'The Four: Battle For Stardom' is back ... and so is Rebecca Black

It's Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday.

It was the song nobody could get out of their heads whether they liked it or not, Rebecca Black's "Friday." Now, seven years later, the YouTube star made a music comeback on FOX's The Four: Battle For Stardom.

FOX's newest singing competition show The Four: Battle For Stardom debuted season two on Thursday, June 7, and there was definitely a Throwback Thursday vibe happening. If you were a tween or teen back in 2011, chances are you were singing the chorus to this song once the school bell rang at 3:00 p.m.

 

Yes, it's YouTube sensation Rebecca Black's song "Friday." Seven years ago, the thirteen-year-old singer went viral with her catchy, playful tune, the video for which currently has over 120 million views on her channel.

Those familiar with the song might have said once or twice in the last seven years, whatever happened to Rebecca Black?

Well, she's now twenty years old and ready to take on the next adventure in her music career, The Four. This past January, FOX, the network that was home to American Idol for 15 seasons, introduced a singing battle centralized competition show to find music's next big superstar.

The format itself is basically a full season of The X Factor (another former FOX singing competition show) auditions meets The Voice Knockout rounds. A challenger emerges to sing for the panel, which includes "All About That Bass" singer Meghan Trainor, Snapchat king DJ Khaled, and the man of many names, Sean "Diddy" Combs. Then, the panel votes on whether the singer's performance was good enough to challenger a member of The Four, which consist of four additional singers hoping to win a recording contract with Republic Records.

If the challenger gets three blue rings, symbolizing three yeses, then they get to pick one of the available Four members to battle against. Both perform a song, and the winner is chosen by the studio audience. If the challenger is successful, they replace the member of The Four they beat and take over their seat. If unsuccessful, The Four member keeps their seat. On the season finale, whoever makes up The Four at that point will battle each other to win the grand prize.

Rebecca Black came to The Four as a way to seek some personal redemption. As she explained in her opening package, even though "Friday" was an instant fame booster, it came at a price.

Many people didn't like the song or her singing and the young star faced a lot of cyberbullying because of it. There was an internet debate on whether "Friday" was the worst song ever, she was called hurtful things based on her physical appearance and Rebecca Black even received death threats. However, Black said she had "never felt more ready for something, ever," and when she took the stage, she looked poised, confident, and as she mentioned, "ready."

 

Black was instantly recognized by judge Meghan Trainor, who was "fan-girling so hard." Sean "Diddy" Combs and DJ Khaled, on the other hand, seemed like they had no idea who Rebecca Black was and had never heard of the song "Friday."

For the judges, Black performed a slow rendition of the *NSYNC classic "Bye Bye Bye." Trainer, Combs and DJ Khaled were impressed by her singing chops, Trainor even saying it was a perfect song choice because Black was telling the haters "bye bye bye." However, for dramatics, "Diddy" said that he wasn't sure if he could put her through to challenge a member of The Four.

Once judgment came through, Rebecca found herself in the middle of three blue rings, meaning she had the opportunity to battle for a seat. Her choices at the time were British soulful singer and former boy band member James Graham and rapper Sharaya J. Black's decision was based on her wanting to create an all-female Four, so she chose to battle James Graham.

The twenty-one-year-old was first to perform and decided to put his spin on the Donny Hathaway hit "A Song For You." His falsetto riffs and his smooth tone earned Graham a standing ovation from the judges and a huge roar from the crowd.

It was then Rebecca Black's time to shine. Her selection was the Natalie Imbruglia hit song "Torn." Although she didn't receive a standing ovation, her performance was vocally stellar and did earn her a loud round of applause from the judges and the audience.

After some feedback from the judges, who praised both Graham's and Black's performances, the audience voted on whether James would keep his seat or if Rebecca would dethrone him.

 

In the end, the vote was locked in, and James Graham, an original member of the season two Four, earned the right to keep his seat.

However, even though Rebecca didn't win the battle, she did win the war and proved all her haters wrong. As Rebecca left, she thanked the judges for giving her a second chance.

 

 

So, whatever happened to Rebecca Black? Well, she's still singing and chasing the dream she's had since her childhood.

Brad Fact: Rebecca Black actually has two additional connections with reality competition shows. First, she performed a mash-up of "Friday" and her new song at the time, "My Moment," during the YouTube week results show on America's Got Talent in 2011. Second, she was featured in the music video of Katy Perry's hit song "Last Friday Night," and Katy Perry is now a judge on ABC's revival of American Idol.

 

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