Evie Clair will be competing in America's Got Talent's Season 12 finals despite the recent devastating loss of Amos Abplanalp, her father.

ADVERTISEMENT
The 13-year-old aspiring singer, songwriter and pianist has been in mourning for less than two weeks following her dad's September 7 death from cancer, but according to her mother Hillary Mann Abplanalp, the AGT finalist intends to continue with the NBC reality talent competition.

"Evie Clair has made the decision to return and compete in the finals of America's Got Talent after being given the option from [judge Simon Cowell] to come back next season," Hillary wrote Saturday on the family's blog.

The last performance show of America's Got Talent airs Tuesday, September 19 and will feature the Top 10 acts performing, and then a winner will be crowned on September 20.

Last week, Simon had revealed Evie's participation in the finale was uncertain, sharing with Extra, "We reached out to the family and [Evie] and said, 'It's your choice whether you want to come on the show or not.' If she doesn't, she definitely will be welcome to come on next year... I don't know. It's her decision."

Hillary continued in her weekend blog post, "We are happy to be back in LA with the remaining cast, crew and staff who have become like a second family to us this past year. Some big AGT plans are in the works for both Tuesday and Wednesday."

Evie has dedicated all of her vocal performances on the show this season to her father, including her emotional renditions of "Yours" by Ella Henderson and "Arms" by Christina Perri, which was her initial Season 12 audition song.

"You will not want to miss the finale," Hillary added in her post, "so keep your schedules open and start planning parties to make sure your friends see it too."

Evie's father, Amos, died at age 41 at Banner Gateway Medical Center in Arizona surrounded by his wife, their five children and other loved ones, according to AZ Central. Amos attended as many of his daughter's shows as possible before his health failed.

"He lived his last few months seeing his daughter's dreams play out and it was the highlight of his life," Hillary wrote in the blog.

Evie revealed when she first auditioned for America's Got Talent judges Simon, Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum and Melanie "Mel B" Brown that her father was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer one year ago and given a five percent chance to live.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.