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'American Idol': Season 4 finalist Nadia Turner returns for daughter's shocking audition
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For some “American Idol” contestants, talent runs in the family.
Such is the case of Zaréh, 21, whose mother Nadia Turner finished in the Top 8 on Season 4 of the hit reality singing competition back in 2005.
Auditioning for “Idol” on Sunday’s episode, Zaréh, a stylist, said she was 4 during her mother’s “Idol” heyday.
Before her audition, Zaréh gave Turner the mother of all surprises – by tricking her into thinking they were on their way to a mother-daughter spa day.
“She does not know I am auditioning for ‘American Idol,’ ” Zaréh said. “She’s either going to be super disappointed or super thrilled.”
To keep the surprise under wraps, Zaréh had her mother wear a blindfold on the drive (because that’s obviously not suspicious at all) and shocked her when host Ryan Seacrest ushered them out of the car.
“This… is ‘American Idol!’ ” Seacrest delivered in his signature cadence, to a blindfolded Turner’s expletive-filled shock.
“Where did you think you were going?” the host asked. Turner replied: “The damn spa!”
And to bring things even more full circle, Zaréh wore the same yellow top her mother wore during her “Idol” audition for then-judges Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell.
Now singing for Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie, the stylist jumped into Jazmine Sullivan’s “Bust Your Windows,” while her mother quietly cried tears of joy in the corner.
“For the first time on ‘American Idol,’ the handkerchief goes to your mother,” Richie said after the performance, noting how the Zaréh groovy vocals made her mom cry and dance at the same time. “There’s a word called pride. Mom was blowing up over there.”
“Well this is the best mother-daughter day ever!” Perry quipped.
‘American Idol’: Luke Bryan wants to ‘ugly cry’ after autistic singer’s inspiring audition
Like the other judges, Bryan was impressed, but encouraged Zaréh to push herself. “When you start getting to the top levels of your range, gritty it up a little bit, dig in,” he said.
Zaréh earned three yes’s and was sent through to Hollywood.
“It’s such a wonderful, heartfelt story on our 20th season here at ‘American Idol’ to have this come full circle,” Richie said.
Sam Moss’s ‘Idol’ dreams were almost dashed
Who says “American Idol” isn’t a place of second chances?
Though contestant Sam Moss only earned a yes from Perry during her first audition in Austin, Texas, the judge believed in her so much Perry brought Moss back a month later to audition again in Nashville to prove Bryan and Richie wrong.
The 25-year-old piano teacher from Winterset, Iowa called the second chance to audition her “redemption story.”
“I’m back because I told myself that if I went in and showed who I was, no matter what happened, that I was OK,” she said. “And I didn’t show who I was. And so that’s what I’m here to do today.”
Moss said at her first audition her nerves got the best of her.
“I knew that it wasn’t my best,” she said. “I walked away feeling pretty disappointed with myself.”
‘American Idol’: Formerly homeless singer blows Katy Perry away with judge’s own song
But this time Moss was determined to lay it all on the audition room with a heart-wrenching original song. As soon as she finished, it was clear Perry would have “I told you so” rights over Richie and Bryan for a long, long time.
“Whatever I said in Austin I take back,” Bryan said. “It’s a yes for me.”
Perry said that Moss delivered “one of the best originals we heard all season.” So why didn’t she sing it in her first audition?
“I was trying to be what I thought you wanted me to be,” Moss confessed, to the exasperation of the judges.
“You are a great songwriter,” Perry told her. “Start believing in yourself because I believe in you.”
With three yes’s, Moss will be going to Hollywood.
Douglas Mills Jr. silences haters with soaring Billie Holiday song
Another standout audition came from Douglas Mills Jr., an 18-year-old high school student who opened up about the bullying he’s endured on his journey to “American Idol.”
“I have always wanted to audition for ‘American Idol,’ but I have never really left the state or been on an airplane,” he said. “Music is my life, my safe space from doubters and haters and people who just don’t like me in general.”
Mills, who is Black, said that when he was younger he was bullied for his race.
“It was very painful,” he said. “And still today it’s hard for me to love myself, but music has helped me out.”
Mills decided to sing Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit,” which he picked “especially for the Black community.”
“Music can heal,” he added. “It helps you love yourself for who you are.”
‘American Idol’: Katy Perry storms off during Aretha Franklin’s granddaughter’s audition
The performance was “superb,” Richie said.
When Perry asked why Mills had never auditioned for the show before, he said people told him he wasn’t good enough.
“Oh those people can go to ‘h,’ ‘e,’ double hockey sticks,” Perry said. “You’re a super star. You transcend time and space. You froze the room. That was iconic.”
Bryan said he was “speechless.”
“You just took us on a journey,” he said. “You controlled every second of that. I don’t know. I’m speechless about it.”
Mills made it through to Hollywood and earned a group hug from all three judges.
Other singers who earned golden tickets to Hollywood include 21-year-old security officer Fritz Hager, 24-year-old land surveyor Dan Marshall Griffith and 23-year-old temp agency worker Haley Slaton, who auditioned while over 5 months pregnant.
“American Idol” returns tomorrow at 8 pm ET.
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Travel
Razzies royally torch 'Diana' musical and 'Space Jam 2,' show love to Oscar favorite Will Smith
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In its proclamation of the worst films of 2021, the Razzies lambasted a critically reviled Princess Diana musical and LeBron James’ “Space Jam” sequel, but spread love instead of hate for Will Smith.
The Golden Raspberry Awards, annually announced the day before the Academy Awards, bestowed five dishonors on Netflix’s “Diana: The Musical,” a filmed production of the recent Broadway show that closed after 33 performances. “Diana” beat out “Infinite,” “Karen,” “Space Jam: A New Legacy” and “The Woman in the Window” for worst picture, plus picked up worst screenplay and worst actress for star Jeanna de Waal.
“New Legacy,” the live-action/animated hybrid basketball comedy featuring James hooping it up with Bugs Bunny and Co., earned three Razzie awards. James was named worst actor and also was saddled with worst screen couple – which went to James and “Any Warner Cartoon Character (or WarnerMedia Product) He Dribbles On” – while the movie snagged worst sequel.
How to watch the 2022 Oscars:Everything you should know about Sunday’s Academy Awards
“House of Gucci” star Jared Leto lost his Screen Actors Guild race for best supporting actor but nabbed the Razzie for worst. And Bruce Willis does so many VOD movies now that he received his own special category (worst performance by Bruce Willis in a 2021 movie) that, to no one’s surprise, he won – for “Cosmic Sin.”
Smith, who’s expected to win the best actor Oscar Sunday for “King Richard,” received this year’s Razzie Redeemer Award for previous Razzie honorees who’ve come back with quality efforts. Recent winners include Ben Affleck, Sylvester Stallone, Melissa McCarthy and Eddie Murphy.
The full list of this year’s Razzie “winners”:
Worst picture: “Diana: The Musical”
Worst actor: LeBron James, “Space Jam: A New Legacy”
Worst actress: Jeanna de Waal, “Diana: The Musical”
Worst supporting actress: Judy Kaye, “Diana: The Musical”
Worst supporting actor: Jared Leto, “House of Gucci”
Worst performance by Bruce Willis in a 2021 movie: Bruce Willis, “Cosmic Sin”
Worst screen couple: LeBron James and Any Warner Cartoon Character
(or WarnerMedia Product) He Dribbles On, “Space Jam: A New Legacy”
Worst remake, rip-off or sequel: “Space Jam: A New Legacy”
Worst director: Christopher Ashley, “Diana: The Musical”
Worst screenplay: “Diana: The Musical”
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Business
As more marijuana dispensaries get targeted by robbers, SAFE Banking Act lingers in Congress
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A bill that could allow electronic transactions at weed dispensaries nationwide is again make its way through Congress but the SAFE Banking Act might not be the cure-all that supporters envision.
In over a decade of operating cannabis shops in Washington, Shea Hynes never once worried about his stores getting robbed at gun point – until recently: In a span of three weeks, his stores were robbed three different times at gun point.
Reports of armed robberies at cannabis dispensaries like Hynes’ have nearly doubled in the first quarter of this year compared with all of last year, according to data maintained by the Craft Cannabis Coalition. The group, which represents more than 50 stores in Washington, has recorded more than 65 armed robberies so far this year, compared with 35 in 2021 and 29 in 2020.
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CHICAGO — In a ridiculous coincidence, the Saint Peter’s Peacocks wrote NCAA Tournament history on National Peacock Day with a thrilling upset of Purdue.
The mid-major became the first-ever No. 15 seed to reach the Elite Eight, outdoing previous No. 15 seeds Oral Roberts (2021) and Florida Gulf Coast (2013). Exactly 0.8% of people picked the Peacocks to get this far, with the school from Jersey City, New Jersey, defying all odds. Is Saint Peter’s the best Cinderella of all time?
Meanwhile, the ACC is sitting pretty with three teams – Duke and now North Carolina and Miami (Fla.) – in the Elite Eight on the same day the Big Ten saw its last team go down.
A look at three key takeaways from Friday:
Saint Peter’s writes NCAA history
Coach Shaheen Holloway has this team playing inspired basketball, and now the Peacocks (22-11) are just one win from the Final Four. The best Cinderellas of the last two decades to reach Final Fours – George Mason in 2006, VCU in 2011, Loyola-Chicago (2018) all were double-digit seeded mid-majors. But none was as highly seeded as this Saint Peter’s team that’s now beaten No. 2 seed Kentucky, No. 7 Murray State and No. 3 Purdue.
WINNERS, LOSERS:Poised Saint Peter’s keeps the dream alive; bye-bye, Big Ten; hello, ACC
OPINION:Saint Peter’s embodies wackiness and uncertainty of this NCAA Tournament
ANALYSIS:Purdue’s loss leaves Big Ten shut out of Elite Eight. We could see this coming.
MORE:Legendary Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson: Coach K’s farewell tour ends Saturday
OPINION:Houston is leaving Phi Slama Jama in the 1980s for good
While other bracket-busting NCAA Tournament darlings of yesteryear have had flair (FGCU’s “Dunk City”) or a lovable fan (Loyola’s Sister Jean), this team from the MAAC is doing it with defense, namely with nine steals. In spite of being undersized against the Boilermakers, the Peacocks used aggressiveness and hustle to outduel their seemingly superior opponent behind 6-8 freshman Clarence Rubert and 6-7 junior Hassan Drame. Daryl Banks III (14 points) is the go-to scorer for Saint Peter’s, but Mr. Clutch has been guard Doug Edert (10 points) off the bench. One stat to note: a 19-for-21 clip from the free-throw line. What’s been most impressive is the Peacocks’ ability to stay hungry and poised under pressure, winning close games in all three NCAA Tournament matchups.
Blue-bloods show title potential
Duke and Villanova advanced on Thursday, and fellow blue-bloods Kansas and North Carolina will now join them in the Elite Eight. And yes, if both the Blue Devils and Tar Heels win Sunday, we could see them meet in the Final Four.
Ever since North Carolina embarrassed Duke in coach Mike Krzyzewski’s final home game at Cameron Indoor Stadium, the Heels have been red-hot – knocking out No. 1 Baylor in the previous game in overtime. That continued against a UCLA team that reached the Final Four last year and seemed destined to get back. Caleb Love was brilliant again, finishing with 30 points off six three-pointers. Armando Bacot’s tip-in with 22 seconds left sealed the win in another impressive outing for coach Hubert Davis’ resilient team.
The last remaining No. 1 in the NCAA Tournament, Kansas stayed alive, escaping Providence by five points. It’s coach Bill Self’s ninth trip to the Elite Eight with Kansas and 11th of his career, as the Jayhawks (31-6) are one win from the Final Four. They’ve now won eight in a row and are looking like a title contender after entering the NCAA Tourney having won the Big 12 tournament.
The secret weapon for Kansas has been guard Remy Martin. For the third consecutive tournament game, Kansas got a jolt off the bench from the fiery Martin (23 points), the Arizona State transfer who has erupted in these NCAAs after playing a reserve role throughout 2021-22.
ACC > Big Ten
Despite garnering nine NCAA Tournament bids on Selection Sunday – the most of any conference – the Big Ten is out following Purdue’s stunning exit vs. Saint Peter’s. The league tanked in the first two rounds, with No. 5 Iowa – the conference tourney champ – getting upset by Richmond in the first round. No. 3 Wisconsin, No. 4 Illinois, No. 7 Michigan State and No. 7 Ohio State all lost in the second round. And now, with Michigan’s loss to Villanova, the overall underachievement is on full display. That’s a 9-9 finish in the tournament.
No Big Ten team has cut down the nets since 2000 (the Spartans), and it’s a depressing outlook for the league that posted the second-best NET score in 2021-22 and showcased several teams with Final Four potential.
The ACC, which finished with the sixth-worst NET score as a league, has Duke, North Carolina and Miami all in the Elite Eight. That’s after the Tar Heels, Hurricanes and Notre Dame were all bubble teams in early March. The NCAA Tournament is about matchups and pathways. No matter how well the Big Ten did in the regular season, much like the Pac-12’s surprising finish last year, the ACC is well-positioned with three teams still alive and two of them title contenders.
Follow college basketball reporter Scott Gleeson on Twitter @ScottMGleeson.
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