Anna Wilson, 21, thought she was getting a VIP experience to watch a live taping of America’s Got Talent in California, but she knew something was up when her mom walked on stage and said she was there to surprise her daughter. Wilson, who is a singer, wasn’t expecting to audition for the reality talent show that day in March, but she did and got and got three out of four yes votes from the judges.
“People always ask me, ‘did you have any inkling that this [would happen?]’ I had literally no idea,” Wilson, who grew up and currently lives in Gaithersburg, told Bethesda Today after a performance in Rockville on Aug. 4. “I was in the auditioning process for The Voice. It was the perfect plan, because I would have never thought to audition for AGT just because it’s not a singing show.”
After nervousness, confusion and some anger at her mom, Wilson ended up auditioning — and got enough votes to move on to the live rounds, including from Simon Cowell, who’s notorious for his critical commentary during auditions.
“I think most people put in your position would’ve just ran,” Cowell said during the TV audition. “That you were willing to take the challenge, it showed that you got guts and I really, really, really like you.”
Despite receiving the votes to proceed into the next round, Wilson won’t be moving forward on the show, since many good acts make it through auditions and the show makes cuts internally before the live rounds. Wilson’s audition was posted on YouTube on July 15, and has received 5.7 million views as of Monday morning.
Moving forward, the Gaithersburg singer said she’s focused on her love of music — and helping others with it wherever she can.
“Whatever I do, I just want it to be music and helping people,” Wilson said.
Love of music turns into singing career
Wilson graduated from Gaithersburg High School in 2022, where she participated in the choir and started a group to pair students with disabilities with their peers. She then studied music therapy at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh for a year before realizing it wasn’t for her.
“I love music therapy,” Wilson said. “It’s just like so much school, and you get paid dirt, and you get treated like dirt, and it’s a very niche major, and it’s not well respected. Unfortunately, it should be very well respected. And so for me, I feel like I didn’t want to be graded on music.”
Wilson’s mother, Kerry Wilson, said her daughter explored going to school for elementary education before deciding she wanted to pursue music a year and a half ago.
“I said, ‘Let’s do it. But if you do it, you have to be regimented about it. You have to take it seriously.’” Kerry Wilson said. “And she did. She has a very strong business acumen. She’s a hard worker. She’s working full time, and she’s also writing and recording and performing every weekend at this point. So, it’s something that she’s always wanted.”
Surprising her daughter with the audition was one way to get her on a show to showcase her talents, Kerry Wilson said.
“That kind of human interest angle was something they wanted to play up,” Kerry Wilson said. “I wouldn’t have done it if I thought she was going to fail.”
Although at first, Wilson said she wasn’t the happiest with her mom for the surprise.
“I’m a big perfectionist,” Wilson said. “So, for me to not have any preparation, to be thrown into that. I was like, ‘Really, Mom, you should have known better to do that to me.’ It felt like an out of body experience.”
But Wilson said the show was a great experience and exposure, which was highlighted Aug. 4 as she performed her own show, alongside guitar player and musician Dave Weber, for the Pike District Thursdays in the Park. Wilson covered everything from Adele to Fleetwood Mac and performed songs she’s written to a crowd of at least 100.
Weber said Wilson’s voice just has a “head turning quality.”
“The very first song, when we’re in a restaurant or bar, and the first line that comes out of her mouth, you get people getting their phones out, and they start videoing,” Weber told Bethesda Today. “And that’s a really special quality.”
Wilson invited fellow singers she met before the show to share the love with local artists and even cried while singing “To Make You Feel My Love,” by Bob Dylan, which she began her America’s Got Talent audition with.
“It was kind of like reality set in a little bit for me,” Wilson said.
After the two-hour show, Wilson stuck around talking to and taking photos with people who were excited to see her after watching her big break.
“To see people [who say] ‘I live here’ and it’s five minutes away from my house, I’m like, ‘You’re basically my neighbor,’” Wilson said. “It’s weird for me because it’s like ‘You’re coming to see me but … we went to the same high school together.’ I don’t have a name for it or a word for it right now… I just keep saying surreal.”
Wilson’s mom said the Aug. 4 concert was a special moment in the 21-year-old’s career.
“As a mother, it’s hard to know if she’s as good as I think she is. Because I’m definitely not objective,” she said. “But to have other people see what I’ve seen is really rewarding. And I think she’s grown a lot, and I think she’s a really kind and good person, so I feel like that’s also part of why people resonate with her as a human.”
While pursuing music, Wilson is working as a full-time fitness instructor, and is set to move into a new apartment in Gaithersburg.
She said she’s planning on putting out more of her own, original music, but also wants to help veterans and people with disabilities.
“I still definitely want my roots to be in music, whether that’s just maybe doing pop up little things, or just a small, little intimate jam session,” Wilson said after the Aug. 4 performance. “Music therapy …it’s a term. …But what just happened here was therapy for some people.”