Viral star Rebecca Black returns to spotlight for shot at redemption
Rebecca Black, who was behind the 2011 viral hit and video “Friday” when she was just 13, returned to the spotlight Thursday as a 20-year-old looking for a seat on The Four — and looking to silence her haters.
While Black received all the good things that come when your video passes 100 million views practically overnight, the bad side reached levels of death threats and beyond.
“I felt like there was a 13-year-old little girl stuck, so trapped for so long thinking that no one else would ever be able to look at her differently,” Black told the crowd and judges while holding back tears.
She impressed the judges and clearly sent a message with a slowed-down version of NSync’s “Bye Bye Bye.” That was good enough to earn her the right to challenge for one of the four seats.
Even though Black’s cover of Natalie Imbruglia’s “Torn” wasn’t strong enough to tear a seat from James Graham, two great performances paired with strong backing from the crowd was all the redemption she needed.
After learning she didn’t advance, an emotional Black said, “I never thought I would be able to be here … and it means so much. It means so much.”
The Four airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on Fox. Watch clips and full episodes of The Four for free on Yahoo View.
Check out how season one of The Four dramatically came to an end:
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