My Sad Little Nemesis

I have always been mysteriously jealous (for Amira) of Jackie Evancho. I'll tell her story.

Jackie Evancho was a YouTube sensation child operatic singer before Amira Willighagen. She first auditioned on America's Got Talent in 2010 at the age of ten.



Her voice was strangely adult sounding and she could sing any note. Personally I have never liked her tone, and find she overplays to sympathies.

However, she was an early inspiration to a rising star far away in The Netherlands who was growing up in her local choir and busking in the parks with her father and brother, Amira Willighagen. When Amira was going through the steps of winning Holland's Got Talent, Jackie, on hearing that she was Amira's inspiration, graciously recorded a message to her.



Amira went on to win Holland's Got Talent. And from then on, there is very little comparison between the two girls.

When Jackie, who is now 20 years old, became a teenager, she quickly sought to devise a more sexy rock 'n' roll persona, capitalizing on her body and blond hair. This cost her a lot of her original following.

Her style of music also morphed to reflect what she saw as more popular trends.



Jackie never actually won America's Got Talent. She was a runner up. Amira did win Holland's Got Talent, by more than 50% of the national viewer vote. Amira is an athlete. Jackie recently 'opened up' about her anorexia. I suppose Jackie Evancho, who came up through America's entertainment industry that has an appetite for chewing up and spitting out young talent, ought to be partly pitied. It's not really her fault; it's her culture. Amira, by contrast, was always surrounded by positive erudite influences, and a very different high-European ethos.

Jackie was recently in a contest where contestants audition in costume. She came dressed as a cat. No judge recognized who she was through her voice.

Jackie Evancho contesting as a cat 

That's a long way to fall. And it's very sad.