An East Tennessee singer is moving on to the America's Got Talent finals after wowing judges Tuesday night in the semifinals.
There were less tears than his quarter-finals performance, but Ketterer still managed to move the audience and judges with an uplifting and flawless performance of the Miley Cyrus hit song 'When I Look at You."
The judges gave Ketterer a standing ovation after the performance, and Simon Cowell made an interesting remark after saying he thought the Chattanooga-born singer was an 'extraordinary human being.'
"I'm going to send a shout-out to somebody right now, and that person is Garth Brooks. Garth, if you're watching the show, please write Michael a song for the final... if he makes it into the final," Cowell said.
Cowell said he thinks the two would have a connection and hopes to hear Ketterer's voice in the finals on Sept. 18.
And what a voice! Ketterer is a Chattanooga native and lived in Knoxville for some time, but has since moved to California.
On Aug. 28, there wasn't a dry eye in the crowd when Ketterer performed a touching rendition of James Bay's song "Us," including Cowell.
In June, he touched the judges with his family's story. He told them he became a foster parent because when children are just surviving, they can't be dreaming.
It's not the first time the Ketterers have been on Channel 10.
In 2012, we shared their story of how their family grew from three to eight. Michael and his wife Ivey had one daughter, Sofia. She said she begged and pleaded for her parents to have another child so they decided to adopt through ChildHelp after watching friends find success.
Jared, Jaiden, and Jeriah joined the family after police found them running through the woods. They had been living in an abandoned trailer with no electricity or water. There were also meth labs inside their home.
They then got a call about Rodrigo, a shaken baby, blind with a feeding tube. Since Michael is a registered nurse, he decided he could help Rodrigo heal -- a recovery now considered a medical miracle.
Then, 11 months later, another addition... Shawn. He came to live with them as a foster child. And now, the family of 8 is living in Orange County.