Tom Sandoval’s vocals were mocked by America’s Got Talent viewers – but as it turns out, his performance was plagued by a major technical malfunction.
While Instagram users blasted his singing, in an interview with Access Hollywood’s Lauren Herbert, Sandoval revealed his in ear monitor had stopped working just before showtime.
That left Sandoval, 43, unable to hear himself and the dreaded sound of Simon Cowell’s buzzer.
Sandoval and his cover band Tom Sandoval & The Most Extras performed The Weeknd’s Blinding Lights on Wednesday’s episode of America’s Got Talent in a performance that failed to impress Cowell.
‘I like Tom, and I like the band, however, you’re judging this performance, it didn’t sound great. Didn’t,’ Cowell said in his review. ‘It might just be me from where I sat, but that did not sound good, I’m afraid. Didn’t.’
The three other judges had a mixed response, but Mel B offered a rave review of the performance.
Tom Sandoval and his band, Tom Sandoval & The Most Extras, failed to impress judge Simon Cowell on Tuesday’s episode of America’s Got Talent
Cowell hit the performance with the dreaded buzzer
Immediately after his performance, Sandoval was interviewed by Herbert, where he revealed how he was unable to hear ‘anything’ throughout the show.
‘A few technical issues but overall got through it, as much as I could. I didn’t even know that Simon buzzed us. Did you know that?’ he asked Lauren, who did. ‘I had so much going on, I couldn’t hear anything, let alone myself really.’
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‘My inner ear stopped working and then it’s like you’re deaf in that ear, and that happened right before I started, so it kind of threw me off. Right as I started, I hit my lip with my mic,’ he elaborated.
‘I was like, alright! Can’t really hear myself that well so like was just kind of dancing my way around it.’
Asked about his reaction to the buzzer and Cowell’s criticism of his vocals, he said: ‘I definitely could’ve been better, for sure. And I think I was worried a little bit more about the movement and whatever, and with inner ear, I should’ve focused a little bit more on the vocals.
‘But this is a competition, we’re trying to set ourselves apart, going out there and just singing, versus singing, dancing, getting the crowd going, moving around… I was trying to do more.’
While Sandoval hadn’t fully digested Cowell’s criticism, he respected the judge’s expertise.
‘Honestly I was kind of just taking in the moment, I didn’t hear everything he said, I’ll have to go back and hear what he said, I’ll have to go back and check it out. I respect Simon, he’s one of the most well-known, respected judges in the world,’ he said.
Sandoval and his band performed a cover of The Weeknd’s Blinding Lights
However the performance was plagued by Tom’s malfunctioning in ear monitor
‘I have to respect what he says, if he wasn’t feeling it, if he didn’t like it, then I guess he wasn’t in the same place as Mel B was!’
Sandoval also said he has been ‘working’ on his vocals.
‘I’m always working on vocals, if I would’ve been standing still, singing that song with working equipment, it would sound a lot different,’ he explained.
Sandoval became an outcast two years ago and he landed at the heart of the creatively-named ‘Scandoval’, the cheating controversy on season 10 of Vanderpump Rules.
At the time, Sandoval had cheated on his long-term partner Ariana Madix with their mutual friend, Rachel Leviss – plunging him and Rachel into pariah status.
Sandoval said he was unable to hear ‘anything’ during his performance due to his troublesome equipment
Sandoval also accidentally hit himself with his mic just before showtime
Viewers weighed in in the comments section of AGT’s Instagram post about the performance
But several also complimented the band
A few added salt to the wound with memes of his ex, Ariana Madix
One commenter was a fan of the performance, saying Sandoval has ‘the look and the moves’
Will Sandoval now be able to redeem himself on America’s Got Talent?
‘That’s up to everybody out there. That’s up to you guys,’ Tom said when asked if this show was his comeback.
‘I’m just excited for people to see a different side of me in a different environment. This is a much more positive environment and I’m doing things that I love,’ Tom said when asked what he hoped viewers could learn about him on AGT.
The star was also asked if he would consider heading onto the Vanderpump Rules spin-off, The Valley, in light of Jax Taylor’s departure.
‘I mean, I don’t know. It doesn’t sound like that much fun to me. I think there’s a lot more fun things that i could be doing,’ he admitted.
His AGT appearance may be his way of redeeming himself after 2023’s Scandoval controversy; pictured with then-girlfriend Madix in 2022
On America’s Got Talent Instagram post of Sandoval’s performance, fans jumped in with their criticism.
‘Make it stop’ one fan begged with a meme from Boy Meets World.
Another was in agreement with Cowell: ‘Simon’s face is like mine watching it from my house,’ they wrote.
A few others added salt to the wound with memes of his ex Madix, with one writing, ‘Simon hit that buzzer for Ariana.’
It wasn’t all criticism, with one fan writing: ‘They put on a show. He has the voice, the look and the moves.’
The world will learn if Tom Sandoval & The Most Extras earned enough votes from viewers to proceed to the next round on Wednesday.