Cristina Rae (age 30), a body sculptor and singer from Nashville, Tennessee, performed “In The Air Tonight” by Phil Collins during the Auditions round on America’s Got Talent 2020 (Season 15). Upon Simon Cowell’s request, Cristina sang her second song, “Gimme Shelter” by the The Rolling Stones.
At the opening chat with the judges, Cristina said she is a single mother, who was once homeless and lived in a vehicle when she was pregnant. She joined AGT because she wants to have her own home, where her 2-year-old son named Jeremiah, can have his own room.
Both renditions by Cristina received thunderous applause from the audience. With her second song, Cristina showed incredible power and range. Her stunning audition earned a standing ovation from the audience and the judges, who all continuously applauded for around half a minute after her “encore”.
Cristina Rae ultimately received the Golden Buzzer from judge Heidi Klum, sending her straight to the live shows.
Season: AGT 2020 (Season 15)
Contestant: Cristina Rae
Age: 30
Act: Singer
Song: “In The Air Tonight” by Phil Collins and “Gimme Shelter” by The Rolling Stones
Audition Result: Heidi Klum’s Golden Buzzer, advanced to Live Shows
Prior to joining America’s Got Talent, Cristina Rae won the Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater in New York City in February, 2020.
According to her bio on Bloc NYC, Cristina trained at Salama Urban Ministries as a classical singer, actress, and dancer from the age of 7 until 23 years old and attended the Blair School of Music. At the Nashville School of the Arts, she studied classical music and African dance. She went on to major in Dramatics, Speech and Dance at the Fisk University. For a while, she studied Biology at Tennessee State University when she was told she may never sing again due to needing a tonsillectomy. If she couldn’t sing anymore, she wanted to study why that was the case.
Cristina’s first big job was singing background for country music artist, Trace Adkins, at the CMA Fest. She has subsequently appeared in Off Broadway productions like Queen of Hearts and Nutcracker Rouge by Company XIV in New York.
Judges’ Comments:
Sofia Vergara said it was fantastic and said she and Heidi were getting goosebumps as Cristina performed onstage. “I know it’s not yet the time to vote but I am gonna vote now, YES,” an excited Sofia said.
Howie Mandel commented, “You know, we handed you this house and you know what you did to this brand-new house, you blew the roof off this.”
Simon Cowell said there’s only one way to describe Cristina’s voice – “it is insanely good.” Simon continued, “There is absolutely no point making shows like this unless we find people like you.”
Heidi Klum commented, “I think you are absolutely out of this world. My heart is racing for you right now, it really is.” She then asked Cristina, “Are you ready for this right now?” Cristina replied she is and Heidi repeated the question as she pointed at the Golden Buzzer. Right then, Cristina started crying. As Heidi excitedly slammed the Golden Buzzer, Cristina broke down in tears, falling to her knees on stage. Klum gave her a hug and so did the other judges.
America’s Got Talent (AGT) Season 15 premiered in the United States on May 26, 2020, on NBC. For this season, AGT judges are Simon Cowell, Howie Mandel, returning Heidi Klum, and newcomer Sofia Vergara.
This season is most notable for its production being affected by the COVID-19 or coronavirus pandemic in 2020, which impacted audition sessions. The program initially moved to filming without an audience present at auditions, before ultimately suspending production. Auditions were later allowed to continue, but via online applications from those quarantined in their homes.
The production staff decided to push through with the broadcast as planned and premiere on May 26. Debate continues on how many episodes would be broadcast with the amount of material that had been recorded.
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