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[{"type":"text","text":"Dog gets sad every time his toys go in washing machine..."}]

Smile 26 6 17

<title>Daily Smile: Wednesday, June 17, 2026</title>

Dog gets sad every time his toys go in washing machine...

Daily Smile: Wednesday, June 17, 2026

 Dog gets sad every time his toys go in washing machine...

Katie Helland Headshot

Katie Helland

Arts & Entertainment

Aloha Spirit

Today, U.S. Army Sgt. Isaac Atkins joined his platoon for a watch party for the next episode of Season 21 of “America’s Got Talent,” where Atkins is one of the featured contestants. 

In the episode, Judge Melanie Janine Brown hit 

, sending him straight to the live shows.

Atkins, who is stationed on Oʻahu, is one of several contestants, including Bruno Mars’ nephews — the North Shore-based brothers 

 — competing in the current season of “America’s Got Talent.”

“I’m having a watch party with my soldiers on base,” Atkins told Aloha State Daily 

the day before the show aired on television

. “Obviously, it's just a platoon internal thing, where my soldiers — the soldiers that I'm in charge of — we're gonna ... watch the show and have a good time.”

, when the episode streams on Peacock at 

 New this season is the judges’ callbacks round, where select acts, including Atkins, are asked to perform again, and the final remaining live show spots are on the line.

 but Atkins has not been able to talk much about it prior to airing. While in California, he made sure to visit a food spot, which is not currently in Hawaiʻi.

“I wanted Chipotle," he said. "I got off the plane at LAX, and I took a Lyft to the hotel, but I asked my driver to stop at Chipotle first, so that's the very first thing I did.”

For Atkins, the “America’s Got Talent” stage is the largest of his musical career so far. His previous performances include one in high school, where he had a solo with his choir, he said, but this was different.

“It was crazy because when I was up on the stage, I had the earpieces in, but I could still hear the audience — how loud they were,” he said. “It was super encouraging when I was singing to hear them cheering. It amped me up even more, even though I was still extremely nervous, because who wouldn't be? I’m not an experienced performer. I'm just some guy.”

Atkins grew up influenced by his father’s music, which included classics such as The Temptations, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Smokey Robinson and Motown.

“I grew up on all that music,” he said. “That's really the kind of music that inspired me to sing because it's just classic. It's never going to go out of style, and I still listen to that to this day.”

, where he posts videos of himself singing in the car.

“It was never really my intention to take it to this level,” Atkins said. “But I was doing the car singing thing — and I started getting a lot of traction on TikTok and whatnot and getting the likes and getting comments. That kind of motivated me to take it that step further. And to be able to venture out into doing something this big like ʻAmerica’s Got Talent.’”

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Isaac Atkins

These North Shore brothers will be featured in Season 21 of “America’s Got Talent.” Tune in Tuesday, June 9, to catch their performance.

Nyjah Music and Zyah Rhythm

'America’s Got Talent' has Hawaiʻi contestants

<title>UPDATE: Hawaiʻi contestant gets golden buzzer on ʻAmerica’s Got Talent’</title>

This Army sergeant got his musical break when he recorded himself singing in a car. Now, Oʻahu resident Isaac Atkins is reflecting on the “America’s Got Talent” auditions that recently took him to California.

Daily Smile: Wednesday, June 17, 2026

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Daily Smile: Wednesday, June 17, 2026

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