Angelica Hale is a singer of Filipino-American descent who competed in the 12^th season of the televised talent show, “America’s Got Talent”. She was one of the most popular contestants on the show and managed to finish second place in the competition. After the competition she returned to compete in “America’s Got Talent: The Champions”. She’s one of the most memorable contestants on the show to date, singing her way into the public’s heart. So, what has the young singer been up to since her appearance on the show? Follow along to find out more about where Angelica Hale is now.

Who is Angelica Hale?

Angelica Hale was born on 31 July 2007, in Atlanta, Georgia to her Filipina native mother, Eva Bolando and her American native father, Colin Hale. As the older of two children, she had a relatively normal childhood in Atlanta up until 2012.

Battle Against Sepsis

At the young age of 4, Angelica suffered a Strep Pneumococcal bacterial infection that ultimately lead to double pneumonia. After being transferred to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Egleston from Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, she had to be put on immediate Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) life support. The illness was so severe that the child suffered Sepsis shock – a fatal condition in response to the infection – in turn leading to multiple organ failure. One of the organs that failed were her kidneys that could not be repaired; part of her lung was damaged as well.

The following 12 days she spent on life support in a medically induced coma, during which she was placed on hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis to help her survive. When her condition was fairly stable, she underwent surgery for her infected lung. She then spent a few weeks in the pediatric intensive care unit, during which her family stood by her and her large team consisting of nurses, physicians, pharmacists, respiratory therapists, nutritionists and ECMO specialists. After a total of 80 days in hospital, Angelica was allowed to go home— better but not fully recovered.

How her mother saved her life

Following her Sepsis shock, the then-five year old spent a year and a half on dialysis. During that period, her doctors were searching for a match for a kidney transplant to replace her failed kidneys. In September of 2013, her mother Eva was identified as a match and promptly donated one of her kidneys to her daughter, literally saving her life. The kidney transplant surgery took place at Emory University Hospital, and was successful for both Angelica and her mother.

The Show— “America’s Got Talent”

“America’s Got Talent” is a televised talent show based in US, a spin-off from the original “Britain’s Got Talent” now worldwide franchise created by Simon Cowell. Since the show’s premiere in June of 2006, it has run for a total of seventeen seasons with various hosts and presenters. Contestants – whose acts include singing, comedy, stunts, ventriloquism, magic and dancing – compete for a prize of $1 million! Once impressing the judges in the initial audition, the contestants move on to the live TV episodes of the particular season, when they rely on the viewing public’s votes as well as the judges to move further into the competition. Successful candidates finally make it into the live final, where the most talented one is determined; the winner is presented with a cash prize along with record deals or other offers.

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How did it come about

Her singing passion began way before she became ill, when she would sing songs in the car to the amazement of her parents. Before her talent could be nurtured further, her illness took over, and although most people would think that it would stop her, it did not. On the contrary, the young child continued singing, even in her hospital bed and would be posted on YouTube by her parents as a show of her strength and will. Recalling her wish to be like Whitney Houston, Angelica cited her love for singing as a way to take her mind of her illness and the pain it caused her. Immediately after her release from hospital, she took up singing lessons before winning her first competition in the age group of 5-9-year-olds; she was still just five!

She sang at the Make a Wish Foundation’s Ball, followed by a Christmas song at Sunrise Senior Living Centre. Making one of her dreams come true, she sang “Let it Go” from Disney’s “Frozen” at the Broadway Dreams Foundation in Atlanta, and was acknowledged and complimented by the producer of “Frozen”. She then sang “America the Beautiful” at the US Open Men’s Tennis Semi-finals in 2015, and it was after all these performances that she decided to try her luck on “America’s Got Talent”.

Her performance on the show

In 2017, Angelica passed the audition round of the twelfth season of the show by singing Andra Day’s “Rise Up”. The next round was the Judge Cuts round, in which she covered Alicia Keys’ “Girl on Fire” that impressed judged and viewers alike. Guest judge Chris Hardwick was so impressed that he awarded her with the prestigious golden buzzer, leaving her in tears with happiness. She progressed directly to the live shows, in which she performed “Clarity” in the quarter-finals and “Without You” in the semi-finals. As one of the Top 10 contestants, she performed “Symphony” by Zara Larsson and Clean Bandit, and finally “Stronger” by Kelly Clarkson in the final round. A fan favorite from the beginning, Angelica at 10-years-old came second in the competition, after ventriloquist Darci Lynne.

Return in “America’s Got Talent: The Champions”

The Show— “America’s Got Talent: The Champions”

This show is a spin-off from “America’s Got Talent”, again created by Simon Cowell. The producers selected a group of the most popular and memorable acts from the entire franchise, including winners, finalists and eliminated contestants. The judges included Simon Cowell, Heidi Klum, Howie Mandel, Alesha Dixon and Mel B with the host being actor Terry Crews. Unlike its predecessor, this show included a panel of 50 mysterious voters – known as the “Superfans” – who determined which act would progress in the show. Votes came after each performance, in addition, a contestant could advance immediately to the final by receiving a golden buzzer from one of the judges.

Her Performance on the Show

For her first performance, Angelica carefully selected and performed Rachel Platten’s “Fight Song” to a standing ovation from the aforementioned judges Judge Howie Mandel acknowledged her ‘fight’ and awarded her the golden buzzer, sending her immediately into the final. For her finals performance, she performed “Impossible” by Shontelle, once again receiving a standing ovation from the judges. Unfortunately, the team of superfans did not allocate her enough votes for her to progress in the show and she was eliminated along with fellow contestant Paul Potts. Eventually, contestant Shin Lim won the competition.

Can life just stay like this from now on????? #moods https://t.co/SuPwnmwTfl

— Angelica Hale (@angelicahale) January 22, 2019

Making History

As you know by now, Angelica is used to defying the odds, and has made history on more than one occasion. She became the youngest runner-up at 10 years old in “America’s Got Talent” history, when she lost to Darci Lynne. She’s the first only contestant to receive the golden buzzer twice: first on “America’s Got Talent” from Chris Hardwick and the second on “America’s Got Talent: The Champions” from Howie Mandel.

What did she do after “America’s Got Talent”?

Immediately after the latter competition, Angelica gave her first performance in Tuckahoe, New York in front of an audience of 7000. She then joined her fellow competitors from the show’s live performance between 2 and 5 November 2017, followed by a performance at the National Football League (NFL) game between the Dallas Cowboys and Atlanta Falcons at the Mercedes-Benz stadium in her hometown. She had the privilege of singing the national anthem at Heinz Field for the game between the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers, as well as performing her cover of “Girl on Fire” at Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. In addition, Angelica sang on Steve Harvey’s “Little Big Shots” in front of a huge crowd, and joined David Foster, one of “Asia’s Got Talent” judges, in a performance on “Celebrity Fight Night”. The most astonishing fact about this information is that all these appearances happened in the same year, when she was just 10 years old!

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Where is she now?

Since making history, the young singer has kept busy with many more appearances. In 2018, she flew to Ottawa, Canada to perform two songs “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “O Canada” before the hockey game between the Ottawa Senators and Florida Panthers. She then sang the national anthem for a match of the baseball National League Division Series, then a performance of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” at an NFL half-time show in Atlanta. The following year she went on a world tour with Filipino boy band TNT Boys, touring venues including Los Angeles and Edmonton. Unfortunately, she had to leave the tour early due to an illness she had at the time, but she no doubt enjoyed her first yet brief world tour. She began training with esteemed vocal coach Tara Simon, before her performance on the annual Independence Day televised special, “A Capitol Fourth”.

In 2020, the rising star received an invite to that year’s Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, where she met a number of celebrities and posed with them, and even posted a picture of herself with the cast of the Netflix series “Stranger Things”.

During the pandemic-caused lockdown, she kept busy on her Instagram Live by engaging with fans, singing, and even began a series of live cooking sessions with her younger sister. Reminiscent of her days on the talent show, she hosted a show with four of her previous contestants, performing six songs solo, then gave the stage to each of her guests to perform their songs followed by a performance of “The Greatest Show” by all five of them.

Finally, she performed “Power of the Dream” at the Atlanta commemoration of the 1996 Olympic Games; the Atlanta native was chosen to sing the song originally performed at the Games by Celine Dion.

Angelica has appeared on a number of television shows, including “Hallmark Channel”, “Access Hollywood”, “Today Show” and “Pickler & Ben”.

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Other Professions

Evidently, Angelica is a girl of many talents. She not only sings in competitions, but has also ventured into other professions. Stay tuned to find out more about her other professions.

Singing career

Angelica took her passion for singing a little further, and began writing and singing her own songs. When she was 11, she released her debut single “Feel the Magic” as well as the album of the same name on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Music and Google Play and posted the song’s music video on Facebook and YouTube. That same year she went on her first concert tour, as the headliner in her hometown. She released the Extended Plays (EPs), “Christmas Wonder”, “What’s It Like”, and “Joy to the World” most recently. Some of her songs include “Find Me”, “Overcome”, “No Time to Waste” and “Set a Place at Your Table”.

Acting career

Singer-turned-actress Angelica made her film debut in 2019 in “American Reject”, alongside Kathleen Monteleone. The film is about a failed contestant from a talent show, who hopelessly returns to her hometown in depression, sorrow and embarrassment – Angelica essayed the role of a talented singer who looked up to the contestant and lifted her spirits. Luckily for her, she got to sing many songs in the movie and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Her acting career hasn’t stopped there, as she followed it up with a guest voice role in Disney Junior’s “T.O.T.S” then “Maya Unstoppable”, in which she voiced the titular role. She also had a guest voice role in Disney Junior’s special episode, “Celebrate Chugginton” – a show for preschool-aged children about trains. She is no doubt going to continue appearing in many more films and television shows, as she gains more experience in front of the camera.

Campaigns to Raise Awareness

Angelica has also used her platform to raise awareness of various illnesses. She’s the first child ambassador for National Kidney Foundation, and an advocate for a Sepsis Alliance, as well as Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. She informs and encourages people of all ages to take care of their kidneys; she insists on eating healthily to protect their kidneys and bodies as whole. To date, she has given her support to countless organizations such as The Organ Project, David Foster foundation, Living Bank, El Paso Children’s Hospital and Gateway for Cancer Research, to mention a few.

Along with supporting these organizations, Angelica also performs for them, often singing songs of hope and strength by herself, and with guests. One such performance included her fellow “America’s Got Talent” contestants who all had prior illnesses. She’s still very invested in her advocacy and tries her best to educate the public on the seriousness of these illnesses, and how they can prevent them.

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How much is she worth?

Angelica Hale derives her primary source of income from her singing career, participating in concerts, shows and competitions. As an established singer-songwriter, she makes more money from her songs on sites such as Spotify and Deezer. Angelica’s YouTube channel- which boasts a huge fan following of more than two million – along with her numerous brand endorsements are another source. She also sells various merchandise and memorabilia on her site. Authoritative sources cite her net worth to be around $3 million as of late-2022, impressive for a young singer.

Where can you find her?

The singing sensation can easily be found online; she seems to be very social. It’s evident that she’s managed to stay in the spotlight from her social media accounts: 3.7 million subscribers on Facebook, more than 2.9 million on YouTube, 1.1 million on Instagram, and 98,000 on TikTok. She also maintains her own site, on ichre people can buy merchandise, interact with her, and even book her for events.

All in all, Angelica Hale has increased her fame and talent since being in the singing competition, and it’s safe to say that this young star will continue to rise. We can only wish her all the best in her future endeavors.

There’s no such a thing as too many automotive-centered TV shows, and “Chasing Classic Cars” is part-proof of that. Since its premiere in 2008, the show has featured some of the most incredible, rarely seen classic autos from all around the US, many of which have been brought back to life thanks to Wayne Carini and his team of experts at F40 Motorsports.

That being said, those who have watched some of the latest “Chasing Classic Cars” have surely noticed the absence of the fan-favorite Roger Barr, one of Carini’s shop’s most beloved workers, an unforgettable icon in the show.

So whatever happened to Roger? Is it true that he’s faced some serious and expensive health problems, and how did he deal with them? Is he alright nowadays? Stay with us to get answers to these questions!

Why Did He Need Funds?

Sadly, Roger Barr has gone through difficult times in recent years. Around mid-2017, Roger was severely injured while working for Wayne Carini’s shop, developing an infection as a result.

While Roger fortunately recovered after weeks of hospitalization, his medical bills weren’t compensated by the government, thus taking a toll on his finances, due partly to the prolonged time he was away from work.

Following Roger’s recovery, in late 2018 he underwent knee replacement surgery, and was in need of a second procedure to replace his other knee to improve his quality of life. Due to all his medical and personal needs, Roger’s friend Steve Cripps set up a GoFundMe campaign in order to provide financial relief to Roger during those difficult times.

Although the campaign didn’t reach its goal of $35,000, it got close enough so that Roger was able to afford his second knee surgery in mid-2019 without further stress to his financial situation. Roger needed other urgent medical procedures, in the following two years, such as dental work. Nonetheless, while Roger is apparently in a better financial situation these days, the campaign is still open for those who wish to send the veteran mechanic their appreciation through a donation.

Is He Not In “Chasing Classic Cars” Anymore?

Sadly, not only is Roger Barr absent from “Chasing Classic Cars”, but also isn’t an employee of Wayne Carini anymore.

According to some of Roger’s social media posts, in 2018 he returned to work after undergoing his first knee replacement surgery, however, at some point after his second surgery the following year, Wayne chose not to employ him anymore: ‘I kept asking to come back to work and was told no work, then, in the mail I received a notice that I was involuntarily terminated’, he wrote on Facebook in September 2020.

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So far, Wayne hasn’t openly explained the reason for Roger’s termination, but it’s apparent that the men aren’t in contact anymore. As Roger addressed in the same Facebook post, he wanted to recover some of his work tools which were still held by Carini, but saw no way to get them back.

It’s unknown if Roger actually recovered his tools, but seeing that not only was he suddenly  unemployed, and apparently received no compensation for his health-related absences, so it’s  understandable why his friends set up a fund collecting campaign to help him.

Was He Paid For The Show?

A lot has been said about Roger Barr’s financial situation in the last couple of years. Starting from his complicated health issues to the GoFundMe campaign set up for him, it’s evident that the fan-favorite mechanic wasn’t going through good times when it came to money.

Roger himself explained some of the reasons he wasn’t in a good place financially-speaking on his Facebook page, in which he also denied being a millionaire TV star: ‘I am not worth 1.3 million. Fact is I have to work to keep a roof over my head and food on the table. I wasn’t paid anything to appear on camera’, Roger wrote, adding that if he actually possessed lots of money, he would immediately fix his house and have dental work done.

Roger’s statement about not being paid for appearing in “Chasing Classic Cars” is shocking to say the least, but one of his page admins confirmed his words by writing that the mechanic ‘Couldn’t even negotiate for scale’, which he assured was his right for appearing on TV.

All in all, Roger’s situation in the show wasn’t the most positive, so it’s understandable that he and Wayne Carini don’t appear together on TV anymore.

Where Does He Work Now?

Now that Roger isn’t working for Carini anymore, lots of fans have wrongly assumed he’s definitely left work for good.

However, Roger is nowadays active, and working for The Paddock Restorations, a Connecticut-based body shop which specializes in maintenance, preservation and repairs of old automobiles.

The opportunity to join The Paddock’s staff came to Roger in mid-2020, when a stranger in the streets directed him to the shop after Roger helped him fix his car: ‘I came in here and at first I thought I’d died and gone to heaven’, he recalled in a YouTube interview from 2022.

In Roger’s words, he ‘owes his actual success’ to the owners of the shop who welcomed him into the Paddock, which he describes as ‘the happiest place I’ve ever worked’.

The appreciation from Roger to his new employers and fellow co-workers is mutual, as The Paddock’s social media and YouTube videos often feature him and his work as much as they can, letting it be known that Roger has fortunately found a great place to work in, after going through so many difficulties in recent years.

What Did He Do In F40 Motorsports?

As seen in “Chasing Classic Cars”, Wayne Carini’s brand revolves around classic and exotic cars, rarely seen in today’s industry due to their scarcity or lack of preservation. Wayne’s business isn’t only finding these rarely seen autos, but restoring and bringing them a new life through his shops, and selling them through F40 Motorsports.

EXCLUSIVE TOUR OF WAYNE CARINI'S F40 MOTORSPORTS + BUYING HIS 2008 MERCE… https://t.co/y1x6TNuwhf via @YouTube

— USA_What_the_Hell! (@USA_WTH) November 15, 2021

Although the show let people assume that Roger Barr worked for the latter shop, the truth is that Roger was hired by Carini’s automotive restoration and repair shops Carini Carozzeria and Continental Auto Ltd in the early 2000s, staying with Wayne doing mechanical fixing to foreign cars for over 15 years until his termination in 2019. Nonetheless, the men had actually known each other for decades prior to the abrupt end of their professional relationship, as Roger’s old repair business often collaborated with Wayne’s father’s autoshop.

Regarding his time in working for Wayne, Roger has remained polite about it: ‘I worked for another person and it wasn’t working out’, he said when asked in a YouTube video for his new employer The Paddock.

Beginnings

While Roger Barr became a fan-favorite for “Chasing Classic Cars”s audience, due to his magnetic personality and many interesting stories up his sleeve, the truth is that Roger actually has all the experience and knowledge to back up his popularity.

As Roger recalled in an interview with The Paddock Productions in 2022, his earliest times as a mechanic started when he was a five-year-old boy, working for money in a place called Joe Detroit’s in Staten Island, New York City. Roger spent all his free time off school at Joe’s, who taught Roger everything he knew, despite in his words not being a ‘good student: I’m the poster boy for dyslexia but Joe, I watched him. I’m a good monkey see monkey do guy, and that’s where I came on’.

Growing up, Roger was hired by people in his neighborhood, before attending the Patterson Aviation Technology school, where he learned further the basics of mechanics and manual work. He later served the US Air Force, where he was no longer needed to work in cars, but on ‘planes and heavy duty autos. Being stationed in Germany also played in Roger’s favor, as he could specialize in foreign cars of all types.

Did He Have A Business?

After his return to the US, Roger Barr established his first business named Foreign Car Shop Inc, based in Glastonbury, Connecticut.

While Roger was indeed well prepared to take on the jobs which came into his shop, the business was apparently not thriving in the financial aspect. As Roger affirmed in a Paddock Productions interview, it was ‘lots of fun, no money’ despite his efforts. It was during his time managing a business in Connecticut that he met Bob Carini, who at the time had already established the auto shop inherited by his son Wayne a couple of decades later.

Unfortunately, at some point Roger’s business wasn’t able to overcome its money difficulties, leaving him no option than to sell it: ‘I had partners. The government, the state, you know, this one and that one and one man couldn’t do it’, he affirmed in the same interview. Although it’s unknown when exactly Roger’s shop closed down, it’s for sure that he’s been working for other people since then.

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Was He A Racer?

Besides being an excellent mechanic and veteran Air Force member, Roger Barr is also an experienced race driver. His first experience on the track came in his 20s, when one of his customers who happened to build race cars, invited him to join The Sports Car Club of America and drive his autos.

Sensing it was a good chance at taking his love for cars to new frontiers, Roger spent the following years racing right and left all over America, for the BFormula Vee, eventually winning the US National Championship celebrated at Lime Rock in 1968. His car at the time was a British-made Crosslé, with a 61plate number, one of the first models of its type to be distributed internationally.

Although Roger hasn’t professionally raced in several decades, those times on the fast track were definitely some of the most memorable in his life.

How Did Carini’s Business Start?

While Wayne Carini has amassed huge popularity thanks to his shop and several businesses, actually his story in the automotive field can be traced back to his father Bob Carini.

A native of Connecticut, Bob started fixing cars at the young age of 12, rebuilding old Ford models he found abandoned on his family’s farm. Later in life, his business Continental Auto focused on collecting, restoring and fixing classic autos of all types, eventually earning Bob an Achievement Award by the Antique Automobile Club of America.

Though at some point Wayne took a step away from the family business to pursue an art teacher career, being offered the family’s business by his father later in life was an offer he couldn’t just refuse. He then spent the following decades not only keeping Continental Auto Ltd afloat but also started his restoration business Carini Carozzeria, and the classic cars dealership F40 Motorsports.

The Dreamed Car Story

Some of the best life experiences are those which take a while in the making, and no one knows that better than Wayne Carini. Back in his childhood, Wayne spent lots of time in his father’s autoshop, which resulted in him not only developing his early mechanical and restoration skills, but also a deep fascination for Ferraris.

However, that couldn’t be compared to his devotion to a Hudson Italia he became enamored with at 16 years, after seeing it stationed in his father’s shop. As some sort of destiny trick, the same Hudson never stayed far from his sight for long, and the next couple of decades he spent in contact with the original owner, a man named Raymond Robinson. After Robinson died in the 1980s, Wayne kept chasing the car until its new owner accepted his offer.

Although Wayne could have simply found another car, that wasn’t what he wanted, as he detailed his Hudson Italia chase to The New York Times for the article entitled “Your First Love, and Your Last Love” in 2006. Said feature is another incredible part of the story, as it attracted the attention of a MotorTrend’s producer, who a couple of years later convinced Wayne to help create “Chasing Classic Cars”, and the rest is history.

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Is The Show Over?

After “Chasing Classic Cars” 16th season wrapped up in 2020, no further news about a renewal has been announced by MotorTrend or Wayne Carini.

Even if this doesn’t necessarily mean the show is over, it’s certainly the first time the show has taken such an extended break from TV. Meanwhile, Wayne seems well focused on his businesses and The Chase Magazine, a monthly subscription publication available on his website.

Whether “Chasing Classic Cars” returns to air anytime soon, Roger Barr most-likely won’t appear in it. This puts a bittersweet note to the show’s run on TV, but dedicated fans of both Roger and Wayne surely appreciate all the good times they gave us over the years.