Singing security guard a surprise contender on ‘America’s Got Talent’

For most of Celina Graves’ life, people have judged her before she ever opened her mouth. Now the 31-year-old Escondido woman has used the public’s perception to her advantage as a surprise breakout singing star on the NBC TV competition series “America’s Got Talent.”

Graves’ emotional vocal audition on the June 9 episode of AGT brought the audience and all four judges to their feet and a video of that performance has since racked up more than 3.4 million views on Youtube. In the clip, the casino security guard explains how she grew up dressing in boys clothes, was mistreated by other girls and feared by business owners for her seemingly tough exterior. But AGT lead judge Simon Cowell told Graves she looks great and she should never let a stylist change her look.

Over the past few years, Graves has been working security at Valley View Casino & Hotel in Valley Center and has been training for a career in law enforcement. But her real dream since her mid-teens has been to follow her father into the music business.

Ed Graves, a longtime bassist and singer for the local bands NRG and Fattburger, said his daughter struggled growing up with rejection and a lack of self-esteem. So, sitting in the studio audience that night and feeling the audience’s appreciation for his daughter’s singing sweep through the auditorium was one of the happiest moments of his life. Regardless of how far she goes in the competition, he hopes she can use her newfound fame to help young people struggling with their sexuality to be comfortable in their own skin.

“She’ll be a person who will inspire other kids to come out and to not be bullied,” he said. “Those were the things the judges said that made her feel great. To be a part of that kind of movement for young girls is really important to her.”

Celina Graves comes from a musical family. Her grandfather, the late Rev. Edward Graves of Second Baptist Church in Linda Vista, performed for years with his wife in an L.A. singing group. Her father, Ed, has performed gospel, R&B, soul and jazz music for decades in California with artists including Marva Hines, Michael Bolton, Celine Dion and The Commodores.

Celina Graves, 31, an “America’s Got Talent” contestant from Escondido, poses for portraits at Daniel Bourget’s studio space in San Marcos on June 24th.

(Jarrod Valliere / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

He remembers when Celina was a baby how she’d stand in her crib and listen with rapt attention whenever he was singing. By the age of 3, she had her own toddler-size microphone. Although she never took lessons, she taught herself to play by ear the bass, drums, guitar and piano. Then, when she got an Alicia Keys CD for Christmas at age 15, she started singing with a purpose. At the same time, anxiety and depression over bullying at school gave her a severe case of stage fright. The only place she felt comfortable vocalizing at the time was at home.

“I would sing in the shower and my Dad would stand by the door and tell me I’m amazing,” she recalled. “I was so terrified of being onstage because I was made fun of, but I always dreamed about it. Music was my first love.”

In high school, Graves was poised to attend college on an athletic scholarship. She played multiple school and club sports and was fielding offers to play college soccer at several universities, her father said. But that interest dried up when she tore her ACL playing basketball. She still enjoys sports as a hobby. She’s a kicker, tight end and punt returner for the San Diego Rebellion, a women’s tackle football league.

While driving his daughter to soccer practice in her teens, Ed Graves said that he taught her how to project her voice by turning screams into high-volume notes. Then he recorded her singing at home to show her she was better than she realized. Eventually, she got the confidence to launch an Instagram page with recordings of herself singing. That led to a steady trickle of gigs performing at weddings and parties. During her 20s, she had offers from record companies but always with the caveat that she change her image to be more marketable. She turned them down.

The first time she tried competing on a TV singing show was at 15 when she auditioned for “American Idol” at the stadium. She didn’t advance then, nor during the second time the “Idol”team visited San Diego. Later, she tried out for several other TV and local vocal competitions, but never won.

She had pretty much given up on competing until last fall when talent scouts for AGT saw her videos on Instagram and encouraged her to try out. That opportunity came in early March. Her father drove down from his home in Sacramento to give her a pep talk and cheer her on from a front-row seat in the theater.

Celina said her nerves and anxiety got the better of her backstage in the minutes before she was called out onstage in front of judges Cowell, Heidi Klum, Sofia Vergara and Howie Mandel. She had a blackout moment as she walked out onstage, when she couldn’t remember what she said or did. But once she started singing — Shawn Mendes’ “Mercy,” which she chose because it reflects her emotions and passion for music — and the audience rose to their feet, she relaxed.

“That’s when I got the reassurance that this was where I was supposed to be and I was in awe,” she said. “I feed off the crowd ... to have that reaction fueled me to do even better.”

Celina Graves, an “America’s Got Talent” contestant from Escondido, poses for portraits at Daniel Bourget’s studio space in San Marcos on June 24..

(Jarrod Valliere / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Just a few weeks after her audition, AGT shut down production at its Pasadena studio due to the coronavirus pandemic. The show has been airing episodes pre-taped before the studio closure. This past week, the judges cut rounds were filmed with social distancing rules and no live audience. The series will not start taping again until August and different scenarios are being discussed about how to move forward.

Graves said she’s hoping that if she continues to progress through more rounds of the competition she can show her versatility by singing songs in other genres, playing some instruments and sharing some of her hip-hop dance moves.

In the meantime, she has been rehearsing, recording songs for her Instagram page and communicating with some of her nearly 49,000 Instagram followers. Last week a girl wrote to Graves saying she felt suicidal over her sexuality. They had a live online discussion about self-acceptance and the girl was moved to tears and vowed to carry on.

“That was crazy for me,” she said. “That’s what I want to give off and give back. If I can help somebody feel more comfortable by being themselves, then that’s my main message.”

To see a video of Graves on AGT, click the link in her Instagram page bio at instagram.com/celinagravesofficial.

Celina Graves, an “America’s Got Talent” contestant from Escondido, poses for portraits at Daniel Bourget’s studio space in San Marcos on June 24th.

(Jarrod Valliere / The San Diego Union-Tribune)