Montco singer an unlikely finalist on 'America's Got Talent'

Dylan Andre hasn't spent his whole life yearning for stardom.

He started singing and playing guitar at 18 - spring of last year. And forget about reading music or any formal training.

"Even to this day, some of the chords I'm playing I have no idea," said the 19-year-old Perkiomen Valley High grad, who lives in Zieglersville.

Yet he's one of the 48 finalists on TV's top-rated summer show, America's Got Talent, which begins its Hollywood showdowns - and cut-downs - at 9 Tuesday night on NBC10.

The winner gets $1 million and a headline show in Las Vegas.

Andre, who will have to wait until next Tuesday to perform, is also the only contestant from Philadelphia or its suburbs - though magician Scott Alexander, a married father of three, hails from Lancaster.

The other 46 acts include dancers, acrobats, animals, a "shallow-water diver," a yo-yo trickster, a male pole dancer, a juggler, bicycle and motorcycle teams, and, of course, more singers and magicians.

Thousands of wannabes, pretenders, and clowns - literally and figuratively - were scrutinized before being cut loose by judges Piers Morgan, Sharon Osbourne, and Howie Mandell. Some performers stumble through tryouts, but in a way Andre stumbled into his.

His mother, Deborah Andre, gave him an electric guitar when he was a high school sophomore. After learning perhaps three chords, he quit. "I thought it was like the dumbest thing in the world," he said.

Then, last April, he came across his mother's cherished 12-string guitar in the attic and, after removing six strings, began teaching himself to play.

When he broke the news to her, he said, "She had murder in her eyes."

But he insisted she listen. He even tried to sing. "And she bawled her eyes out like a baby," he said.

A woman who names her son after Bob Dylan is entitled to a few dreams.

As a teenager, she'd been offered a recording contract but her father refused to let her sign, afraid the music business would corrupt her.

Before the month was over, Andre gave his act a shot with friends and teammates. "They all didn't make fun of me," he said. So he figured he didn't stink.

He played a lot of open-mike nights, and then - why not? - tried out in the America's Got Talent auditions in New York.

After passing the initial screeners, he performed "Hallelujah" for the judges, impressing even sourpuss Morgan, who said, "In terms of raw talent, the way you play, the way you perform, you've got it all. I'm going to say yes."

Andre was one of 100 or so acts invited to perform in Las Vegas, then wound up competing in the "standby" auditions for the last 17 spots. He got the green light for Hollywood after singing Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Simple Man."

Now his mother's dream lives on.

"If I can do this for a living, and help my family out at the same time," he said, "there's no reason to be nervous, there's no reason to want to stop."

Check out video of his auditions at http://go.philly.com/andre.