Cowell called Waites’ audition “great” and described what he had accomplished on the stage as a “moment.”
The vocal coach has moved on to the next round of the competition after all three judges voted “yes” without hesitation.
Waites credits God for everything he’s been able to do, telling Baptist Press, “Everything that I’ve done my entire career has been so heavily oriented in serving Christ and showing the love of God to as many people as I can. I looked at this as an opportunity of reaching a lot of people that I probably couldn’t have on my own.”
“I’m carrying a lot of weight on my shoulders over it, not in the sense of being overly nervous or caring about winning. That stuff doesn’t matter to me,” Waites said. “What I’m more concerned about is appropriately and effectively showing the Gospel of Christ through this opportunity. It’s very important that I get that message across.”
