Wé Ani, North Jersey will always cheer for you | Our view

Wé Ani has deservedly commanded the nation's attention in recent weeks — the rising star's performances on "American Idol" have drawn wide praise. While her impressive run came to an end after she reached this season's Top 5, Wé will perform on the ABC singing contest's season finale Sunday.

Brava, Wé Ani. Brava.

We've been cheering for you for far longer than these latest moments of well-deserved success. We've known Wé for the better part of a decade, having chronicled her 2016 run to early stardom as a competitor on NBC's "The Voice." Our late, great colleague John C. Ensslin chronicled her early rise in one of our first podcasts, "Head Held High — The We McDonald story."

Wé Ani is a star. What we have known and celebrated for years now — that this talented young woman who spent her formative years in our own Paterson is destined for musical greatness — is now a fact of today's American music scene.

And she is a star now — even in a moment of defeat. She was voted off the "Idol" finale, failing to earn a spot in the show's final three. Ani's army of fans could not overcome voting sprees from fans of Megan Danielle, Iam Tongi and Colin Stough.

Origin story: Listen to 'The Wé McDonald Story' podcast on iTunes

As ever, Ani demonstrated a thoughtful — and compassionate — understanding of what had happened.

"You want to know what it is? I think it's not even that they wouldn't vote for me," Ani told our own Jim Beckerman. "It's like when people can acknowledge that this food is really good, it looks great, I'm sure it tastes great, but I want to go with something else — I want my favorite meal."

As Beckerman wrote, Ani wowed "American Idol" judges Lionel Richie, Luke Bryan and Katy Perry with her renditions of "Into the Unknown" from "Frozen II" and Miley Cyrus' "The Climb." She's won millions of new fans since "American Idol" began its 21st season in February.

Those successes build on the efforts she's undertaken since her top-3 finish as a 17-year-old then known on "The Voice." Ani has since penned a children's book, "The Little Girl with the Big Voice," performed at remarkable venues in New York and beyond and released multiple singles.

Of course she has.

New single: Paterson's Wé Ani to debut new song days after missing 'American Idol' Top 3

Earlier: Paterson's Wé Ani is cut from 'American Idol' despite performances that draw judges' raves

Unsurprisingly, Ani is also honest about her connections to Paterson — those connections that have drawn our attention over these many years. Ani was born in Harlem, and while she lived in Paterson, she was educated in New York. She knows that claiming the mantle of a native of Patersonian is not something one does without definite authenticity. Still, she is proud of the place where she spent her formative years — we, in turn, are proud of her.

And we're equally proud of her willingness to help a city sorting through myriad challenges — not the least of which are a police department in long-wrought toil, grief over the death of Najee Seabrooks and ever-looming financial uncertainty.

Ani told Beckerman she'll lean in when the time is right.

"Every time there's an event I'm there, if you want me to represent Paterson," Ani said. "But I don't feel very deserving at this point in time. Because there's a lot going on in Paterson — and what people really need now is to feel safe, and feel heard. I don't feel like I'm the one who's going to fix that immediately because I'm getting the key to the city.

"I want to really be able to get in there. Open up different organizations that are going to help Paterson — nonprofits, after-school programs, things like that," she said. "I think that's what really matters in the community."

That's right, Wé Ani.

Brava.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Wé Ani American Idol North Jersey Paterson NJ roots