Fantasy, mystery, and lots of magic, that’s what “America’s Got Talent”’s contestant The Sacred Riana delivered every time she set foot on stage during her successful run in the 13th season.
The illusionism of The Sacred Riana wasn’t the only thing that took everyone’s attention, as her interesting and obscure aesthetics impressively complemented her performance and took her far into the competition. Nonetheless, there’s more to The Sacred Riana than what most “America’s Got Talent” audiences saw on stage. That includes her career before and after the show, and the success she’s gained over the years, despite not winning the competition.
So what has The Sacred Riana been doing since her memorable participation in “America’s Got Talent”? Keep watching to learn more!
Where Is She Now?
No one beats The Sacred Riana when it comes to scary “America’s Got Talent” performances. Her participation in the show’s 13th season in 2018 had everyone’s hair on end, as she delivered a top-notch illusionist act which included everything from magic to horror-movie-worthy visuals.
While The Sacred Riana’s run ended in the Semi-finals, there is no denying that she left an unforgettable impression on the audience. So those who still wonder what’s going on with Riana these days, would surely have a blast knowing she’s as active as ever. Firstly, she went back to the “Got Talent” stage to take part in the spin-offs “The Champions” and “All-Stars”, on top of auditioning for “Italia’s Got Talent” in 2023, and getting her own show “The Sacred Riana: Bedtime Stories” from 2019.
Besides appearing in other talent TV shows worldwide, The Sacred Riana has exponentially grown her online presence over the years, gaining a massive following on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. On the latter platform, Riana shares another side of her artistry with videos on which she talks about magic, occultism, and mystic topics.
The Sacred Riana’s cut-short run in “America’s Got Talent” hasn’t stopped her from moving forward with her career, much to the joy of everyone who was inevitably attracted by her mysterious performance.
Before “AGT”
As it happens, the Indonesian illusionist Marie Antoinette Riana Graharani, better known as The Sacred Rihanna, was already well-accomplished in her native country before setting foot on “America’s Got Talent”’s 13th season’s stage. Her first appearance on mainstream TV happened in the early 2010s when she took part in the Indonesian shows “Hizteria”, “Stand Up Magic Indonesia” and “The Next Mentalist”, the latter hosted by the worldwide known and awarded mentalist Deddy Corbuzier.
The then-21-year-old Riana didn’t win the competition, but the experience did wonders in gaining her a following and opening new career opportunities. That’s how in 2017 she went on to become “Asia’s Got Talent” second season winner, beating dancers and musicians.
According to reports from the time, The Sacred Riana impressed everyone not only for her knack of scaring people with her out-of-the-box tricks but for her overall attitude, as she’s said to keep her character even when she’s not on stage. It’s also reported that Riana doesn’t answer most press questions and leaves those tasks to her manager.
That commitment to her craft and overall theatrics gained Riana the majority of the audience’s votes on the show’s final night, on top of going viral on social media after every performance.
During “AGT”
Following her successful run in “Asia’s Got Talent”, The Sacred Riana went on to star in “America’s Got Talent” in 2018. Similar to the previous show, Riana’s on-screen audition caused shock and scared gasps among the audience and judges, forgoing any introduction altogether to start her performance. Up to that point, no other Indonesian participant had made it to the show’s big stage except for Demian Aditya in the 12th season.
After wordlessly challenging Mel B to choose among several pictures of alleged victims of a murder case, using her tricks to make the judge’s selection appear in a pic that she had taken before the selection in front of the audience. Despite Simon Cowell’s negative vote, The Sacred Riana made it to the next competition stage after the deliberation phase.
Her next appearance was in the Judge Cuts episode, in which she played with an imaginary friend and a bloody book to move forward in the competition. Foillowing on, Riana was in the Quarter-finals, which saw her handing Mel B a voodoo doll while using a seemingly enchanted box to make some photo magic tricks. In the end, several Riana look-alikes appeared on the stage, successfully scaring the audience and the judges.
Unfortunately, The Sacred Riana didn’t make it to the semifinals, though that didn’t stop her from having one of the most unforgettable runs in the show’s history.
Spin-Offs Appearances
The next time we saw The Sacred Riana on TV, she honored her place as “Asia’s Got Talent” second season winner by taking part in “Britain’s Got Talent” spin-off “The Champions” in 2019. This time she prompted the actress and show’s judge Amanda Holden on stage as she performed several illusionist tricks which left the audience open-mouthed.
Unfortunately, Riana didn’t make it to the next stage of “Britain’s Got Talent”, but her mission of scaring the UK audiences was accomplished. Later in 2023, The Sacred Riana went back to TV in the first season of the American “All-Stars” spin-off. Though this time she didn’t make it far into the competition, her performance became unforgettable when Riana boldly cursed Simon Cowell before leaving the stage. A similar story happened when she auditioned in “Italia’s Got Talent” but was eliminated in the first round in 2023.
Other Shows & Social Media Rise
Besides her famous participation in the “Got Talent” show franchise, The Sacred Riana has found further success in other productions. In 2019, she starred in the Indonesian horror movie “The Sacred Riana: Beginning”, centered on the fictional childhood story of Riana and her broken family.
Later in 2022, a sequel named “The Sacred Riana 2: Bloody Mary” was premiered, focusing on a popular horror story while following the events of the first movie. There were also plans to launch an English-language TV series named “The Sacred Riana: Bedtime Stories” in 2019, but the fate of this project is unknown as it’s marked on development on the relevant sites.
While The Sacred Riana has appeared in several shows worldwide as a performer or contestant, some of the most remarkable moments of her career include appearing in The CW’s show “Masters of Illusion” and reaching the semi-finals in the French talent show “La France a un incroyable talent” in 2022. All of that media exposure has resulted in an ever-growing social media audience for Riana, who nowadays has almost one million followers combined on Instagram and TikTok.
Overall, it’s not hard to see that The Sacred Riana has found considerable success by being herself and staying true to her art, clearly appreciated by her audience, even if, or perhaps because they’re often scared out of their wits!
