Reba McEntire-endorsed country singer Kylie Frey's high-energy performance of her original song "I Do Thing" during Tuesday's (Sept. 12) live episode of America's Got Talent (AGT) earned the scorn of Simon Cowell following slightly less-scathing critiques by Howie Mandel and Sofia Vergara.
Though her stage presence and western wear fashion choices got praised, Frey's vocal delivery got questioned. Mandel suggested that Frey's nonstop dancing might've made her too short of breath to turn in her best singing performance, with Vergara echoing that some of the lyrics were hard to decipher.
Reverting back to his old ways from American Idol, Cowell was far more blunt.
"We really like you from your first audition and you've got a great personality,' Cowell said. 'I think a lot of people are going to really like you. I'm glad that you brought the energy. However, I think you were trying to do so much. It was like a manic mess. Look, It might sound better when you are sitting at home watching it on TV. Where I was sitting it was like ''whoa'' there were some notes that didn't sound in tune."
Each judges' comments got booed by the studio audience, which had clapped along and cheered throughout "I Do Thing."
Frey seemed to take the judges' criticism in stride, telling viewers to "come see me at a live show, I promise you won't regret it."
A Louisiana native and former rodeo champion, Frey has found success on Texas country radio. McEntire retweeted footage of Frey's audition earlier this summer because "us rodeo girls gotta stick together."
