Amira Willighagen - Nell Fantasia (live) - Margarita Kid Reacts! 

Indeed. As Amira said a couple of years ago in an interview, the larger the audience is, the happier she feels...

Wow, great info - thanks!

Thanks for the info!

Thank you as usual Dafydd for your behind-the-scenes info. i also heard the edits were also done to focus on the emotions that she stirred to the audience, ie, crying, which she often does.

Amira's videos have over 1 billion views, of course she became a singing sensation after winning Holland's Got Talent in 2013 at age 9! Amira and Emma are definitely different people and singers. My response is in 2 separate areas, 1. Musical styles & Repertoires Amira has performed in many genres: opera, movie scores, musicals, sacred aria, gospel, crossover and more recently a piece from Phantom of the Opera. You mention that they have both performed with Andre Rieu and that Amira sang O Mio Babbino Caro (OMBC), which was also her initial audition in the 2013 Holland’s Got Talent show; the judges were so stunned and impressed they gave her the Golden Ticket. Amira loves to sing OMBC, it is 1 of her crowd favorites, much like Emma’s Voila. Amira has performed in at least 10 languages! What these performances all have in common is her unusual ability to evoke in her audience an emotional response. Amira’s voice is doing exactly what it’s meant to do, touching millions of hearts and souls. Her voice, tone, range and control is amazing. Amira is the only one singing for heart, soul and the LORD. All other singers sing to sing technically as good as they can, which is a good thing of course. Amira however is ONE OF A KIND. Best singer ever in all categories. She is a gift from God. She can sing any song. Beautiful soprano. No one has the pure, natural, unique, heartfelt feeling, soul piercing and ringing bell voice sound Amira has. Amira is a born super soprano and is classically trained. This means she is at the top of the musical technique. If you put a lighted candle in front of her mouth, she is able to project powerful notes without swaying the flame. A refined technique is reflected in a completely relaxed face, the big sound comes from within, the effort is below the neck. She's like a swan, gliding across the lake seemingly without any effort, but the fins below the surface of the water are working frantically. There's no comparing her to pop singers like Dimash or Dan Vasc or Emma. In comparison Emma is almost screaming or yelling to reach some notes, ie, lots of breath effort. 2. Schedule & Health I would imagine most of Emma’s fans would know of her life long struggle with Gastroparesis, a debilitating disease with mild to severe symptoms which can require hospitalization. I am quite sure Emma has been hospitalized a lot due to her illness. Some of the possible complications of gastroparesis can be life-threatening if they're very severe. Gastrointestinal function is particularly influenced by stress. Chronically delayed stomach emptying creates dramatic shifts in blood sugar levels and can cause dizziness, fatigue and nausea. These symptoms also progressively worsen during the day, except for the severity of nausea which persists throughout the day. Certainly, it is an honor to be on a world tour with Andre Rieu, he certainly has the money to fly all over. It wouldn’t surprise me that he may have asked Amira to do further performances, but her parents were being extremely careful to not over stress her still developing voice. Also, Amira is quite dedicated to school, sports and just enjoying her young life with her friends. She graduated as Valedictorian of her South African high school and is now attending the University of Pretoria studying music & conducting. Like Emma, Amira has traveled the world, received honors & awards, helped those in need, but perhaps her most special accomplishment is her Gelukskinders Foundation she started in South Africa (her mom’s home country) 10 years ago at age 10. Amira donates ½ of her earnings to this Gelukskinders! www.gelukskinders.org/en/purpose i believe she has set up 21 school playgrounds so far. Obviously, the biggest concern for Emma would be her on-going and long-term health situation. Given her incurable illness of gastroparesis, I am very concerned with her maintaining this most stressful and exhausting schedule Andre is subjecting her to. Personally, i think Emma should end the tour. Not only is her singing voice being used constantly, so to is her frail and weakened body! Where are her parents? Why does Andre have to push her so hard? So many star singers have been exploited and then cast aside when no longer useful for their “owners” or record producers. Amira ditched Sony after 3 years. She is happy with her life and being extremely careful with her voice.

​​​​@@cmlarose50 Andre Rieu never asked Amira Willighagen to go on tour with him. In fact it was arranged by a TV show that Amira got gifted a performance with Andre Rieu. Amira also got gifted a performance in Las Vegas after winning Hollands Got Talent. Emma Kok she herself is the driving force behind it all. Where are her parents you ask her mother is always with her behind the stage to hook her up two big feeding pumps and I say big because I have seen them in person. She was bullied at school because of those big pumps. Emma is happy to travel the world with Andre Rieu and has exceptional vocal control and had many singing lessons so she knows how to control her voice and how not damage it. By the way she only needs to sing 2 songs. I am Dutch so are Amira Willighagen and Emma Kok so I know more about them what you wrote here. I have been following Amira since she first was on Hollands Got Talent and Emma Kok on The Voice. Both are great singers and fact is Emma racked up 60 million views singing with Andre Rieu in one year. Amira 90 million views singing with Andre Rieu in 10 years. To be exact Amira has 1.5 billion views. Andre Rieu is a great guy giving both Emma and Amira a stage to shine. Andre Rieu also gave Mirusia Louwerse a stage and she now has a career of her own. Andre Rieu is not pushing Emma at all, she only has to sing 2 songs and has the vocal capabality and knowledge to do so and knows how to not damage her voice. She has had singing lessons from a vocal coach from when she was very young. If you really would have knowledge about singing you would hear Emma has a welltrained voice. She has been singing with Andre Rieu over a year now and will continue to do so. She has also been asked to sing on Dutch tv multiple times, to sing with Helene Fisher and she got other opportunities to sing in her own country as well. Andre Rieu he is a great guy. If you want me to fill you in on more information on how both Emma Kok and Amira Willighagen started before The Voice and Hollands Got Talent let me know. I have recordings of Amira where she couldnt sing at all. Emma Kok is so wellknown in her own country she already established a career for the future. Emma rests a lot as soon as the performance is over so she isnt pushed by Andre at all. They also dont do concerts in a row they come back home to The Netherlands in between shows to rest.

Cool info, and thanks for the sub! I'll have to look out for the Baez version.

Thanks. You can watch this video, among many others. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-7oday_Fc-Gc.htmlsi=OAeeOzZpnPabKn_g And here's a recent rendition of We shall overcome, by Amira, as a tribute to Joan Baez, who sang it during the March on Washington, on August 28, 1963 - and of course, to Martin Luther King. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-SHUoEz2s3hE.htmlsi=zhk5Oax23b50k9or

Thank you for the info and the recommendation list!

Thank you for that well written info :-)