Top 5 American Idol finalist Nicolina impressed everyone with her powerhouse vocals throughout her season 20 performances. Nicolina is an 18-year-old university student from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. During her performances, she had a perfect balance of delicate falsetto and powerful belting, paired with incredible production elements. She made history on the show twice during American Idol Disney Night when she became the first contestant from Canada to make it into the Top 7. She also was the first finalist to ever sing a villain's song with her entertaining rendition of Ursula the Sea Witch's signature song, "Poor Unfortunate Souls," from The Little Mermaid.
Nicolina delivered authentic performances and stayed true to herself throughout the American Idol competition. At her audition, she moved the judges Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, and Luke Bryan with her emotional version of "She Used to Be Mine" by Sara Bareilles. They gave her a standing ovation and said that they had finally found what they were looking for. She earned her golden ticket to Hollywood and made it all the way to the Top 5.
Nicolina had many highlights throughout the American Idol competition, including her jaw-dropping performances of "Alone" by Heart and "Blown Away" by Carrie Underwood. Whether she was singing a ballad or rocking out to an energetic pop song, Nicolina wowed the judges and the audience. Now, in an interview with Screen Rant, Nicolina discusses her American Idol journey, from her early days watching the show with her sisters to her incredible performances during the finals.
I'm sure you're busy with the finale right now. How are things going with the rehearsals?
Finale rehearsals are actually going really well. Obviously, it's a lot of work, but it's been really, really fun. For me personally and the returning Top 10, we're having a lot of fun with this because at this point there's no pressure. So this is just a performance for us, and we're living the best lives, and we're loving every moment of it. It's really awesome.
I heard that they're going to be doing a Bruce Springsteen theme. Did you have a song picked for that?
If I had made Top 3, my Bruce Springsteen song would have been "Fire." Which is definitely something that would have been completely different for me because it's more groovy and kind of has like a bluesy-rock feel to it.
Were there any other songs that you never got the chance to perform that you wish you did?
Throughout my run, I pretty much performed songs that I loved, songs that I was comfortable in. I wish I maybe would have done a Celine Dion song throughout the competition at one point. Just a few things like maybe more iconic powerhouse songs, but I feel like, for the most part, I had a lot of fun.
Yes, we could tell. The "Poor Unfortunate Souls" performance was unbelievable, and something we had never seen before on Disney Night. "She Used to Be Mine" was too. Do you have a theater background?
Thank you! Yes! A lot of the music I listen to and have been singing has been theater. Just theater on theater on theater. So to kind of being able to get through this show using that element of my training — it made me feel at home. I felt really, really safe with the music theater songs just because I feel like I knew how to sing those compared to how to perform a pop song or how to perform a classic rock song. I definitely loved doing some theater-y things on the show. Those were the most fun performances for me.
Have you done theater in your life?
Yeah, most of my training comes from music theater. I'm with a program in Toronto called The Institute for the Performing Arts, which goes by TIFTPA for short, and we basically do two shows a year. It's just like a training thing, but every year we do two shows. Usually it's an original show by them and then a book musical. So Grease, Mamma Mia!, Shrek, one of those. We kind of focus on building our skills that way, building our skills in the theater world. So a lot of my training came from that. And then, coming into Idol, I had been fresh out of a show, so I was very much still in my theater element going into the competition.
What show was that?
It was called The Killer Party, and it was a show that was made to be digital and made to be socially distant. So, in a way, it actually prepared me for being on camera because the whole show was filmed kind of like a movie musical would have been. It was very fun.
I had heard in another interview that you were thinking of moving to Los Angeles or New York at some point. Is theater something that you would pursue in the future? I know you probably have a big recording career ahead of you, but somewhere down the line?
At this point, being a singer and recording is definitely on the bucket list, like a dream of mine. But then also Broadway has always been something I've wanted to do. So I definitely think I'm gonna look into those two options just because I feel like I'd thrive in either of those environments. I'm just gonna see where this kind of ride takes me first. I'm gonna go back to Toronto. I'm gonna record some music, write some more, do some shows there, and then see what comes out of that.
Being from Canada, had you ever spent this much time in the United States before your audition?
I had been to New York on a school trip to go see some Broadway shows and do a Broadway workshop. But, other than that, this was pretty much my first time in L.A. and kind of living out here for awhile. I mean, I love it. As soon as I got here, the first thing that I said to the other contestants was, "I feel at home here." I don't know why. But I just feel like this place just matches my vibe and my energy.
That's great that you felt comfortable being away from home.
Yeah. Obviously, it's tough cause it's just me. But, for the most part, even without the family all around, it definitely felt like some sort of home.
I'm sure you've made friends with a lot of the contestants. Who are some of your best friends from the show?
We're all super, super close, so to say best friend would be totally inaccurate because we're all like a little family, but I definitely spent a lot of time with Tristen Gressett, who was here until Top 10. Me and him were like two peas in a pod the whole time. I was also super close with Cadence [Baker], who was here until Top 20. And then more recently, cause obviously we've been spending so much time together, Fritz [Hager], Leah [Marlene], Noah [Thompson], Hunter[Girl], basically the Top 5 were like super, super close.
Was American Idol a big part of your life growing up?
Yeah, I watched American Idol growing up with my two sisters because we obviously always loved music, and I always wanted to be a singer to some capacity. So watching American Idol was very on-brand for us. And then when I got the opportunity to audition, I was like, "Guys, is this happening? Do I do this?" And my sisters were like, "Yeah. Go for it. Do it. We've been watching the show our whole life."
Who are some of your favorite past Idol contestants?
Ooh, there's a lot. Kelly Clarkson for sure. Carrie Underwood. She got to mentor us, and that was so surreal. Tori Kelly. Adam Lambert. Jennifer Hudson, phenomenal. The list kind of just goes on. Katharine McPhee. There's so many, but those are the ones that pop in during that question.
Speaking of Adam, he always brought the drama, and Katy said that you always liked to add those little extra touches like smoke and wind. How did you come up with those ideas?
A lot of the stuff that I got like the smoke, wind, and all the little fire thingies was done by production for me. There's a creative team at Idol that controls a lot of what happens on the stage and the colors that go into the backgrounds and stuff. The first time I got all of the theatrics was for Disney because of Ursula. When they kind of came up to me with those ideas I was like, "You're kidding, right? I get smoke? I get to walk through the wall? What is going on?" And then from that point forward, it kind of became like a little running joke in the cast and crew that they would just call me Ursula for like a week and a half. So I always got the wind machine. I got the smoke. It became like a running thing for me. And I felt like it was fitting to some capacity because I think I'm super dramatic for no reason all the time. So I just thought it was a great little touch.
Your single "Glitter" is amazing. What was it like recording it?
Thank you! Recording it was super fun. I got to work with Mr. Franks who has recorded songs for Ariana Grande and Jennifer Lopez. And he's produced those and very big names in the music industry. So when I found out I got to work with him on this song, I was super excited to just get in there and start making music. And he was a blast to work with. The whole team was so amazing. Just recording that song in particular was super, super cool for me because I don't have a lot of experience in-studio, like in a professional studio. So that was really cool for me.
I read about how you chose "Glitter" after going through a lot of different options. What was it about that song in particular that spoke so much to you?
The song "Glitter" is already a song. Patrick Droney wrote it, recorded it, all the things, and he is so phenomenal. That song in particular I feel like it just speaks to what grief actually is. And I think it's something that a lot of us avoid just as humans, even though it's something we all go through. And I thought it was such a beautiful depiction of grief, the lyrics in the song. And I felt connected to that just because grief means different things for everyone. And we all go through our own type of grief at some point in life. And I just felt really connected to how, yes, grief always sticks around, but if you keep that memory strong, and you keep the love and the good vibes in the world, then that person is never really gone, or that situation if you're grieving over something else. Like there's ways around it. So I always felt like the lyrics in that song are just so beautiful.
What is the one piece of advice that Lionel, Katy, or Luke gave you during the competition that you'll take with you in the future?
Katy had told me, I think it was back in Hawaii, just to keep choosing songs that I connect to and keep choosing songs that I will be able to connect to the audience. And I think I've been able to do that through most, if not all, of my performances. All of the songs I've done, I have a connection to in some way, whether that be a positive connection or a negative connection. But I think that's what helped me get to this point because I was honest with myself and I was honest with the audience in terms of what emotion I was trying to convey. So I think that piece of advice is definitely the one that helped me the most during the competition.
The American Idol finale airs Sunday at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.