Shevon Stoddart Nieto, a 37-year old Jamaican Olympian and singer has made it to the next round of Season 15 of America’s Got Talent. She got thumbs up and a standing ovation from the show’s judges, Simon Cowell, Sofia Vergara, Howie Mandell, and guest judge Eric Stonestreet, for her emotional rendition of an original song titled “Through the Good and Bad.” The video of this audition has garnered more than two million views online on YouTube.
Speaking after the show, Shevon said, “It was very emotional, I had tears in my eyes. Making it here was like me making the Olympics all over again.”
She dedicated the song to her husband, Jamie Nieto, also an Olympian who represented the U.S. in the high jump. However, he, unfortunately, endured a serious accident that left him paralyzed from the chest down. The couple got married in 2017 after the incident.
After delivering her song and returning backstage, Shevon announced the good news that she and her husband are expecting a child.
About watching the East Coast airing of the show online from her home in California, she said, “It was really exciting. Just to know that you’re about to be live on television in front of millions of people, that’s pretty awesome.”
Shevon emigrated with family from Jamaica to the U.S. at age four and settled in Uniondale, New York. She attended Uniondale High School and then competed for her homeland Jamaica in the 400-meter hurdles at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, as well as the 2008 games in Beijing.
Off the track, however, music was never far from Shevon’s mind. Inspired by Jamie’s own heroic journey, she wrote and recorded the song “Through the Good and Bad.” The former Jamaican Olympian released a music video of the song to raise funds for their Helping Others Triumph Foundation, which provides support for people with spinal injuries, strokes, and other disabilities.
