NEWSMAKERS

NEWSMAKERS

Cowell to 12-year-old: ‘the next Taylor Swift’

NEW YORK

Simon Cowell made a bold prediction about a 12-year-old singer with a ukulele: “I think you’re the next Taylor Swift.”

That’s what he told Grace VanderWaal after she wowed the “America’s Got Talent” judges in Tuesday’s auditions with a heart-piercing song she wrote about herself that immediately shot her into the semifinals.

“I don’t know by name. I don’t play by the rules of the game,” she sang. “I’m lost, trying to get found in an ocean ...”

The Suffern, N.Y., resident left the judges amazed as she took them, with a shy smile, on a musical ride peaking with, “I now know my name.”

Howie Mandel called her “a living, beautiful, walking miracle” – then pressed the golden buzzer that sent her to the live semifinals.

‘Raging Bull’ actress Theresa Saldana dies

LOS ANGELES

Theresa Saldana, the “Raging Bull” actress who survived a stalker’s brutal attack to become a crime victims’ advocate and reclaimed her entertainment career with “The Commish” and other TV shows, has died. She was 61.

Saldana had been suffering from pneumonia and died Monday at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, according to her longtime friend, Soorya Townley, who called the actress a “warm, caring person” who put others’ needs before her own.

Associated Press