Showing posts with label America’s Got Talent. Show all posts
Showing posts with label America’s Got Talent. Show all posts

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Video – Meet Jackie Evancho – She Will Melt Your Heart and Make you Cry!

Move over Lady Gaga – there’s a new kid in town.

And we mean move over, as in get out of the way.

If you haven’t heard of Jackie Evancho you will soon.

Why?

Because Jackie just released her first feature length CD, “Dream With Me”, and it’s outselling every major artist on the pop music scene today.

Young Ms. Evancho is only 11-years-old and was born is Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. She has several brothers and sisters and says she fell in love with music after seeing “The Phantom of the Opera” on television.

After hearing her sing, her mother, Lisa, entered her into a local talent contest where she came in second place – Jackie was only eight years old.

After narrowly missing out on winning several more talent contests, her parents allowed the ten-year-old prodigy to audition for the television show “America’s Got Talent.”

Jackie seemed to blow away the competition and seemed to be on track to win, but unfortunately came in second place.

Her performances were so flawless that there were accusations that she had lip synced her songs and it was all a scam by producers.

But the cat was out of the bag and America had heard, and seen, what was to become one of the youngest artists to skyrocket to Platinum sales status in over thirty years.

After “America’s Got Talent”, Jackie immediately released her first single “O Holy Night.” This was her first national exposure and won her a spot singing for President Barak Obama in Washington D.C. during the annual Christmas tree lighting.

Watch Jackie Evancho sing O Holy Night in Washington D.C.


The reaction to her “O Holy Night” single was amazing, and immediately shot to the top of the Billboard music charts and became a best seller on Amazon. It was certified as Platinum in 2010.

She also setup her own web site at JackieEvancho.com, and created her own YouTube Channel and Facebook page.

Jackie had hit it big and people wanted more.

After doing the rounds on the daytime and late night talk shows, she was approached by producer David Foster who worked with Jackie in the development of her first full length album “Dream With Me”.

Together, the two fashioned a collection of tracks, one which Jackie wrote herself, that combined both opera and crossover songs like “The Lord’s Prayer”, “When you Wish Upon a Star”, and “Angel” by Sarah McLachlan.

Watch Jackie Evancho and David Foster Interview


Jackie says,

“The title of my new album is ‘Dream With Me’ because it means I’m basically living the dream and there’s more to come.”

Jackie also plays violin and piano and has said she would like to collaborate with Josh Groban, Charlotte Church, and Andrea Bocelli.

Evancho's Sarasota Florida concert is currently being featured on most national PBS stations and showcases some of her best music and features several songs off her new album.

Theses PBS shows are the first time many viewers have seen Jackie and have caused quite an interest in the young singer.

She says she understands that in order to remain popular she has to do more than just sing opera songs, and realizes she will have to be a crossover singer in order to stay relevant.

On “Dream With Me” you will find her favorite opera pieces like “Nella Fantasia”, “Nessun Dorma”, “O Mio Babbino Caro”, and “Ombra Mai Fu”, along with incredible duets like “A Mother’s Prayer” with Susan Boyle and “Somewhere” featuring Barbra Streisand.

Watch Jackie Evancho sing Sarah McLachlan’s “Angel” on PBS


Now you see why Jackie is going to be a star.

In fact, InfoStar has not really been able to find a bad review or other critical comment about her anywhere – and that says a lot in the world of the internet.

Composer Tim Janis says,

"Jackie's voice is so pure and natural, there's no flaw in it. People say 'I can hear her potential coming,' but no, it's here, it's now. She is truly an Angel and I can’t wait for the World to hear it and see it."

We agree.

And Jackie says the only thing she does to prepare for a big show is to “Say a prayer that God will be there on the stage with her and that He will sing along with her.”

Wow. Sniffle sniffle. Goose bumps…

So we set out to find the one performance piece that often separates the good from the bad in critical operatic singing – “Ave Marie”.

We figured if Evancho can pull off that tune with its massive complexity, then she really must be a true angel sent from Heaven.

Well - we found it. And it will make you cry.

So ladies and gentlemen, here is Jackie’s version of “Ave Maria” by Schubert accompanied by The Houston Chamber Choir and The Treble Choir of Houston.

Watch Jackie Evancho Sing Schubert’s “Ave Maria”


See. I told you.

I’ll say it again. Move over Lady Gaga - because I would love for my kids to learn, respect and look up to an artist like Jackie.

I know it won’t happen but I can dream can’t I?

If you only buy one CD this year... buy "Dream With Me."

You can sample each song and purchase Jackie’s new CD here at Amazon.

Follow InfoStar on Twitter – no crying allowed...

Video - 11-Year-Old Jackie Evancho Takes the World by Storm with “Dream With Me”

If you you’ve never heard of Jackie Evancho don’t worry – you will.

This 11-year-old soprano prodigy has taken the word by storm with her first full length album “Dream With Me” and is outselling Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, and Katy Perry combined.

Jacqueline Marie "Jackie" Evancho was first seen during season five of “America’s Got Talent” when she was just ten years old, and blew away viewers who couldn’t get enough of her exquisite singing.

In addition to singing, Jackie also plays the piano and violin and even co-wrote the title track on "Dream With Me" with producer David Foster.

Watch Jackie Evancho Interview with David Foster


Jackie was born in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania to Michael and Lisa Evancho and says she became interested in singing after seeing “The Phantom of the Opera”. She has two brothers, one older and one younger, and a younger sister.

Jackie says she was amazed that her debut single “Oh Holy Night” was so well received, and couldn’t believe that it sold over a million copies and has since gone platinum.

Evancho has teamed with the famous David “Hit Maker” Foster to produce her first full length CD titled “Dream With Me”.

On the album, she features the duets “A Mother’s Prayer” with Susan Boyle and “Somewhere” with Barbara Streisand along with her favorites “O Mio Babbino Caro”, "Ombra Mai Fu", "The Lord’s Prayer" and “Dream with Me”.

But the song everybody seems to want to hear is Jackie’s version of Sarah McLachlan’s “Angel”.

Watch Jackie Evancho Sing Sarah McLachlan’s “Angel”


One reviewer says,

“It may well become her signature song – the one everybody wants to hear. She is able to put so much emotion into it and you can tell by watching her perform she absolutely gets lost in the moment. I have rarely seen adults who can perform with such maturity. It made me cry.”

Indeed.

In fact, PBS has been running segments of Jackie’s performance of “Angel” from her show in Sarasota Florida - and PBS only brings out the big guns during their fundraising season.

That should tell you something about this incredible young singer.

Jackie even has her own website at Jackieevancho.com and YouTube channel.

It’s true – we have not been able to find one review that had anything negative to say. This young lady is destined to become one of the greatest talents we have ever seen.

You can purchase her new album on Amazon here.

Forget Lady Gaga, this is the type of music and personality I want my kids to learn to appreciate – but I’m not holding my breath.

Follow InfoStar on Twitter – no crying allowed
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Thursday, June 9, 2011

Was That Justin Bieber on America’s Got Talent? No - It Was Dani Shay - Video

Meet Dani Shay From Orlando
We all know who Justin Bieber is.

No one knew who Dani Shay was…

Until last night.

Meet Dani Shay, Justin Bieber’s identical twin look-a-like doppelganger.

Twenty-two year old Dani is a splitting image of teen pop sensation Justin Bieber – and she doesn’t like it one bit.

Shay hails from Orlando Florida and is a singer songwriter who considers herself part of the Indie, acoustic, folk genre – NOT the teenage bubble gum puppy love genre.


And she’s not a boy – she’s a girl and proud of it.

In fact, back when people started telling her she was a splitting image of Bieber she didn’t even know who they were talking about.

Over time, it got to be such a problem she wasn’t really sure how to deal with it - so she pleaded with fans to take a deeper look at her – and not just look at the surface.

She made her plea via YouTube with the following video:



As Biebermania exploded, Shay grew frustrated that all anybody wanted to hear her play at her live shows was “Baby”. So she set out to rectify the problem with her own version of Bieber’s hit song “Baby” – she called it “What the Hell?”

Dani says she wrote the “Baby” parody as her way to fight back when people saw her for who THEY wanted her to be and not the person she really was.

Dani says,

“I am stopped everywhere I go because people think I am Justin Bieber. Before I even knew who he was, no matter what I was wearing, I would be asked for photos, autographs. “What The Hell” was my response to that. It expresses my initial confusion, the shock when I finally saw his face, the frustration with people only seeing him when they see me.”

Watch Dani Shay sing “What the Hell” Baby Parody


Dani very much has her own musical style, and even covers an Eminem song, but her biggest frustration was being compared to Bieber.

Her solo album “See Me Now” can be purchased from her website DaniShay.com, and she will autograph it on request and refers to it as her “pre-fame” album.

So, will Dani Shay become famous?

After last night - the answer is probably yes!

You see, Shay took the stage at the “America’s Got Talent” Houston auditions last night and had the opportunity to sing “What the hell” in front of 20 million television viewers.

She was a smash hit! The audience and AGT judges loved it and we’re sure we will be seeing more of her.



What do you think?

Will Dani Shay get her 15 minutes of fame?

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Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Video - Look-a-like Justin Bieber on America’s Got Talent

As bad as America’s Got Talent has been this year, Wednesday’s episode actually had one funny spot.

Singer songwriter Dani Shay graced the stage looking like a lesbian Justin Bieber.

Shay did a musical parody of Bieber’s top hit “Baby” complete with her own lyrics.

She said it was her response to always being told she looked like the teen pop sensation.

Bieber, on the other hand, was sitting in Nashville at the Country Music Awards winning "Best Collaborative Song" with Rascal Flatts. Congrats!

Watch Lesbian Justin Bieber on AGT


Note: We suspect the video will be removed soon by YouTube. It usually takes a day for NBC to upload their videos so we will work to get the official snippet as soon as possible.

So if the above video is not working for you just check back later and we’ll have the official clip.

We’ll send out a tweet when it’s ready.

If you didn’t have a chance to catch Dani Shay on AGT, here is one of her original videos from YouTube – It’s the same version she did on the show.



Enjoy!

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Wednesday, June 1, 2011

America’s Got Talent Turns into a Joke – Is it the New Gong Show?

Remember 30 years ago Chuck Barris hosted a show called The Gong Show?

Well, our generation has a new Gong Show and it’s called “America’s Got Talent”.

We can’t begin to explain how bad this show is, and we’re only in the first week of the new season.

For us, the epic fail started when American Idol runner Lauren Alaina ratted out Piers Morgan on the Jay Leno Show last week.

Lauren told Piers that she had tried out for AGT on TWO occasions and had never made it past the cattle call. She never had a chance to sing in front of the judges. Really?

Related: Lauren Alaina rats out Piers Morgan - Video

Morgan and company have been telling anybody who would listen about the “exhaustive” search for “great” talent that the show’s producers underwent this season.

Really? And you passed on Lauren Alaina?

Tens of thousands of applicants from Los Angeles and Atlanta they said, yet the first show seemed to be a reincarnation of the 1970’s Gong Show.

Let’s see, after all those thousands of auditions your judges picked a guy who makes farts with his armpits, a guy that juggles Tasers, a unicycle rider who juggles while feeling Howie’s bald head, and a bad bad karaoke singer.

Yawn…….

And the guy whose students put his dance video on YouTube…. You let this guy past the cattle call and in to see the judges? And they thought he was good enough to actually put on TV?

No.

AGT is not trying to find the best talent at all. They are simply giving us a sideshow of freak acts to create buzz and sell advertising.

But they will, eventually, find a good singer and pronounce him/her the winner and everybody will be happy. But after watching the revamped American Idol this year I can’t believe that people are actually taking America’s Got Talent seriously.



And Piers Morgan is such a pompous jerk. Why does a show highlighting American talent have two British judges?

Morgan is clearly trying to be the Simon Cowell judge in the mix and is just a mean, rude, douche bag.

Compare his AGT personality to his role on CNN’s Larry King replacement show and it’s striking. On CNN, Piers lobes softball questions and acts like a little puppy dog never really engaging his guests with any serious conversation.

Which is it Piers? Douche bag or puppy dog?

It was clear last night that the three judges don’t get along. Piers and Howie Mandel hate each other, and Sharon Osbourne is stuck in the middle.

All of these judges are D-list celebrities who can’t seem to find anything better to do then judge a freak show.

At least they got rid of David Hasselhoff.

Between America’s Got Talent and Donald Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice, it’s no wonder NBC is in last place in the ratings.

Related: Trump’s Apprentice losing viewers and advertisers

Maybe a reality show with Paris Hilton, Charlie Sheen and Donald Trump could pull them out of the hole.

And kids, if you don’t know who Chuck Barris is – I’m sure you can find some old vintage video of Chuck and the Gong Show on that YouTube internet thing.

Follow InfoStar on Twitter – we won’t gong you.
  

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Video - Lauren Alaina Says She Was Passed over Twice for “America’s Got Talent”

Last night was an interesting night on the Jay Leno Show.

American Idol runner-up Lauren Alaina visited with Jay and “America’s Got Talent” judge Piers Morgan and dropped a bombshell.

Pierce was standing on his prideful soapbox plugging AGT, saying how they strive to find the best talent in the country, and no other show has this quality of acts, yada yada yada, when Lauren stopped him in his tracks.

Lauren told Piers that she had auditioned for “America’s Got Talent” on TWO separate occasions and never even made it past the screening and never got to sing for the judges.

Morgan seemed horrified, or at least as horrified as his smugly little brain will allow, and joked that he was going to call the producers as soon as he left Jay’s taping.

It was classic. And it was fun to see a 16-year-old girl put the big fat sellout Piers Morgan in his place.

Kudos Lauren!

Watch Lauren Alaina and Piers Morgan on The Jay Leno Show


In addition to embarrassing Piers, Lauren also talked to Jay about her relationship with American Idol winner Scotty McCreery.

Lauren says they are NOT a couple and are NOT involved in any way other than with preparing for the Idol summer tour starting next month.

Hmmm, we don’t believe it. The two seem like perfect lovebirds and we hope their friendship blossoms.

If the two need some advice on how to do things up right and let the world see their public displays of affection, they can just ask Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez for advice – because this Royal Couple have the PDA system down to a science.

Related: Justin and Selena grab some butt and kiss in Maui

But then again, we think Scotty and Lauren would have a little more taste and act more like adults. We can’t see Scotty sporting tattoos and trying to sing rap.

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