EMMA KOK - HALLELUJAH | FIRST TIME HEARING | REACTION 

She is getting world wide recognition, those who bullied her are probably getting jail time. SHE WINS!

So glad you found out about Emma. I have been dumbstruck since seeing “Voila” 4 months ago. I totally support this young superstar!

This girl grabs my heart strings. Beautiful singing of a classic Leonard Cohen song by an angel.

😱 that voice! She killed this. The orchestra and her together was simply amazing!!!!!!!!

Hi. It’s me. As you know, I love female voices especially from beautiful women. Per usual, I wouldn’t have seen this but for you. 😊 And ❤ to all.

Wow! Best version I have heard. That symphony is fantastic also.

Very nice performance, and it hits hard given her situation.

We are blessed in Uk as on a current world tour she's in Liverpool this summer Hallelujah!

If music like this can move you and bring you to tears, you are not grumpy, old guy. And great that music can move us

Superb reaction, you are very sensitive, you are a great person. THANKS

EMMA IS AMAZING LOVE IT 💞💓💓GREETINGS FROM THE NETHERLANDS 🇳🇱🇳🇱🇳🇱🇳🇱🇳🇱

Beautiful voice, touching storey. Awesome rendition of this classic. Great reaction Tom

Thanks for your comments. As another grumpy old guy, I totally feel the same. Incredible. If you want to see a total different part of her: "Come back home".

❤❤❤❤

Our dear Emma, small in size, but great while singing. We all love her. Just to inform you, she will be performing with André Rieu and hos orchestra at Bahrain next Friday 23rd of February 2024, Furher on at March, the world tour continues in Bulgaria, Greece, Abu Dhabi to Mexico and so on. This year not in the USA. April UK, Ireland. and of course in July the famous concerts at he Vrijthof Maastricht. André's home city in the Netherlands. Do not worry about Emma, her MUM is also on World tour with Emma. And she has to study on line with teachers during this trip, as she is still obliged to visit school on her age in the Netherlands.

You shouldn’t have to apologise for not knowing what you don’t know. Your summary of her life challenges is more comprehensive than most. The only thing I would add is that Emma put a lot of her own money that she won from the talent shows into her Gastrostars foundation, she won a total of €50000. She also raised a further €50000 by singing at an equestrian event where the organiser donated the proceeds of the auction of a young foal to her foundation. Apart from her foundation, she is an ambassador for paediatric hospitals in Limburg, the area where she lives. Emma with her brother and sister took part in 2 live streamed benefit concerts organised by her brother (then 17) during the pandemic and also her own concert to help those affected by flooding. The vocal talent is one thing but she is clearly so much more too and at 15 I find that quite humbling that she can do this with her own struggles.

Many thanks from Switzerland for this super reaction to Emma. Thank you for the sensitive words about Emma's illness. Yes, life is not fair. But Emma is a great example of how strong you can become when you have to fight from an early age. Emma has been fighting to survive since she was born - and you can hear that in every song she sings. She is not full of sadness, no, she is full of hope and confidence. You are a very empathetic person and I thank you for this wonderful reaction!

This is healing music❤

Emma's story is heartbreaking to be sure. I have tried not to dwell on it too much, and just enjoy her amazing performances, but it is difficult. I really enjoyed your reaction to Emma's rendition of Hallelujah. It is just another example of her extraordinary talent and ability. To me, even at the very young age of 15, she is one of the best female vocal artists in the world today, and she's just going to get better. If you are looking for another video of Emma to react to, I suggest Laat Mijn Een Vlinder Zijn (Let Me Be a Butterfly). It is her first original release done when she was 13 or 14. She is singing in Dutch of her desire to, like a Butterfly, shed the bonds that bind her, and soar far above the everyday troubles of her life. It really is a beautiful song, and the video is high quality. It can be found on RU-vid. Thanks again for your heartfelt reaction. All the best.

Oh and great reaction!

I feel like you sir. Children suffer all over this world. Should not have to be. ❤️

Nice response, Tom. Thank you for drawing attention to the "Gastrostars" foundation. It is so important for Emna and all her fellow sufferers that more research is done into Gastroperesis. My impression is that millions of people feel bad about what Emma has to struggle with, but then don't bother to make a donation, even if it's only 50 cents. Emma gives us so much heart, lets give something back❤.

The only thing wrong with Emma’s song’s is , they are 10 times too short.❤❤

Emma has said that she doesn't mind André introducing her in context with her condition at every show, because it brings attention to the condition. Her foundation ("Gastrostars") is also working and growing, it was started when she won "Ministars", a dutch casting show, right after she won "The Voice kids". Ministars got her a 10k Euro price money (I think that's 11k USD), which she used as starting money for the foundation. She's since managed to collect donations and even got support from celebrities. She also said in a recent German TV-interview that on top of "the other stuff" she has issues with cow milk, so her "food" is essentially vegan baby-formula, which can't feel "nice" to have to buy/keep around at 15 years old.

🤗🍒🌹 well done

You're not "computer illiterate." You're operating a youtube channel which is something I wouldn't know how to do even though I've been using computers rigorously for 25 years! I appreciate your reaction videos a lot.

Hi Tom, You are NOT a grumpy old man. You have a heart of gold! I didn’t know Emma until I just saw her on your channel. I’m a computer geek and retired IT guy but I don’t have a functioning RU-vid channel, YOU do. So I don’t want to hear that stuff. Hugs, you need a hug! I was tearing up too after you told her story and I saw that video. I’ll be learning more about her. I saw this pop up on my feed and it reminded me I had earlier wanted to give you a recommendation. I still have it but will be modifying it. I have been following a young female singer (thankfully healthy and happy) because she is singing the songs of our youth. I’m 68 so, close. You’re between me and my younger brother. This girl, young woman, she’s 20. Has a golden voice and has been accused of lip-syncing to Karen Carpenter tracks. She doesn’t. The video I was going to recommend was her covering The Bacharach/David Medley that Carpenters did Live on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1970. It was a Veterans Day special at Walter Reed Hospital in front of Vietnam Vets and patients. (I don’t have to explain a damn word of this to you!) Well, she did this last November, the 53rd anniversary of that show. Last week an old guy, not grumpy to my knowledge. Liked the video and felt Richard was missing from the harmonies. So, he added himself to it in a split screen. The original singer Tori Holub (pronounced Hawluhb, soft vowels) LOVED what Jim Wilkas had done and we have a new released version. This is the one I’m linking below and requesting. I see you take SuperThanks and I will contribute if that’s OK with you. My pleasure. I like to do my part with what I can afford to contribute. Retired, did I say? LOL So keeping the old folk swinging with the young folk with the old souls. Tori has only been singing the songs from the 60’s - 80’s With one exception, she covered that new fangled Now and Then song by that new upstart band The Beatles. She mostly has Short videos. But she does have a few full length audio tracks including a cover of an artist you just mentioned. She covered Georgia On My Mind by Ray Charles but in a new arrangement. If you like what you hear I’ll request that one next. I’d like to start with her only full length video so you see her and now Jim too, in action. Be well and stay not so grumpy! Joe ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_mQCjHL3fiQ.htmlsi=tcd9fpY5Uc1Mrja0 .

@grumpyoldguyreacts That's a lovely reaction to Emma's song, and thank you also for going into Emma's back story in a lot more detail, you've clearly been reading the comments that were made by people like me, and I'm even happier that you've been even more deeply touched by Emma's laser like drive and determination, she truly is a force to be reckoned with in whatever she's doing. In September last year, Emma was 'honoured' by a request to perform at a special concert to commemorate and remember the 8000 American soldiers who gave their lives to liberate Holland in WW2, she does an introduction/promotion video, and then three songs, it's not broadcast quality but it is good, the best of the three is 'Father', she gives an superb performance that goes very deep into the people there, even the sound engineer behind her loses it, he is visibly broken and in tears, it's a deeply moving and emotional song, and one the factors that Emma has been able to absolutely take on board is the depth of emotion she can express in her voice, and in her presentation and performance, she's had to mature to a level that's way above her 15 years, and she's learned how to fully utilise that strength and ability, the best way I can describe it is that she has a way to project a poweful vulnerability, it's not a show of weakness, far from it but she is laying open the simple fact that she is incredibly vulnerable, and it's a positive way to use her illness to enhance her performing skills, which are becoming stronger with every concert she does. liberation concert Introduction to the concert ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-e5HBdHX6bew.html Father ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-y554GsqMHj8.html Hero ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-iYVEIXwNmT8.html You Raise me up, duet with Nico Wouterse ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-baH0JQsLo3c.html Equally important and significant, Andre's long and excellent showman's experience allowed him to very gently prepare Emma for the Vrijthof singing Voila, he helped her make the difficult transition from being the very capable and competent girl singer to becoming the new Emma that came out onto that stage and soared, she walked out on to that stage visibly and emotionally a beautiful, strong, powerful, serene, composed, competent, driven and dedicated young woman, it was the fulfillment of her dream that she sang about in her first single, LAAT MIJ EEN VLINDER ZIJN , let me be a butterfly, it's on RU-vid, it's in Dutch, and there is a translation in the notes, the most significant bit, deeply emotional, between 2:02 to 2:30, 'if only for a day, or even for a count of ten, I'd just like to live as another', and you will then see a gentle shake of her head, the pain in her eyes, the recognition of the awful daily grinding pain and reality of her situation, and then her head goes down to silence for a moment. Physically, she walked on to the stage, mentally, she soared, she was effectively seeing her butterfly, the butterfly of her dream breaking free of the cocoon, the chrysalis emerging as the beautiful new form of the butterfly, and it soared over that stage, and as it soared, so did she, she dominated the stage, the orchestra and the 12,500 audience that was there, that first performance of Voila was perfect, and it's hard to realise it was the first ever live performance of the new version, she absolutely nailed it, and that cheeky smile as she punched the air in triumph at the end of that top note made it clear she knew she'd nailed it, but the 15 year old girl is still there and emerged again for a moment, as she threw her arms wide to Andre, and effectively said, 'How was that?' His eyes, his smile, the embrace and kiss, the call back to the stage to take more of the standing ovation from the orchestra and the audience, all of that told the story, and to confirm it, after only one of the 12 planned performances, the next day, he invited her to join his 2024 world tour, and appear in the Christmas concerts, to the absolute surprise of Emma and her family. In her song, after the hearbreak of the recognition and reality of her situation, she rises, physically and in the song she soars to an even greater height, as much as to say, 'This is NOT going to beat me, or define me, I WILL rise above it', an incredibly emotional moment, it was written just for her, an incredibly deep expression of her dream, she so much wants to be free of the tie and limits of the pumps and all they mean for her day by day life, but she's reached a place where she knows that's not going to happen soon, so if she wants to live, and see her dream come true, and she does, then she has to rise above the issues that affect her, and find a way to live a life that has meaning, and with what she's achieved with winning Voice Kids, and then Ministars, and now guest starring with Andre RIeu in over 75 concerts during 2024, her life has changed, and has meaning, she has said she feels free for the 2 hours that she's off the pumps and is free to sing, and that's exactly what she's now doing, singing her heart out, and at the same time, exposing her vulnerability, not for sympathy, but to say so clearly, 'Voila, Here I am, as I am, with my weakness and faults, I need you to accept me and take me as I am, THIS IS ME'. She has absolutely arrived, her dream is now a very strong reality, and that's only going to get better as the year goes on. Two other songs from around that time that have deep meaning for Emma are a cover of a Miley Cyrus song, 'The climb', recorded for tube feeding week, ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-dOhzlDEuCBg.html Another cover, this time a Disney film, 'The Little Mermaid', sung by Halle Bailey, 'Part of your world', ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-itxs-aNyRJY.html Ariel is expressing a deep desire to move from her life in the water to a life where she can walk on the land, and experience that completely different life, and that so much resonated with Emma, her ache is to be free of the pumps that are so much like a boat anchor, and be free to live a normal life, to be able to enjoy food, and all that goes with the social side of sharing a meal with friends, being able to have the strength to walk long distances, or climb multiple flights of stairs, all things that she can't do at the moment, with her life experience, I doubt she has any memories of a time when she wasn't tied to those pumps for 22 hours a day. I have been watching and listening to Andre for over 15 years, and in all that time, I can't ever recall him giving a guest artiste the freedom that he is giving Emma, a recent song in January is an absolute example, there's no official video of it yet, so I can only refer to two audience captures, which give the clear indication of Emma's skills and capability, she walks on to the stage, and with a cheeky smile, lifts a finger to her mouth to indicate she wants quiet, which she gets, and then with no introduction or guidance note, she sings the first verse of a German song originally sung in Eurovision 1982, and she does it a capella., and it rings out so beautifully. Then, Andre brings in the orchestra, the chorus, the sopranos and the tenors, and then, to top that, Emma sings a lovely counter harmony verse, before Andre winds it back down again to let her close it out, it's a lovely example of the way Andre is giving her new challenges, and she's rising so wonderfully to meet them, and we're only in January, I can see many more such songs being released over the coming year, Andre has already said in an interview in the summer that she's an incredibly quick learner, and that he is massively impressed with her ability, and for a maestro like Andre to make comments like that, it's very clear that she's got very deep into his heart as well, which makes me happy, we can trust Andre to take great care of her, and not push her too hard, or expect too much from her, he will be very careful not to compromise her health, that's so good. The song is Ein Bisschen Frieden in German, ru-vid.comi-eX4AGKbIM ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-aC-QtYbGRoE.html People who know me will know what's coming, and I make no apologies for repeating it on a regular basis, A closing heartfelt plea to everyone reading these comments. Emma's foundation can be found at gastrostars.nl If at all possible, please join me in making a (regular) donation to her foundation, to enable them to help patients like Emma, and research this awful disease, and hopefully find a cure. At the moment, they are a small group, and one of their main people is a surgeon who has a lot of experience in dealing with gastroparesis, and she is not only a surgeon, but also suffers from the same disease herself, to the extent that as a result of her condition worsening, she's had to leave her role in the hospital, and she is now dedicated to the foundation, and working to help find possible new treatments, or even better the cure that will free people like Emma to live a more normal life, rather than be tied to the feeding pumps for so many hours every day. It would be wonderful news to hear that they have been able to change the outlook for Emma and others, it would be tragic if Emma were unable to continue to sing like she does, while she looks stunning on stage, her stamina is not good, so it is a very delicate balance to maintain her health, it would be so good to hear that the situation has been changed by the work the foundation are doing, Emma would then be free to spend more time doing what she loves so dearly.

Helluva reaction, and that's coming from another grumpy old guy (there's lots of us out there). In case you feel like more Emma, here's some other performances: COME BACK HOME (Sofia Carson) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Z_FZ14DFppA.html THE CLIMB (Miley Cyrus) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-dOhzlDEuCBg.html ...from André Rieu's Holiday Concert, these are both short videos, you could easily do both in one reaction: WHITE CHRISTMAS: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ZZEyhG2bEeM.html ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU:ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-xCBOVw7PErU.html

Her "the voice kids"-performances may be worth looking into, to get an "early version" of Emma. But some of them may be too short for their own video. Like this one, with a Demi Lovato-cover, which is the first song she performed on that show: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-fFZ_qHpDJZo.html She also performed "Hallelujah" at an event in 2021, backed by a men's choir: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-o3uskk3objU.html (It's kinda cute to see her stand between all the suited gentlemen).

Her last name is pronounced "Cook".

That was nice, now do the best one...By Lucy Thomas....Many are trying to copy Lucy in this song, but not making it, coping Lucy's great arrangement....Hallelujah - Lucy Thomas - (Official Music Video)