Medhat Mamdouh, hailing from Egypt, walked onto the America’s Got Talent (AGT) stage with a small wooden instrument, a recorder. The judges, especially Simon Cowell, seemed skeptical and even slightly hostile towards the instrument, which many people associate with school music classes. Simon confessed he “hates recorders” because he was forced to play one in school, and the panel even joked about the lack of any famous recorder players in history. Medhat, however, remained unfazed, calmly explaining that he was going to play an original composition using the recorder, setting the stage for one of the most unexpected musical surprises in the show’s history.
The performance began with Medhat playing a traditional, melodic piece on the recorder, which quickly took an incredible twist. Suddenly, he transformed the simple instrument and his performance into a complex, multi-layered musical act. He combined the bright, flowing melody of the recorder with expert-level, rhythmic beatboxing, performing both simultaneously. Medhat skillfully used his mouth and the instrument to create an entire, dynamic soundscape—a hybrid of traditional Middle Eastern music and modern urban beats. The fusion of the simple recorder with the beatbox created an auditory illusion that stunned the judges.
The panel was won over by his sheer creativity and talent. Sofia Vergara, not traumatized by the instrument, loved the performance and the Middle Eastern influence. Howie Mandel admitted that Medhat had taken an instrument that is often disliked and made it “trendy,” calling the transformation “surprising.” Most remarkably, the “recorder-hating” Simon Cowell was forced to admit that the performance was “good” and “unexpected,” saying, “I’m actually going to say yes!” Medhat’s ambitious dream of having his own Vegas show was instantly validated with four resounding “yeses.”
