Evie Clair is going to finish what she started. The teen singer returned to the America's Got Talent stage for the 2017 finale performance show just days after her father passed away from a lengthy cancer battle.
"The happiest memories are my family gathered around the piano singing together," Clair said during the performance show. "Music brought love and brought us closer together, even through the hardest times. My dad was one of the bravest people I knew, he always taught us to follow our dreams…My dad taught me after I started something to always finish it, that's why I'm fighting to the end just like he did."
Clair performed a stirring rendition of "What a Wonderful World" that garnered a standing ovation from the audience and judges Simon Cowell, Heidi Klum, Mel B and Howie Mandel.
"Evie coming back was unbelievable," Cowell told E! News. "I saw her before the show came on, you know she was nervous, but I do believe genuinely it was what her did would've wanted and it was the best she's ever sung."
After the performance, Clair said she's glad she came back. "I was able to kind of make stronger friendships, it's really been great," she told E! News.
"What A Wonderful World" was her dad's favorite song—and the only song "he could sing in tune, well." "He never sang, he's not a musician at all…this was just a tribute to him," she said.
Clair's father passed away on September 7 after battling Stage 4 colon cancer for about a year. She dedicated her performances to her father, including her audition song, Christina Perri's 2011 song "Arms."
America's Got Talent final airs Wednesday, Sept. 20 at 8 p.m. on NBC.
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