TODAY’s Craig Melvin may have just found Broadway’s next biggest star!
While chatting with fans out on the TODAY plaza, he met with first-year college student Laila Carter, who blew the TODAY co-anchors away with a beautiful rendition of “The Wizard and I” from “Wicked.”
“I would love to be on Broadway. It’s my biggest dream,” she said before diving into the song.
“And so it will be for the rest of my life / And I’ll want nothing else ‘til I die / Held in such high esteem / When people see me, they will scream / For half of Oz’s favorite team,” she sang while hitting an unbelievable high note in the end.
“Whoa!” Melvin said amazed as the crowd cheered for her.
“Turn the chair for that!” TODAY’s Al Roker added, referencing the hit NBC show “The Voice,” which is hosted by Carson Daly.
Melvin then gave Carter more props.
@todayshow WOW! Laila Carter, a first-year student at the University of Georgia, blew us AWAY this morning when she sang “The Wizard and I” from #Wicked on the plaza!! 🎶💛 #TODAYShow ♬ original sound – TODAY Show
“Well done! So now here’s the thing. You’re clearly going to make it to Broadway. When you make it to Broadway, you come back. We get the exclusive,” he said.
“Yes, sir!” Carter happily replied.
“And if you don’t make it to Broadway, we’ve got a singing competition on this network that you ought to be on. You come see me!” Daly added, referring to “The Voice.”
Carter’s on-the-spot audition has since gone viral on social media. On TikTok, people praised Laila’s singing skills, pointing out that she sang beautifully while standing outside in the cold in the morning.
“Mind you isn’t this filmed at like 7am?????” one person noted.
Another added, “IN THE FREEZING WEATHER WITH NO WARM UP? GURLLLLLL.”
A third said, “She gives me a little Rachel Zegler.”
A fourth wrote, “I need her as Elphaba STAT.”
Carter, who is studying journalism and political science with a minor in music at the University of Georgia, also received praise from her peers and those at her university.
The University of Georgia’s president, Jere W. Morehead, shared the clip of her singing on TODAY on Instagram with a special message.
“Thrilled to see one of our incredible students, Laila Carter, representing the University of Georgia on the Today Show this morning in New York City. Hope all of our first-year Foundation Fellows are enjoying the Big Apple during Spring Break!” he said in the caption.
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