{"id":626386,"date":"2026-09-16T11:46:25","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T11:46:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/626386\/"},"modified":"2026-09-16T11:46:25","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T11:46:25","slug":"rapper-luke-taleno-lights-it-up-with-original-song-for-agt-semis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/626386\/","title":{"rendered":"Rapper Luke Taleno Lights It Up With Original Song For \u2018AGT\u2019 Semis"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tLuke Taleno is still living the dream. The American Dream, that is.<\/p>\n

\n\tBorn in Cuba, and a cancer survivor, Taleno shone when he auditioned for NBC<\/a>\u2018s America\u2019s Got Talent back in June<\/a>. Under the bright lights of the AGT<\/a> stage, Taleno performed an original number, \u201cFrom Seat to Stage,\u201d a gift from his heart to the rest of us. It was a Golden Buzzer-worthy performance, earning that highest of praise from judge Howie Mandel. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tTaleno never had it easy. He relocated with his family to the United States at the age of just three. Before he could communicate in English, he understood the language of music and its power to connect people.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tExplore\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

See latest videos, charts and news<\/p>\n

\n\tAt 13, he was diagnosed with leukemia. Now, aged 28, he\u2019s in the semifinals of AGT season 21. And he\u2019s there as a new U.S. citizen, having sworn his oath prior to his most recent performance.<\/p>\n

\n\tTaleno didn\u2019t waste his chance. Strutting out to the stage under the stars and stripes of the Cuban flag, and wearing a patriotic jacket, Taleno performed another original song, \u201cAmerican Dream,\u201d carrying the energy, swagger and confidence of a guy who could go the distance. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cYou are the American dream, you really are,\u201d Mandel said of his prot\u00e9g\u00e9. \u201cYou have had to battle your whole life with your health. And then you\u2019ve manifested yourself last year, backstage, telling Simon (Cowell) you were going to end up on that stage. You got the Golden Buzzer. You are making your dream come true.\u201d For Mandel, Taleno is \u201cthe new Eminem.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tTaleno wrote the song in the past week. \u201cYou sung it with so much passion, and heart. And you interpreted every single word,\u201d remarked Spice Girls\u2019 Mel B. \u201cYou\u2019re going to go very far, you are.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSof\u00eda Vergara reckons Taleno is a \u201csuperstar already,\u201d an artist that is \u201cso, so good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAs he finished his moment on stage, Taleno doubled down. \u201cMost people chase one dream,\u201d he enthused. \u201cAnd I\u2019m getting to live both dreams. Let\u2019s keep the dream alive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWill Taleno score a place in the final? The result lies with America\u2019s vote. Wednesday\u2019s AGT results special will feature Season 20 runner-up Chris Turner, who returns to the talent show with his signature freestyle rap.<\/p>\n

\n\tWatch Taleno\u2019s semifinal performance below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Luke Taleno is still living the dream. The American Dream, that is. Born in Cuba, and a cancer…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":626387,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[13199,13200,13724,93,61,60,9057,282],"class_list":["post-626386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-agt","tag-americas-got-talent","tag-bbnews","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-nbc","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=626386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626386\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/626387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=626386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=626386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=626386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}