They came. They performed. They conquered.
The Jefferson Davis High School marching band appeared on Tuesday’s episode of “America’s Got Talent,” impressing all three judges on the NBC reality series.
The band from Montgomery made a splashy entrance on the 7 p.m. show, marching through the audience section of the studio -- empty due to the coronavirus pandemic -- and past the judges.
Then, the Marching Vols really got down to business, filling the stage with energy and music. Their mashup of Lizzo songs earned “yes” votes from Simon Cowell, Howie Mandel and Sofia Vergara. That means the band will move on to the next phase of the competition, known as the judge cuts.
One ailing judge, Heidi Klum, was missing from the episode, which was filmed in advance.
Band director Brandon Howard introduced the troupe, saying, “Montgomery, Alabama, has a lot of rich history. It’s a very difficult place to live in at this point in time. The crime rate is kind of high. The poverty rate is high. Most of my students come in, they’re really rough around the edges, but the students come to the band room, they learn discipline, they learn how to play their instrument, and it’s an escape from everything else going on in the city.”
When asked by Cowell where the band gets its funding, Howard said, “The funding is something that we actually do ourselves. We go out into the community and raise money. We do what we have to do.”
“This could be the perfect platform for you,” Cowell said. “Well, I’m really hoping this goes well.”
A single episode of judge cuts is set to air July 28. A total of 60 acts, including the band from Jeff Davis, will compete in that round, and 44 will move on to the quarterfinals, according to a report by USA Today. If all goes well, the band from Alabama will compete for a $1 million prize.
The band from Jeff Davis already has a national profile, earning acclaim in fall 2019 when videos of its performances were showcased -- and applauded -- by social media personality @PubbyLongway. At the time, the nearly all-Black ensemble was led by a white drum major, Justin Heideman, whose nickname is “Vanilla Funk.”
Longway said he discovered the initial video of Heideman performing with the band on Facebook, according to a report by Andre Toran of the Montgomery Advertiser.
“I was just chilling, and I had videos just running,” Longway said. “Next thing you know I left the room, and I heard some band stuff playing, and I like band music, because I was in band myself. So, I said, ‘Let me go back and listen to that.’ I ran back to my room and I saw Justin. I was like ‘What!? It’s a white boy leading the pack.’”
The videos showcased by Longway have received more than 4 million views, the Advertiser said, but there’s also been a substantial backlash. Critics said the video downplayed three other drum majors for the band, all of whom are Black, and gave undue praise to the single white member of the ensemble.
Heideman had the support of his bandmates, however, and they said he earned the job of lead drum major through hard work and talent.
“When you get to looking on the internet, everybody is slandering him,” Dominic Williams, one of the other drum majors, told the Montgomery Advertiser. “Saying, ‘What is he doing as a white head drum major leading a Black band?’ To me, (his race) really doesn’t faze me, but as to see people talk about him, it’s stupid. Justin, all the things he went through, all the trials and tribulations that he took to become the person he is, a lot of people don’t see that side of him, because they just see him on the internet.”
Heideman performed with the band at the “America’s Got Talent” auditions, and presumably will be there for the judge cuts episode. He graduated from Jeff Davis this spring and has announced that he’ll attend Alabama State University in the fall to play trumpet in the Mighty Marching Hornets band.
Members of the Jefferson Davis High School marching band, including four drum majors, performed on the July 14, 2020, episode of "America's Got Talent."(Danny Ventrella/NBC)