mark barger, nbc news. >> catch "the grinch" on nbc, 8:00 p.m. eastern, 7:00 p.m.grinch," tv, musical, cartoon. now add this for the kids to watch. thanks so much for starting your morning with us. i'm frances rivera. >> and i'm phillip mena. have a great wednesday please be smart out there. >>> we leave you with ♪ ♪ life's more fun with a dog. and doglife is more fun with milk-bone. ♪ ♪ >>> right now at 4:30, a south bay surge. the concerning covid case that is have health officials sounding the alarm this morning. plus -- >> we're in survival mode. hopefully we can make it. >> restaurant owners are expressing outrage saying they need more help to survive the pandemic. we'll talk about the growing number that could soon be forced to close and what they're now planning to do. >>> and racing full steam ahead for funding. the move b.a.r.t. and other transit agencies across the nation will make as they deal with declining ridership. "today in the bay" starts right now. a very good wednesday mni

mark barger has more on what they will do to win the season 19 crown. >> reporter: it took an instantice" finalist now team blake's singer is embracing the workload. >> when you triple the songs and triple the work, there's triple the pressure, but there's also -- you're sufficient so grateful to be here. >> reporter: jim ranger is team blake's second finalist. his biggest challenge might be outdoing last week's buzzworthy performance atop a giant rock. >> we follow up this week with something pretty epic. >> reporter: team kelly's dez is the lone female finalist and the only remaining artist to get a four-chair cheer during blind auditions. >> this week has been as agagwen stefani would say bananas. >>> 15-year-old carter ruben shocked them his voice could belie his age and could give gwen her first champion. >> this could be a real possibility to win the show and that's just so insane to me. >> reporter: john holiday's voice fooled them during his audition is hat team legend's finalist on the precipice of something big. >> this is going to be an incredible time and moment i'm excite