Sherman Tan, 51, currently based in Lithuania, left a lasting impression on the panel of three judges on Sept 10, with one of them awarding him a direct ticket to the finals via the golden buzzer.

“I never expected to receive the golden buzzer.

“The whole experience was also funny and surreal because there would have been confetti and a buzzer sound for the golden buzzer, but there was no sound and I wasn’t really sure what was happening.

“I was a bit nervous on stage in case I played the wrong chord,” he said, according to The Star.

Lithuanian singer and actress Inga Jankauskaitė, one of the three judges, gave Tan the golden buzzer, which will see him performing in the final in December.

Tan had previously joined other music competitions in the region and came up as a finalist in a European TV singing competition in 2019.

He currently runs a bar in Vilnius, Lithuania’s capital, and performs there. He said it was easier to be spotted as a musical talent in Lithuania as it is a small country.