FLORENCE, Ariz. - Evie Clair, a 13-year-old from Florence, Arizona, may not return for the America’s Got Talent finals.
She stole hearts during her audition when she explained she was singing for her father, who was fighting Stage 4 colon cancer. Last week, just a day after Evie made it into the finals, Evie's mother posted that Amos Ablanalp was taken off life support and passed away.
Tuesday night, after the second round of semifinals, Terri Seymour with Extra spoke with Simon Cowell about Evie's future with the show. He said the 13-year-old was given a choice whether she would return to finals on Sept. 19.
“We reached out to the family and her and said, ‘It’s your choice whether you want to come on the show or not.’” Cowell said. “If she doesn’t, she definitely will be welcome to come on next year.”
After her father's death, Evie posted on Instagram that it had been "the best and worst week of my life."
"I hope I made you proud, Daddy. I've always done it for you and I'll do it for you forever," she said in another Instagram post.
A post shared by Evie Clair (@evieclair) on
The judges praised Evie's rendition of Ella Henderson’s “Yours” in the semifinals last week.