Over the years I’ve written several stories about American Idol, which returned on ABC in March 2018 after a two-year hiatus. Most of the singers grew up in church and in addition to their memorable songs, their stories of perseverance and endurance in face of life’s inevitable trials and tribulations always inspired me.
This year’s crop is exceptional and after missing the first couple of episodes I am now glued to the television screen on Sunday nights.
As it happens, I did not see Sofia Schuster perform. She sang her song “My Body My Choice” for the three judges which she had previously sang at a Planned Parenthood Benefit. It includes such original lyrics as “My body my choice/ It’s not up to the boys/ Nobody should have to go against what’s in their heart/ And no one has the right to tear their dignity apart.”
Etc.
I only heard about her today and could find only a few seconds of her singing. Her voice is fine and, having made the first cut, who knows how far she will go.
But then there is Amber Fiedler, a 23-year-old woman from Idaho, who, when she auditioned a few weeks ago, was 38 weeks pregnant. Katy Perry, one of three judges–Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan are the other two–asked her at the time if she knew the baby’s sex—a girl—and what name she had picked out.
Amber hadn’t. She was placing her for adoption.
“How did you come to that?” Perry asked
“My mom was a user most of my life,” Amber responded. “So my grandma is the one that raised me. The last few years I was going out and drinking a bunch. I was getting caught up in life. With this pregnancy, I’ve learned who I was as a person. I’ve had time to sit and think, and looking at the big picture of life, there’s days where I don’t even have $20 in my pocket. If I’m not ready to be a mom, why would I put her through that, you know?”
The family she had chosen for her baby will be able to “give her everything she wants.”
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“I’m not going to be able to do that,” she said. “I’m hoping that she’s gonna understand I am trying to choose the best for her.”
After the judges gave Amber her “ticket” to Hollywood, Perry said, “Maybe you’re not ready to be a mom, but you are ready to be an American Idol.” Then (thanks here to People magazine)
“Do you hear that, baby?” Fiedler asked her belly, before reuniting with her ecstatic family outside the doors of the audition room.
As Fiedler’s family embraced her, she said, “I fulfilled my dream today by getting a golden ticket. My dream for the baby is that she lives a beautiful and happy life with the life that I have chosen for her, and I know she’s gonna.”
I saw her perform Sunday night at the “Hollywood” stage of American Idol. She had given birth just three weeks before. She told the judges it was
“such a beautiful moment when she came out and just seeing the adoptive mom hold her. it felt good, it felt right , it felt peaceful. And I am really happy about my decision. The adoptive family named her, they named her Norma Rose They chose Rose because of my red hair. She’s really going to bring light to a lot of people’s lives. I mean she’s brought a lot of light to mine.”
Before she announced her song choice, they cut away to an earlier interview where she said,
It is a weird thing going through all this. I never would have thought that this would be my life. But I have a really good feeling that I am really am going to help people and help girls go through what I went through.
She told the judges that she was going to sing “Rise Up,” Andra Day’s incredibly powerful song from 2015.
And then a cutaway to where Amber says, “All for her.”
Elsewhere Amber says, “The baby saved me, she really did.”
You can listen to Amber’s story and her magnificent voice here.
LifeNews.com Note: Dave Andrusko is the editor of National Right to Life News and an author and editor of several books on abortion topics. This post originally appeared in at National Right to Life News Today —- an online column on pro-life issues.
