Bay Area singers are shining on ‘Idol’
The Bay Area is making a strong impression so far in Season 18 of “American Idol.” During last weekend’s audition episode on ABC, viewers were introduced to Demi Rae, a 26-year-old singer from San Jose who overcame her insecurity and lack of confidence to impress the judges and make it to Hollywood. Rae’s strong voice shined through on a cover of “Mad at You” by Noah Cyrus, and she immediately had judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan singing her praises. “You have such a great voice and it’s not typical,” Perry told Rae, who attended Central High School in Morgan Hill. Rae joins Grace Leer of Danville and Francisco Martin, a student at College of San Mateo, in making it to the Hollywood round. Rae arrived with one of those emotional — and uplifting — back stories that have become a trademark of “Idol.” Inspired by her father, Bryan, who was a dance instructor, she began singing at a tender age. But her dad was often absent in her life — doing time in jail, apparently for transgressions related to substance abuse. “I wanted him to be around,” Rae recalled. “I wanted him to love me.” When Rae was 15, her father “got clean and turned his life around.” But that didn’t mean Rae had a smooth path from there on out. Comparing herself to popular female singers, including Perry, she didn’t see herself matching up in terms of beauty and body size. She constantly felt “really insecure” and anxious because she didn’t possess the conventional looks. Commendably, Perry delivered some words of encouragement. “There’s a million girls watching television and going, ‘Oh my god, I’m just like her.’ And you’re going to be that one,” she said. Bryan promised that the judges would “get behind you and encourage you every step of the way.” And Richie was excited about Rae’s potential. “If this is how you sing scared to death and with no confidence, I can’t imagine what you’re going to be when you realize, ‘Oh my god, I’ve got this,’ ” he said. There was one other charming highlight to Rae’s “Idol” story. She arrived at her audition with a booklet she created at the age of 9 called “The Future.” In it, she wrote about having a career as a singer and “when I get old enough, I will strive for my goal, and I will go on American Idol.” Consider it a mission accomplished.
CORONAVIRUS PROGRAMMING >>
ABC has announced that it is altering its late-night programming to deliver the latest COVID-19 updates from its news department. Under the change, “Nightline” will air in the 11:30 p.m. time slot normally dedicated to “Jimmy Kimmel Live.” Kimmel’s talk show will move to 12:05 p.m. and air reruns for two weeks. Tonight, Lester Holt will anchor “NBC News Special Report: Coronavirus Pandemic” (10 p.m., NBC). The hourlong special, NBC says, will provide “crucial real-time information around what viewers need to know about the coronavirus.” It also will include expert analysis and health advice from NBC’s Coronavirus Crisis Team, including correspondent Dr. John Torres and top virologist and NBC News and MSNBC medical contributor Dr. Joseph Fair. In addition to the broadcast network, the special will air on MSNBC, the streaming service NBC News NOW and Telemundo Digital. Also tonight, PBS plans to air “Confronting Coronavirus: A PBS Newshour Special” at 8 p.m. The program will focus on health precautions for individuals and the public at large, as well as the pandemic’s economic impact in both the United States and globally. Anchored by managing editor Judy Woodruff, it will include interviews with officials, reporting from special correspondents throughout the world and a virtual town hall with curated questions from people across America. The town hall will be moderated by correspondents Amna Nawaz and William Brangham. By now, hoop junkies everywhere are bummed out over the fact that the NCAA Basketball Tournament has been canceled amid coronavirus fears. Their brackets have been busted before some Cinderella team could come out of nowhere and shock the world. So how do you fill all those hours that were intended to be spent ditching work and watching March Madness? Maybe catch up on the best basketball movies ever made? Perhaps binge out on highlights of past tourneys? Maybe while “One Shining Moment” plays in the background on an endless loop? Whatever the plan is, it’s clear that CBS doesn’t intend to ease your pain in any special way — unless you’re really into “Young Sheldon” and/or “MacGyver.” The network has announced it will fill those empty March Madness hours mostly with reruns of sitcoms and crime dramas. That’s what we call throwing up a brick. Oh, but there is that “Hawaii Five-0” series finale on April 3 to look forward to. Book it, Danno. Otherwise, CBS will stick to its normal Thursday-Friday-Saturday lineup over the next few weeks, with mostly encore airings of its shows. There will be no road to the Final Four, but “Young Sheldon” can be your diaper dandy — airing with backto-back episodes tonight and March 26. About the only happy viewers figure to be soap opera lovers. For years, they have thrown embarrassing hissy fits when The Big Dance interrupted their “stories.” Now, “The Young and the Restless” and “The Bold and the Beautiful” will blissfully proceed with original episodes. Oh, but does Eric Braden even have a decent jump shot? We doubt it. Meanwhile, “The Talk” will air original telecasts, but game shows “The Price Is Right” and “Let’s Make a Deal” will air reruns. No thanks. We’d rather go practice cutting down the net on our driveway hoop.