunter Price, do original songs, which he'd heard was "risky." "Song choice is so important," judge Heidi Klum said during Leah's performance. That was a lesson Joseph learned when it was his turn.

The 20-year-old piano player and singer began with "I Can't Fight This Feeling" by REO Speedwagon, but Simon stopped him after 30 seconds. "I think you're overthinking everything right now," the judge told him. "You've got a great voice. I'm just frustrated because I didn't love that song choice or how it sounded too much." When Joseph asked if he could do an original song, Heidi said, "Do one that you love."

Performing one of his own songs was the right move. Guest judge Olivia Munn told him she'd be pushing for him to advance, and Simon liked what he saw. "I think it's so hard to perform under this pressure, and I think what we just saw with you there is that you got this fighting spirit in you," he said. "You're not just prepared to just take it, you gave something back."

That fighting spirit helped him earn a spot in the live shows. "You've got a lot of work to do," Simon said after telling him he was moving on.

The judges had also seen his potential after he sang "Hello" by Lionel Richie during his audition in June. "It's always a cool idea to take an old ballad and then make it more modern," he said of his song choice in a video NBC posted three days after his audition. It hadn't been perfect, but Simon said he had "a good energy." All four judges—Simon, Heidi, Melanie Brown and Howie Mandel—had said yes.

Before his Judge Cuts performance, Joseph said he'd been "terrified" during his audition. After the first round, he knew he needed "to have more confidence and a little bit more faith in [his] abilities."

Joseph had also shared that he's been single his entire life and hadn't kissed anyone before his audition. While being on America's Got Talent led to people being interested, he told the judges he was "still single, ready to mingle," Tuesday.

America's Got Talent Season 13 airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.