This you have got to hear. Self taught 9 yr old girl sings Puccinini. Staggering.

[snagglepuss]

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/stargazing/2013/11/05/nineyearold_sings_puccini_aria_for_stunned_hollands_got_talent_judges.html

[Berlum]

1. Excellent !

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. I hate to be a wet blanket, but

that little girl is not ready for Puccini or any other opera arias. She has an unusually mature-sounding voice, but she does not have the breath support and control you need for opera, which is apparent because she can't make it through a phrase without having to catch her breath - because she is simply too young to have that capacity. She should find a good voice coach (if she keeps trying to teach herself she'll ruin her voice early) and develop a repertoire that is appropriate for her age. In 8-10 years, if her voice holds out, then she can start in on Puccini.

[teenagebambam]

3. Agreed.

As a professional opera singer and voice teacher, any teacher that will take her at age 9 isn't reputable, IMO. I really detest this craze for child singers, some of them are doing irreparable damage to their voices.

[brucefan]

4. I'm glad someone else said it first

She was not very good.Just a mature sounding voice

[Manifestor_of_Light]

6. Agreed. She needs to wait until she has a grown-up's lung capacity.

I took voice lessons for two years myself.

[longship]

8. Comes from a program which features pop music where the rules are different.

The bumper music was some rubbish pop.

Yes, she was impressive, but I agree with those saying that if she's serious, she won't allow anybody to turn into a singing china doll like Jackie Evancho. Cannot stand what's happening to her.

And, I agree, that's not opera. You don't learn it on YouTube.

[rdharma]

5. As the one judge said,........ UNBELIEVABLE!

Truly amazing!

[Warpy]

7. She's had training, thank goodness

There is no stress in her voice, anywhere. Because of this, she might have a future. This appearance will likely qualify her for even better training.

At that age, I could hit 'em but I couldn't hang onto 'em. No training for me.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

11. I disagree. Although her voice is unusually mature-sounding,

there is evidence of strain when she goes for the high notes. That's because she has too little breath support, so she has to strain with her larynx instead of using her abdominal muscles, which is what a mature singer does. This kid is just too young to have that kind of strength - and you need strength and endurance and a lot of breath capacity to do opera. She can hit the notes but not cleanly because she has to take a breath before she goes there. She's cute, and has a nice voice for her age, but no ethical voice teacher would let a 9-year-old try to perform Puccini. My understanding is that she's self-taught - listens to Puccini on YouTube.

[Warpy]

15. That last one was a little rough

but the others are not. I think you're picking up on her nervousness. The look on her face as she finishes should have told you that much.

I doubt any ethical voice teacher pushed her onto that stage.

She's not ready for anything more than a short aria, I agree. That's what takes the years of training or the singer will be fit for the Croaking Chorus and that's about it.

[IrishAyes]

9. Nobody said she's Maria Callas - yet. It's a talent show, fer cryin' out loud!

And I don't believe it's necessarily harmful to youngsters to let them sing when the spirit moves them. I watched a young man at the same age with his own PBS special several years ago, and his voice has since matured beautifully. They shouldn't be overworked, of course; but NOT silenced!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

13. She shouldn't be silenced - she should sing music that she can handle.

Puccini is over her head at this point. She has a nice voice for a little kid but shouldn't be treated like a dancing bear, doing things she really can't yet handle.

[IrishAyes]

17. So, one's reach should never exceed one's grasp?

Unless the kid's trying to dethrone Callas right now, leave her alone and let her sing if she wants to sing. She certainly sings better than 99.9% of other people, including adults, a lot of whom are probably wrestling with their own feelings of comparative inadequacy. Sour grapes, anyone?

As for 'dancing bears', I seriously doubt she'd agree with you.

Micharel Junior's grandmother was a professional opera singer, btw, and trained him well. You should check out his PBS special or the soundtrack Dreamland.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

19. The concern is that she will damage her voice by trying, without any training,

to sing music that is too hard for her. It's not sour grapes at all - the kid has a very lovely voice for her age but if she's trying to learn to sing opera from watching YouTube videos she will probably learn bad technique and end up with vocal damage (no kidding, it happens) and be unable to sing well at all. If all she ever does is this talent show, probably no real harm will be done, but she might have a lot of unlearning (and undamaging) to do if she wants to go pro someday.

[IrishAyes]

24. And who's to say she won't?

Some of the complaints and criticism really sound like pearl-clutching at best. Anyone knows a voice can be damaged. You think her parents and surrounding adults don't know that? Perhaps with this public exposure of her astounding talent - which NO ONE described as matured perfection - she might be able to secure professional help to reach that state of maturity safely. If she had to learn what she could from YouTube tutorials, you can bet she doesn't come from wealth. This talent show might've been the only chance she had for a successful, long career.

But people love to carp, I know that.

[libdem4life]

10. Amazing stage presence and blue eyes...hope she makes it.

[TeeYiYi]

12. Wow,...

...what a bunch of wet blankets that showed up in this thread to bag on a 9 year old girl in a talent contest.

Holy Cow. Seriously.

TYY

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

14. Not bagging on her at all. I just hate to see a little kid with potential

running the risk of ruining her lovely voice doing stuff that's too hard.

[TeeYiYi]

20. I didn't mean just you...

I didn't realize I'd subconsciously repeated your 'wet blanket' comment. Sorry about that. My comment wasn't intentionally directed at you alone. I sincerely apologize if you felt singled out because of my oversignt.

I just think people in this thread should lighten up about a kid singing Puccini in a talent show.

TYY

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

21. That's OK - no offense taken.

I just hope it's clear that I don't mean to pick on the kid - she does have potential but she shouldn't be doing opera yet, and I hope she isn't turned into a kind of circus freak by adults (stage parents or greedy agents?). Some of these talent shows tend to exploit people.

[TeeYiYi]

22. With the right visibility from a talent contest...

...she might receive the voice lessons needed to evolve her talent to the next level.

TYY

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

23. And I hope that happens.

In fact, she is probably getting offers already.

[malaise]

16. Beautiful voice

She does have talent

[DevonRex]

18. I was a voice major first. She was incredible. It was not too much for her.

She did one short piece that was not too taxing for her. She has natural talent. She chose a piece that used a full range and that allowed her plenty of breath. It's all about the selection of the music and the tempo.

[teenagebambam]

25. Sorry, I'll continue to be a wet blanket.

She's pushing unhealthily even on the lowest notes (listen to the wobbly/uneven vibrato), forcing a great amount of air through vocal fold which are a) incredibly delicate, and b) not fully developed, nor will they be for about 10 more years. She's moving too much air without the muscular support system to control it. I would be surprised if there isn't already some pre-nodular swelling of her vocal folds.

Plus her Italian diction is terrible and she has no idea what the song is about.

[Paper Roses]

26. Amazing! n/t