Before she got her ticket to Hollywood, Brianna Collichio endured a long journey, with hospital visits starting from the age of 7 due to cystic fibrosis.

The 15-year-old singer’s older sister Sentina Collichio posted a TikTok on June 27 of Brianna performing Alessia Cara’s “Scars to Your Beautiful” at a small venue, with hopes that she’d go viral and eventually audition for American Idol so “the world hears her story and beautiful voice.”

Brianna was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at birth, a condition that makes her prone to chronic lung infections. With her sister’s video amassing 2.1 million views, the teen from upstate New York scheduled an Idol audition in August. But unfortunately, she collapsed the evening before and had to go undergo surgery. Sentina shared another viral TikTok clip, this time with 3.3 million views, that was filmed in the hospital with the same “Scars to Your Beautiful” audio, and requested she get another shot at auditioning.

Collichio found herself in front of judges Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie in an audition clip that premiered Sunday, explaining that with CF, a person can experience scarring on their lungs. “But my lungs are not scarred and my voice is not raspy. So I want to inspire people,” she told them before delving into her stirring performance of “Scars to Your Beautiful.”

Richie thanked her for her “bravery” in sharing her story and later thanked her sister on Twitter for sharing that first TikTok video that made it all happen, while Bryan assured her she “knocked it out of the park.” Perry’s description of her as a “walking miracle” particularly struck a chord with Collichio, because that’s the nickname her mother gave her.

“Mom, you know what I called your daughter?” the pop star asked the tearful mother who entered the audition room at the end. “A walking miracle. And Mama, she’s walking her miracle straight to Hollywood.”

Watch Collichio’s inspirational story and Idol audition below.

Fresh off her best new artist win and teary-eyed acceptance speech, Megan Thee Stallion hit the 2021 Grammys stage with fellow Grammy winner Cardi B for a truly wild performance of their Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 “WAP.”

Despite being one of the defining smash hits of 2020, this is actually the first time Megan and Cardi performed “WAP” on TV, probably having something to do with the song’s less than family-friendly subject matter. But while it was after 10 p.m. ET when they busted out “WAP,” they still kept it reasonably PG-13; By way of introducing the song, Grammys host Trevor Noah said, “If you have small children in the room, just tell them it’s a song about giving a cat a bath.”

After a mini concert from Megan Thee Stallion, Cardi B came out with a coterie of dancers to deliver her new single “Up” before segueing into “WAP.” Dressed in a metallic silvery outfit straight out of Jane Fonda’s Barbarella, Cardi B strutted across stage to do a pole dance on the ten-foot-tall stiletto of a giant platform heel. Dollars floated down from the sky, painted dancers pranced around her – it was a sci-fi strip club fantasia.

When Megan rejoined her on stage, Cardi took her to bed – literally, the two delivered their verses while crawling and gyrating around what looked like a queen-sized bed for giants. It was insane and incredible.

Fresh off her win for best new artist earlier in the broadcast, Megan Thee Stallion barnstromed the Grammy stage on Sunday night (Mar. 14) for a performance of her Grammy-nominated “Savage,” following a quick intro that also dipped into her Good News hit “Body.”

Looking like a hip-hop Marilyn Monroe in a shimmering silver bodysuit, Megan cascaded a giant staircase and of course offered no shortage of twerking — particularly once she put the mic down during a piped-in version of Beyoncé’s “Savage” guest verse. Combining the classic with the modern, the performance also took a minute out for a tap-dance break, with two backing dancers doing jumping splits in a likely homage to The Nicholas Brothers.

In addition to her best new artist victory, Megan The Stallion also took home best rap performance for “Savage” — which is still up for two more awards on the night: best rap song and record of the year. Megan was also a two-time performer on the night, appearing alongside Cardi B shortly after her own solo performance for a debut TV performance of the star duo’s 2020 smash “WAP.”

Though Anderson .Paak is enjoying his newly-minted partnership with Bruno Mars as part of Silky Sonic, his solo career continues to flourish after netting another Grammy at this year’s ceremonies Sunday night (March 14)

Winning best melodic rap performance for his 2020 emotionally-charged single “Lockdown,” Paak issued a riveting acceptance speech following his victory.

“I wanna say thank you to the team that helped me put this record together. I wanna say thank you to the academy,” he said. “Lastly, I want to say that this song “Lockdown” is dedicated to every human being who actually has a voice. If you have a voice, don’t be afraid to use it ’cause they watching, and this is proof.”

Earlier in the night, .Paak joined Bruno Mars for a series of performances, most notably their first together as Silky Sonic. .Paak’s lastest feat extends his Grammy win-total to four. He previously netted two in 2019 for best R&B performance and best R&B album.

The night before the 2021 Grammys, Cardi B chimed in with her feelings about this year’s awards show.

The “Up” rapper chose to focus on uplifting many of the Black artists who did receive nods, sending a tweet out on Saturday (March 13) that said, “How I feel bout the Grammies. Don’t forget to congratulate the small black artist that got nominated that got overshadowed again cause of the drama.”

“I’m highlighting these underrated artist that got nominated and no one blinked a eye to congratulate them cause everybody throwing tantrums over artist that submit their music to a award show that they claim they hate .AGAIN CONGRATS TO YALL !” she added in another tweet.

In a lengthy note further explaining her thoughts, she clarified, “I do feel that there were some albums and songs that should have been considered for nominations. Maybe next year they will get it right.”

“However let’s not forget the Grammy’s nominated soo many independent black artists this year that don’t get exposure by blogs, magazines and other award shows like Chika, D Smoke, Royce 5’9′, Freddie Gibbs, Jay Electronica, Kaytranada, Brittany Howard, Mykal Kilgore, Ledisi, Jean & Marcus Baylor, Luke James, Gregory Porter, Giveon, Ant Clemons, Robert Glasper, Free Nationals & Thundercat and so much more,” Cardi noted. (See the full list of 2021 Grammy nominations here.)

“It’s frustrating sometimes to work and work on your craft and you feel overlooked because you might not look like others, are not mixxy so you not always around other artists, you rap or sing about different material, you stay out of drama and the media or yet still not as popular however youre talented ass f— and one day you wake up and you find out youre nominated and got a notice from one of the biggest award shows purely cause of your TALENT!” explained Cardi. “Soo besides all the bulls— let’s not forget to congratulate these artists. This is their moment too and they been working their ass off with no exposure and let’s not overshadow it with feelings cause your favorite might not be on the list. Congrats guys and good luck on the Grammys. You deserve it.”

In 2019, Cardi enjoyed her own Grammys recognition when she won best rap album for Invasion of Privacy. Though Lauryn Hill was awarded best rap album in 1997 as part of the Fugees for The Score, Cardi B was the first solo female to win best rap album. “I f—ing worked my ass off,” she said after the win.

The 2021 Grammy Awards are airing on Sunday (March 14) at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The show can be watched on CBS, Paramount+ and Grammy.com.

See Cardi B’s Twitter note below.