Dian Rene is gearing up for a return to the reality competition stage through America’s Got Talent. The Cuban singer will perform before judges Simon Cowell, Howie Mandel, Sofia Vergara, and Heidi Klum during the July 16 episode. Certainly, the opportunity to move forward and even receive a golden buzzer will make all the hard work worth it.
Rene, whose real name is Adrián Rene Ramírez Rodríguez, has been busy building his name by performing at popular venues like most recently at Tropical Cafe in South Beach. He came to the United States first in Virginia where he took whatever money he could make from working in a poultry shop to buy instruments and build a home studio. His first manager, Jose Martinez, helped move him to Miami to really start his career as an independent artist.
Viewers may remember the model and musician from Season 2 of The Four: Battle for Stardom in 2018. Rene sang Enrique Iglesias‘ “Hero” and received yeses from judges Meghan Trainor, Sean “Diddy” Combs, and DJ Khaled. Unfortunately, the contestant’s performance of “Flor Pálida” by Polo Montañez couldn’t move him past James Graham, who ended up winning what would become the last season of the series. Now Rene looks for a second chance within this environment. Here, the AGT hopeful talks about his rollercoaster audition.
How do you look back on doing The Four and what it did for your career?
Dian Rene: I started posting covers on YouTube and got invited by the show’s producers to audition. I went to Los Angeles. It was a great experience even though I didn’t win. I did get three yeses from the judges and was able to get to the second part of the competition… I felt good. The people felt the song and started dancing with me. It was a privilege to be on that show.
What was it like to get the America’s Got Talent audition?
Much like the other one, I saw it as a great opportunity. AGT is the biggest show in the world. I aimed to do my best because I knew what could come later. I know that this show has helped so many people. It can be a life-changer. There were so many talents backstage. I felt like, “What am I doing here?” After The Four, I did get a bit afraid of these shows and go back and try to show myself again. But this is not a singing competition. It’s about who you are as a performer on a stage. For me, I consider myself not only a singer myself but an artist and entertainer. That is what I wanted to show. It was an opportunity where I couldn’t say no.
I prepared my song. I was so excited that I remember going backstage I almost couldn’t breathe because all the emotions came through my head at the same time. There is pressure that the entire world is watching and you have to do it right. I’ve been singing all my life, I thought, “What if my voice doesn’t come out of my body?” By the time I got to the stage, the crowd was amazing after I told my story. I had so many dangers to get to the United States because I had to go across Latin America to get here. Buses, cars, boats, walking through the jungles, there were so many times my life was in danger. The crowd supported me. It gave me positive vibes that I was in the right place.
What can you tell us about how it goes?
I was going to sing “Waiting For Tonight” by Jennifer Lopez in Spanish. It was what I had prepared. I got the song ready. Then the night before of my audition, the producer said I was not able to do it in Spanish because the lyrics didn’t clear. I had to learn the song in English the night before. It was crazy because it takes time to learn a song and practice. Of course, I told that to the judges just in case I said a bad word. I think I made a mistake on the lyrics and Simon stopped me. I felt my heart wanted to explode in that moment. Simon felt it wasn’t fair to me that I was not able to do my best because of the circumstances. They told me to prepare another song.
How much time did you have in between to prepare for your second chance?
I had about an hour and a half. I started to prepare another song that I believed brought the best out of me. I’m not going to tell you what it was, but you’ll see. A song I loved. I practiced including the moves I wanted to do. I was so happy and nervous because the people were expecting something good. I was confident with the second song I picked. I wanted to go back there and show them who I am as an entertainer.
America’s Got Talent, Tuesdays, 8/7c, NBC