Think about looking at your television screen and seeing Elvis Presley standing right in front of you. He looks young, smiles his famous crooked smile, and sings his heart out. For three incredible minutes during the America’s Got Talent Season 17 finale in 2022, millions of people thought they were witnessing a miracle.
It looked like the King of Rock and Roll had returned from the dead. But Elvis was not actually there, and he was not a hologram. Instead, the mind-boggling magic trick was powered by an artificial intelligence (AI) company called Metaphysic, a handful of computer screens, and a deep secret: four incredibly talented human beings hidden in plain sight.
Many people think AI can just create art out of thin air, but that is not how this trick worked. Computers still need humans to teach them how to move and feel. The physical body moving on stage belonged to a British man named Emilio Santoro.
Elvis Comes Alive To Sing with Simon Cowell, Sofia Vergara and Heidi Klum on America’s Got Talent!
Emilio is a professional Elvis tribute artist. He wore a flashy gold jacket and spent years practicing how Elvis lowered his chin, curled his lip, and shook his hips. As Emilio performed live under the bright stage lights, a special camera tracked his face. The computer then acted like a super-advanced digital mask, instantly swapping Emilio’s real face with a young, perfect version of Elvis on the giant stadium screens.
The illusion became even wilder when the digital Elvis was joined by three backing singers. On the screens, these singers looked exactly like AGT’s famous judges: Simon Cowell, Heidi Klum, and Sofía Vergara. While the real judges sat frozen at their desks with open mouths, three secret vocalists were singing backstage with digital masks pasted over their faces:
- Daniel Emmet lent his powerful voice to the role of a singing Simon Cowell.
- Makayla Phillips hit the high notes underneath a digital version of Heidi Klum.
- Lorena Peril danced and belted out the tunes as a digital Sofía Vergara.
AGT Metaphysic – Elvis Behind the Faces
Together, this hidden team performed a lively mashup of the famous 1950s rock anthem “Hound Dog” and the 1963 hit “(You’re The) Devil in Disguise.”
This performance became an instant viral sensation because it did not feel cold or robotic. It worked because the computer didn’t invent the emotion—the humans did. When the digital Elvis joked that a “great philosopher” once said, “You ain’t nothing but a hound dog,” the audience laughed because the timing was human.
A technology company named Respeecher helped change the singers’ voices to sound exactly like Elvis’s, but the actual breathing, rhythm, and heart came from real lungs. Metaphysic showed the world that the future of entertainment might not be about replacing human artists. Instead, it is about giving real performers a digital coat of paint, allowing a new generation to feel what it was like to stand in the King’s presence.