Alice Tan Ridley

Last updated

Alice Tan Ridley
Alice Tan Ridley Performing In Times Square (cropped).jpg
Ridley performing in the Times Square Subway station
Background information
Born (1952-12-21) December 21, 1952 (age 71)
Georgia, U.S.
Genres Gospel, R&B
Occupation(s)Singer
Years active2009–present

Alice Tan Ridley (born December 21, 1952) is an American gospel and R&B singer and the mother of actress Gabourey Sidibe. Ridley advanced to the semi-finals of the NBC television series America's Got Talent , after previously winning $25,000 in the pilot episode of 30 Seconds to Fame . [1] Ridley released her debut album Never Lost My Way at the age of 63 in September 2016. [2]

Contents

Early life

Ridley was born in Georgia. [3] She is the mother of Ahmed and Gabourey Sidibe. For about 30 years, Ridley has been singing and busking in New York City subway stations, mainly at Herald Square in Midtown Manhattan. She was a paid singer at Harlem’s Cotton Club for many years, performing for “Brunch and Gospel”. For the past six years,[ when? ] Ridley tours with a 7-piece band doing shows at performing arts centers across America. Her daughter Gabourey Sidibe starred in the 2009 hit film Precious and garnered critical acclaim.

On October 6, 2012, Ridley performed, for the first time in her life, with a 65-piece symphony orchestra at Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio. [4]

America's Got Talent

Overview

Ridley auditioned in New York for the fifth season of America's Got Talent. [5] She auditioned with Etta James' hit song "At Last". She was praised by all three judges and advanced to Vegas Week. There, she was selected to move on to the Top 48, alongside fellow singer Debra Romer. On July 20, Ridley performed "Midnight Train to Georgia" by Gladys Knight. She received a standing ovation from the crowd and the judges, and was praised for her performance. She advanced to the semi-finals with AscenDance, Michael Grimm, and Antonio Restivo.[ citation needed ] Her semi-final performance of "I Have Nothing" was the first performance of the twelve of the night, with Piers Morgan calling it a great beginning for the show. [6] When placed against Studio One Young Beast Society in the final moments of the results show the next night, both Piers Morgan and Sharon Osbourne opted for Studio One, and ended Ridley's time on America's Got Talent.

Performances and results

WeekThemeSong choiceOriginal artistPerformance orderResult
AuditionNew York"At Last" Etta James N/ASafe
Vegas WeekFemale Singers"Proud Mary" Creedence Clearwater Revival 2Safe
Top 48Quarterfinals"Midnight Train to Georgia" Gladys Knight 2Safe
Top 24Semifinals"I Have Nothing" Whitney Houston 1Eliminated
Judges' Choice

Related Research Articles

America's Got Talent is a televised American talent show competition, and is part of the global Got Talent franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle USA and Syco Entertainment, and broadcasts on the NBC television network. It premiered on June 21, 2006, after plans for a British edition in 2005 were suspended, following a dispute within the British broadcaster ITV. Production would later resume in 2007, following the success of the first season. Each season is mainly run during the network's summer schedule, and has featured various hosts over the course of the program's history. The current host is Terry Crews.

The first season of the American talent show competition series America's Got Talent was broadcast on NBC from June 21 to August 17, 2006. The season went into production a year earlier than planned by Got Talent creator Simon Cowell. Cowell intended for Britain's Got Talent to debut before AGT in 2006. However, production was suspended due to internal conflicts within its British television network. David Hasselhoff, Brandy Norwood and Piers Morgan were the show's first judges, with Regis Philbin as host. This season originally had an early format for live round judging and Wildcard acts, which would be changed after the season's conclusion.

The second season of American talent show competition series America's Got Talent was broadcast on NBC from June 5 to August 21, 2007. The network originally intended for it to run during its winter schedule that year, but opted against it following concerns over it clashing with other popular programs at that time. After the success of its first year, additional episodes of the series were commissioned by NBC, with changes being made to the program's format for the new season. These included the addition of a "boot camp" stage during the auditions, and the use of the judge's buzzers matching other editions of the Got Talent franchise, particularly after the first season of Britain's Got Talent.

<i>Britains Got Talent</i> Televised British talent competition

Britain's Got Talent is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global Got Talent franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, it is produced by both Thames and Syco Entertainment, distributed by Fremantle, and broadcast on ITV every year in late Spring to early Summer. The show was originally intended for production in 2005, but filming was suspended in the wake of a dispute between ITV and the programme's originally planned host. Following the success of America's Got Talent that year, production resumed and the programme eventually premiered on 9 June 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Music Under New York</span> Music program in New York Citys transit system

Music Under New York (MUNY) is a part of the Arts & Design program by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) that schedules musical performances in transportation hubs across its rapid transit, ferry, and commuter rail systems.

<i>Britains Got Talent</i> (series 1) Season of television series

The first series of British talent competition programme Britain's Got Talent was broadcast on ITV, from 9 to 17 June 2007; it was commissioned following the success of the first season of America's Got Talent, helping to revive production of the British edition after initial development was suspended in 2005. Simon Cowell, the programme's creator, formed the judging panel with both Piers Morgan and Amanda Holden, with Ant & Dec operating as the programme's hosts. Alongside the main programme, the first series was accompanied by a spin-off sister programme on ITV2, titled Britain's Got More Talent, hosted by Stephen Mulhern.

<i>Britains Got Talent</i> (series 2) Season of television series

The second series of British talent competition programme Britain's Got Talent was broadcast on ITV, from 12 April to 31 May 2008. Following the success of its first series, ITV commissioned the programme for additional episodes, with more venues used for auditions than in the previous series, and the number of semi-finalists, semi-final rounds, and finalists increased by production staff. Both the judges from the first series – Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan – and Ant & Dec returned to co-host the second series, along with Stephen Mulhern returning to front the second series of Britain's Got More Talent on ITV2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gabourey Sidibe</span> American actress

Gabourey “Gabby” Sidibe is an American actress. She made her acting debut in the 2009 film Precious, a role that earned her the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead, in addition to nominations for the Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Actress. Her other film roles include Tower Heist (2011), White Bird in a Blizzard (2014), Grimsby (2016), and Antebellum (2020).

<i>Britains Got Talent</i> (series 3) Season of television series

The third series of British talent competition programme Britain's Got Talent was broadcast on ITV, from 11 April to 30 May 2009. The judging panel of Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan returned from the previous series; a fourth judge, Kelly Brook, was added, but removed from the series shortly after filming began.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin Skinner</span> American singer-songwriter

Patrick Kevin Skinner is an American country music singer from the Jackson Purchase region of Kentucky. He is the winner of the fourth season of America's Got Talent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Grimm (musician)</span> American singer-songwriter

Michael Joseph Grimm is an American singer-songwriter and winner of the fifth season of America's Got Talent.

Bessie Cursons is an English actress from Portsmouth, Hampshire. She reached the final of the first series of the ITV talent show Britain's Got Talent in 2007. Cursons starred in the children's comedy-drama, My Phone Genie.

The fifth season of American talent show competition series America's Got Talent was broadcast on NBC from June 1 to September 15, 2010. For this season, production staff introduced two new quarter-finals: one for Wildcards selected from the participants eliminated during auditions or their respective quarter-final, and one for acts that auditioned via YouTube, following changes in the online application process. Following the conclusion of the fourth season, David Hasselhoff left the program, and was replaced by Howie Mandel.

The fifth series of British talent competition programme Britain's Got Talent was broadcast on ITV, from 16 April to 4 June 2011; due to live coverage of the 2011 UEFA Champions League Final on 28 May, the final audition episode of the series was pushed back a day to avoid clashing with it. As Piers Morgan had departed from the programme the previous year, and the schedule of Simon Cowell made him unable to attend auditions, the producers arranged for Amanda Holden to be joined by David Hasselhoff and Michael McIntyre on the judging panel. Due to Hasselhoff's schedule during filming of the auditions, Louis Walsh stepped in as a guest judge for the sessions he could not attend.

The seventh season of American talent show competition series America's Got Talent was broadcast on NBC from May 14 to September 13, 2012. Following the previous season, Piers Morgan left the program due to other commitments, and was replaced by the producers with Howard Stern. However, this change involved moving the venue for the live rounds of the competition from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey, which increased the size of the audience that attended each live episode. Along with a visual makeover of the program to improve its presentation on television, a planned break was included with the broadcast schedule between July 24 and August 14, to avoid clashing with the network's live coverage of the 2012 Summer Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna Graceman</span> American musician

Anna Graceman is an American singer, songwriter and recording artist whose self-penned songs and music have garnered national recognition. She has been featured on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, America's Got Talent, and CBS News.

Nigeria's Got Talent is a Nigerian reality talent show that is part of the Got Talent franchise. It was launched in 2012 on television stations like AIT and NTA, and sponsored by thriving telecommunication company Airtel.

<i>Americas Got Talent</i> (season 10) Season of television series

The tenth season of American talent show competition series America's Got Talent was broadcast on NBC from May 26 to September 16, 2015. After the previous season, the format of the second round of auditions was changed to a more competitive stage under the title "Judge Cuts", with each episode under this new arrangement featuring a guest judge. For the first use of the format, the guest judges included Neil Patrick Harris, Michael Bublé, Marlon Wayans, and Piers Morgan.

<i>Britains Got Talent</i> (series 10) Season of television series

The tenth series of the British talent competition programme Britain's Got Talent was broadcast on ITV, from 9 April to 28 May 2016. To celebrate ten series of the show, the final featured a special performance entitled "Best of Britain’s Got Talent", which featured several participants who had appeared on the show during the previous nine series, including Ashleigh and Pudsey, Attraction, Diversity, Jon Clegg, Stavros Flatley, Collabro and Spelbound. It was the last series to have its live episodes broadcast at The Fountain Studios before the site's closure that year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laura Bretan</span> Romanian-American soprano singer

Laura Bretan is a Romanian-American soprano. She was the winner of season six of the Pro TV series Romania's Got Talent, and later placed sixth in season eleven of America's Got Talent, both in 2016.

References

  1. "30 Seconds to Fame Season 1 Episode Guide". TV.com . Archived from the original on September 6, 2011.
  2. "After Years Underground, a Subway Singer Gets the Spotlight" by Susan Hartman, The New York Times , September 16, 2016
  3. "The Story | Alice Tan Ridley". Archived from the original on January 15, 2014. Retrieved January 14, 2014.
  4. "ONU presents Alice Tan Ridley". Archived from the original on January 2, 2014. Retrieved June 27, 2013.
  5. Gina DiNunno, "Gabourey Sidibe's Mom Wows America's Got Talent Judges with Singing Skills", TV Guide, June 16, 2010.
  6. "Andrea Reiher, "Jackie Evancho, Fighting Gravity best of weak America's Got Talent semi-final", Zap2It, August 31, 2010". Archived from the original on September 24, 2010. Retrieved September 1, 2010.