NBCShanice Williams, take your victory lap. The Wiz Live! star became just that—a star—last night. The 18-year-old newcomer from New Jersey helped make NBC's latest live musical a hit, easily tackling the classics from the show, including "Home" and "Ease on Down the Road."
Executive producer Neil Meron said it best. "Definitely a star is born. Get ready, America. This is only the first time people are going to be seeing Shanice Williams," he told us prior to the show's debut. See Williams tackle "Home" below.
In The Wiz Live!, an all-star cast including Ne-Yo, Elijah Kelley, David Alan Grier, Stephanie Mills, Amber Riley, Uzo Aduba, Common, Mary J. Blige and Queen Latifah joined Williams.
"She is amazing. This kid is unbelievable," Queen Latifah told E! News about Williams. "So talented and so sweet, down to earth, and she is nailing it. I really just see her as Dorothy now. She has reeled me in...I'm there."
The Queen was right.
Early ratings for The Wiz Live! have 11.1 million viewers tuning in with a 3.3 rating in the 18-49 demographic. It also generated more than 1,600,000 tweets.
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The Wiz Live! will reair on Saturday, Dec. 19, at 8 p.m. on NBC.
(E! and NBC are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)