It turns out Louisiana's Jourdan Blue can sing while ill better than most people can at 100% well.
From his slow, focused opening to his falsettos and powerful outro, Blue made another crowd-pleasing appearance on "America's Got Talent" Tuesday night as his girlfriend and their infant son watched from the studio audience.
"Somebody told me just before the break that you nearly didn't come on because you're sick, is that right?," judge Simon Cowell asked him after Blue's performance of Calum Scott's "Biblical."
"I just threw up three times," Blue said, with a surprising chuckle.
"I always liked you from your first audition, and the fact that you actually had the guts to come out, or actually threw your guts, had the strength to come out and sing, you did bloody well," Englishman Cowell told him.
"This means everything to me and there wasn't anything that was going to hold me back from that," the New Orleans street performer, 23, said.
"Listen, I really truly believe that you can win this, " judge Howie Mandel added. "This performance, I mean I follow you online and everything, and it's amazing how sick you are. I know you could be 10 times better, but the fact that you have the wherewithal and the desire to come out here and deal with what you're dealing with … congratulations."
New Orleans singer Jourdan Blue, right, talks to 'America's Got Talent' judges alongside host Terry Crews after his performance on Tuesday's first live episode of the NBC talent competition series.
"Your vocals were just so perfectly beautiful, " judge Mel B chimed in.
"I think you're good, sick or not sick, the way you look, the way your emotions can reach us, your voice, everything screams rock star," commented judge Sofia Vergara.
In video clips shot in the Hollywood studio from which "AGT" airs and in his hometown, Blue explained that the audiences he draws in the French Quarter have tripled since his "AGT" audition aired in May.
This was the first of this season's live shows after which America has the chance to vote for who they want to see advance in the contest.
"AGT" airs on NBC and streams the following day on Peacock.