Thought her performance was absolutely amazing ! She sang a very difficult piece flawlessly.
She's only really young, imagine how good her voice will be in 20 years time.
Part of me doesnt seem to take to child performers as much sometimes but this was beautiful and quite moving
Perhaps its the jealousy thing You know when you hear someone sing and you think "I wish I could sing like that person and get a standing ovation

Sorry - but no-one of that age should be singing that sort of repertoire or using her voice in that way.

It is typical pushy parent over-training a young talent.

In 20 years time, she will be lucky to have any working vocal chords. Too much, too young will do lasting damage.

She probably does have a good natural voice - but that sort of sound is too forced for one so young

I find her performances creepy .. not only the adult voice and vibrato coming out of a child but the puppet like arm movements too

She seems a lovely girl and obviously has a talent but the fact that she's being seen as a real angel and messanger from god by some religious fanatics (especially in the US) make me really uncomfortable and way too much pressure to put on a child

I didnt realise that... I don't like that sort of creepy shit
She doesnt sound like a child at all when singing.
She seems a lovely kid though when interviewed

Her voice sounds pretty effortless to me but i know nothing. I suppose if she has a great teacher and doesn't strain her voice she could keep it for quite some time, and have a carrer as a "popera" singer (why do people listen to this and not proper opera, i'll never know). Then again, child stars who still have a good carrer as they age are not the majority, are they?
Still, she creeps me out a tiny bit, with her adult voice, her lipstick, the way she talks ... everything about her screams "i'm gonna have a massive meltdown when i'm 17", but maybe that's just me, kid performers make me uncomfortable.

This little lass was completely stunning in terms of singing ability. I looked away from the screen and what I heard wasn't the voice of an 11-year-old, but someone in their twenties! She was outstanding! I was gobsmacked!

This gets me. Why do angels always have to be seen as perfect in every way? I hate it when people refer to singers as 'angel like' just because they've got fantastic voices.

She was on BBC Breakfast yesterday and said that God had given her her voice!

Also why was she singing Nessum Dorma which is a man's song?

It's all about the right time for that break! She did lose out in a local talent competition just before entering America Got Talent.

She is lovely, amazing technique in singing and come across very well in front camera.

I wondered that too since it was written for a tenor, but Katherine Jenkins also sang it (Pavarotti's version is definitive).

I think it was probably suggested as part of her repertoire as it's such a popular classic; even non-opera fans all know "Nessun Dorma".

I found her performance very disturbing. She has an adult woman's singing voice coming out of a little girl. I'm not sure that singing like that, particularly given the amount of vibrato she's been trained to use, is healthy for a child's vocal chords and I too wonder whether she'll have any voice left in later years (or indeed whether she'll rebel and become a recluse).

My daughter has a beautiful voice and has singing lessons, but she sounds like a child (because she is one) and the teacher is very careful indeed not to strain the vocal chords. I can't help thinking that's healthier in the long run, for both physical and mental health.

I'm not sure she's responsible for what other people say or do AROUND her.

That said, yes. I think the key reason she didn't win AGT (oh was that not mentioned?) was that America as a whole felt that same creepy vibe about her.

Although its worth noting that the guy who beat her hasn't had a fraction of her success. Its kind of a Susan Boyle thing going on here on her end with how successful she is despite losing, although I guess Diversity isn't comparable to this "Michael Grimm" person who beat Evancho.

That's true, and that did surprise me, now I don't know what to think...
Do singers like Charlotte Church and Faryl who began at similar ages (11/12) fall into similar brackets or sound enough like children even though they sang in an opera way?

They definitely sounded more like children; I didn't react in the same way at all. It was the maturity and amount of vibrato in Jackie's voice which is so at odds with her age.

Good point.

As an opera lover I found her performance absolutely dreadful - lamentable. I'm pretty sure anyone who likes genuine opera would agree. It was the old chestnut of the dog walking on its hind legs, remarkable that it can be done but it isn't a human so why is it doing it? If the child can sing, let her sing an appropriate pop song or something she can manage from a musical.

Nessun Dorma is beyond the range of most tenors, let alone a child. It is an aria exclusively for a male voice, a tenor - it's cringemaking for a female voice to sing it, and embarrassingly ignorant of whichever producer selected it for her to sing. It was obvious she had no idea what she was 'singing', there was zero interpretation - it's a man singing on the eve of his presumed execution. Her Italian was unintelligable, she gulped and breathed in all the wrong places - not surprisingly because she was trying to sing beyond the limits capable by a girl, and she swallowed every word.

It's not her fault, but the fault of the greedy moneymakers 'advising' her. They are opening her up to humiliation if she wants to sing classical music when she is older. She cannot sing opera yet because her voice is a child's voice and far too small. Genuine opera singers fill the opera house without amplification - this is why the likes of Katherine Jenkins is not an opera singer, she does not appear in opera and never sings without a microphone because her voice is too small for the opera stage. And this girl is no Katherine Jenkins.

Couldn't agree more. I really like Katherine Jenkins, and I also love opera. I found Jackie's performance really disturbing and she simply doesn't have the power to sing great operatic arias.

Age appropriate material is the key. One of the songs which my daughter performs best is "Castle on a Cloud" from Les Mis - a simple little song, age appropriate, which highlights her pure young voice. Doesn't need any trickery - either physical or mechanical - to sing it well. And incidentally, I would *never* let her apply for BGT or anything similar - not until she's an adult and can decide for herself. Even then I'd have severe misgivings.

I didnt know exactly what the song was saying, thanks to duncann for highlighting the story. I know Nessun Dorma means "None Shall Sleep" and thats about it.
A good point is made about age appropriate songs though.

Which is why I didn't really rate Faryl. She changed several of the notes in her rendition of "Ave Maria" to avoid the top notes because she didn't have the technical capability to reach them. I'd have much rather heard a simple song from her which she was capable of singing properly.

...just watched (and heard) her on 'This Morning' show and to me her version of Nessun Dorma sounded EXACTLY the same (her adult sounding voice / studio sound / reverb / backing singers .ect) as we heard on BGT final on Saturday night...

Once again lip syncing and mouth movement seemed 'strangely' off kilter ...

How do they get exactly the same audio balance in different studios..? She stayed the same distance from an upright floor mike with various levels of volume and expression in her voice - just didn't look right to me...!

Are we all absolutely sure she is not miming ?

Is this all a big hoax ??

Was she actually singing live on BGTon Saturday? Now I'm not sure.
Another example of age appropriateness is (IMO) - I Dreamed a Dream, isnt it about a YOUNG woman (say in her 20's) who thinks her life is over? Subo sang it well but its a young womans song. Also kids singing My Way - just doesnt sound right.

I think she was miming, to her record. But this isn't a hoax.

Here's her video audition for AGT,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0et5xcXvQns

...I'm not saying that she CAN't sing... but I'm really fed up (as a musician for many years) of listening to all these 'wonder' artistes and groups and bands that appear on TV just to mime along to their latest 'musical masterpiece'....

If any of these numerous so called 'musicians' were really any good they would be only too willing to play and sing live...

I personally would then have far more respect for those performers that at least did a live 'renditiion' of their orginal studio recording... It would sound nowhere near as their studio sound but at least we'd all be able to separate 'those that can and those that can't...

I'm sure 'little Jackie' would do it and we'd all appreciate her talent even more so for being able to 'have a go live '...

BUT I'm absolutely sure that there are dozens of 'musicians' out there that wouldn't stand a chance if the "what you hear is what you get" syndrome were applied !

Oh I agree about miming. And -- a separate point -- I'm not at all happy about the way she's being pushed and marketed ad hyped.

I replied because a lot of people who've seen her on TV think it's, as you said, all a big hoax. It isn't. The AGT producers over-produced her -- to my mind and ear -- but she's genuine.

She's got a good voice but her performance is so unnatural. I didn't particularly like Charlotte Church in her "Voice of an Angel" days but there was always something far more natural about her performance whether as Jackie Evancho's comes across as fake and caricaturish and it's very obvious that her gestures are what she thinks they should be or what an adult has told her they should be. It's like watching an actress in a movie about a child singer rather than watching an actual child singer.