Opera Phenom Jackie Evancho
Photo: Freemantle
It was the breakout performance of the summer that had all of America doing a double-take—and had America's Got Talent judge Howie Mandel asking if this 10-year-old Pennsylvania girl had swallowed an adult.
America's Got Talent runner-up Jackie Evancho is a small girl with a big voice. Her road to stardom began in August 2010 with a 90-second YouTube audition. That video led to an audition and eventually a spot on the summer reality competition. "All we want to do is find that one moment, that one gem, that one star from a place we've never looked before in America's Got Talent," Howie said. "You know what? This is the moment. You're the star."
Week after week, Jackie beat out competitors five times her age. Sixteen million people tuned into the finale—the show's highest-rated episode ever.
Though this fifth-grader took second place, she now holds an even bigger prize—the world record as the youngest opera singer in history. "To have this experience, [I'm] just really grateful because it's fun," she says.
America's Got Talent runner-up Jackie Evancho is a small girl with a big voice. Her road to stardom began in August 2010 with a 90-second YouTube audition. That video led to an audition and eventually a spot on the summer reality competition. "All we want to do is find that one moment, that one gem, that one star from a place we've never looked before in America's Got Talent," Howie said. "You know what? This is the moment. You're the star."
Week after week, Jackie beat out competitors five times her age. Sixteen million people tuned into the finale—the show's highest-rated episode ever.
Though this fifth-grader took second place, she now holds an even bigger prize—the world record as the youngest opera singer in history. "To have this experience, [I'm] just really grateful because it's fun," she says.
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