Rocking on: Sister Cristina “Livin’ on a Prayer”

CNS has the scoop: 

A religious sister singing a Bon Jovi mega-hit with a British boy band for backup?

“Never say never,” Ursuline Sister Cristina Scuccia told her audience last night before she was swept into the semifinals by popular vote.

Her coach, Italian rap-star J-Ax (who’s been choosing Sister Cristina’s repertoire since her Blind Audition debut) said he’s really sorry he’s turned her into his personal “jukebox,” making her sing his favorites from his “sulky adolescence.”

He said he’s been pushing her “to go to the next level” and conquer every genre: blues, pop, Italian ballads and now big-hair 1980s rock&roll.

But on top of that, she got to have the emerging British band, The Vamps, provide the music and a group hug after the their performance.

She said it was “beautiful to have young people, well, kids, singing together with me.”

In fact, she spent her novitiate working with kids and young adults in the outskirts of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and used music to build trust and bring them together.

On those city streets, “I rediscovered singing as a way to praise the Lord, as something my soul needed, and as an instrument for touching people’s hearts,” she said in a 2013 interview.

Read more.  And watch her performance below.

The lyrics, by Bon Jovi: 

Once upon a time
Not so long ago
Tommy used to work on the docks
Union’s been on strike
He’s down on his luck…it’s tough, so tough

Gina works the diner all day
Working for her man, she brings home her pay
For love – for love

She says: We’ve got to hold on to what we’ve got
‘Cause it doesn’t make a difference
If we make it or not
We’ve got each other and that’s a lot
For love – we’ll give it a shot

We’re half way there
Livin’ on a prayer
Take my hand and we’ll make it – I swear
Livin’ on a prayer

Tommy got his six string in hock
Now he’s holding in what he used
To make it talk – so tough, it’s tough

Gina dreams of running away
When she cries in the night
Tommy whispers: Baby it’s okay, someday
We’ve got to hold on to what we’ve got
‘Cause it doesn’t make a difference
If we make it or not
We’ve got each other and that’s a lot
For love – we’ll give it a shot

We’re half way there
Livin’ on a prayer
Take my hand and we’ll make it – I swear
Livin’ on a prayer
We’ve got to hold on ready or not
You live for the fight when it’s all that you’ve got
We’re half way there
Livin’ on a prayer
Take my hand and we’ll make it – I swear
Livin’ on a prayer