Check out Bluffton man on 'America's Got Talent.' His audition was the first of its kind

The newest season of "America's Got Talent" will feature two Lowcountry contestants and one of them apparently wants to give Howie Mandel a boot off the judge's table.

Bluffton resident Iain Brown, 59 — he's had a birthday since the filming, he said — an employee at Custom Audio Video, is seen in a preview video telling the judges that he's auditioning for a seat at their table.

"I'm not here to be on-stage talent," Brown tells judges Simon Cowell, Mel B, Heidi Klum and Howie Mandel. "I'm here because I want to be a judge."

The native of Scotland, who moved to Bluffton in 2002, tells them that he watches the show at home and remarks about the judge's decisions.

"Like many people in America, I sit at home and say, 'Simon that's the wrong decision. Howie that's the wrong decision.' I want to be able to do that," Brown says in the preview.

After some banter, the judges asked him whose place he would like to take.

With dramatic music in the background, Simon invites Brown to replace Mandel at the table.

The preview closes with Mandel watching with a horrified face from the audience as Brown sits in Mandel's chair and takes a sip from his cup.

Brown told The Island Packet he auditioned at a casting call in Savannah at the encouragement of friends.

At first, the casting agents seemed to be taken aback, he said.

"It was the novelty of it," he said. "Nobody had asked to do this before."

Brown said there wasn't much he could say about his four-day trip to California for filming that wouldn't be a spoiler before the episode airs.

"It was an absolute blast. These guys are really good at what they do." he said. "It was quite a hectic few days but well worth it."

Another local also is expected to take the stage, and her performance was drawing mentions on social media even before the episode aired.

Flau'jae, a 14-year-old rapper from Savannah, performs a song she wrote called "Guns Down" in honor of her father, who was killed before she was born, according to a preview posted on the show's YouTube channel.

"This 14-year-old has a powerful message," Mandel posted on Twitter with a clip showing Flau'jae's performance.

In a separate tweet, Mandel wrote, "It’s young people like @Flaujae that are going to change the world."

"What a powerful performance from a young girl who wants to change the world with her music!" Klum tweeted.

WSAV reported that the teen is the daughter of Jason Johnson, a Savannah rapper known as Camouflage, who was gunned down in 2003 while he was walking with his son outside of a recording studio.

Flau'jae also was a cast member on Season 3 of the Lifetime reality show "The Rap Game," according to her website.

WSAV reported that both Brown and Flau'jae will be among those featured in the premiere of the 13th season of "America's Got Talent" on Tuesday beginning at 8 p.m. on NBC.

This story was originally published May 29, 2018 at 2:49 PM with the headline "Check out Bluffton man on 'America's Got Talent.' His audition was the first of its kind."