The secret singer behind ‘Greatest Showman’ is ready for her spotlight

nypost.com:

The Greatest Showman,” starring Hugh Jackman, Michelle Williams and Zendaya.“I was more comfortable singing behind the scenes,” Allred told the crowd, her hands trembling. “But I feel kind of like the song was meant for me and I’m kind of ready to put a face to the song, so I’m here to do that.”She began the song — which actress Rebecca Ferguson had “performed” in the movie —very softly, gaining confidence and strength as her voice dramatically rose an octave leading to the chorus.

By the end, she was belting “never, never, never” like a seasoned diva. The crowd leapt to their feet. Even notorious curmudgeon judge Simon Cowell — who had told a teenaged Allred that she sang like a cruise ship singer during an audition for “American Idol” more than 10 years before — had tears in his eyes.“I don’t think I’d ever been that nervous in my life,” Allred told The Post on a recent afternoon in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, where she has lived for the past decade. “I just felt like this could either be a career-making experience, or the most embarrassing setback of my life.”Fortunately, it turned out to be the former.

AdvertisementAllred made the final five on “Britain’s Got Talent,” debuted an original song on live TV (the love song “Last Thing I’ll Ever Need,” which she wrote on the plane after her audition), and gained legions of fans.

Now, she has a new six-track EP, “I Hear Your Voice.” Her first video — for the EP’s title track, an homage to her late grandmother who died of COVID — lands April 21.“My last EP, ‘Late Bloomer,’ was all about healing,” Allred said — healing from intense performance anxiety and self-doubt, rejection and loss, and from watching the world give credit to someone else for a song that she made famous.