Aliana Jester from Florida sang an emotional cover of “Who’s Loving You” by The Jackson 5 during the Auditions round of American Idol 2020 (Season 18).
“Who’s Loving You” is a song written by Smokey Robinson and originally recorded by his group The Miracles in 1960. The Jackson 5, with its lead singer Michael Jackson had their own version in 1969. Michael Jackson was around 10 years old when he recorded the song.
Aliana, who came in with a cute dog trained for emotional support, said that she suffered from depression probably caused by opposing religious beliefs with her mother.
The American Idol judges were stunned by Aliana’s amazing performance, unanimously voted “Yes”, and gave Aliana a Golden Ticket to Hollywood. Katy Perry said Aliana was a gifted singer who could hit all the notes while Luke Bryan described her as a special singer. Lionel Richie called her a star and said she reminded him of a young Whitney Houston.
Aliana’s parents split up when whe was a baby. She recalls growing up with her mother who was into music. Her mother took her to karaokes, singing competitions, and they were like best friends. But when her mother joined a new religion, Aliana didn’t like it because some things didn’t make sense to her. Aliana dated someone who was not religious and when her mom found out, she was grounded and isolated. This led to Aliana’s deep depression and she ended up hurting herself. Aliana reached out to her father, who was in the Army, and he rescued her from her desperate situation.
Aliana said that her support dog named Nova makes it a little bit easier to cope.
Judges Comments:
Katy Perry said that Aliana has an incredible gift. “You could hit all the notes. I just want you to kind of take what you’ve been through, all that sadness, that pain and put it in the words. And I’m glad that you chose life.”
Luke Bryan said, “I truly think that you’re a special, special singer. You know you’ve got to look at what you’ve been through, and now you can go be this bright, bright light and you have it. This is what this job for me is all about, finding people like you.”
Lionel Richie said, “First of all, you’re a star. And number two, you remind me so much of young Whitney.”
“And a beauty,” added Katy Perry.
In the post-audition interview, Aliana said, “This audition definitely gave me a lot more confidence in myself. They made me feel like I can do anything and I’m so happy.”
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