Admittedly I'm not one for those ubiquitous 'talent factor shows,' but every now and then some humble someone steps on stage and literally blows the judges and the audience to kingdom come. In this latest case, it was a 10-year-old girl by the name of Anna Christine.
When she opened her mouth on America's Got Talent and sang 'House of the Rising Sun,' she made the show worthy of its name. A young girl in possession of a voice so soulful must be seen to be believed.
If you haven't already seen her in action, watch now and marvel at what real talent looks like. Then check out some other notable bright stars on the horizon.
In sad speculative news, the late Michael Jackson's daughter Paris has been hospitalized, following a suicide attempt. According to a developing article in the Huffington Post, the 15-year-old was rushed to hopsital by ambulance after police received a 911 call from her family home in Calabasas, Los Angeles.
One of the surviving children of singer Michael Jackson, Paris lives with grandmother Katherine Jackson and brothers Prince and Blanket.
It is too early to speculate about what prompted the teen to make an attempt on her own life, though she was discovered with cuts to her wrists and was suspected of overdosing. After a crazy custody case, she had been back in contact with her biological mother Debbie Rowe, who claimed her daughter "had a lot going on lately."
Her Twitter account offers little in the way of clues, yet is rife with song lyrics, including those to 'Yesterday' by the Beatles: "yesterday , all my troubles seemed so far away ... now it looks as though they're here to stay." And on the less eloquent side: "love is dumb and so are you." and "people suck!"
Her family lawyer confirmed that "[Paris] suffered with the loss of her father ... But we don't know what she was exposed to that precipitated this." Yet some sources surmise that it may have something to do with the imminent fourth anniversary of her father's death. Another source claims that Paris tried to kill herself because she wasn't allowed to go to a Marilyn Manson concert.
Though Paris claimed her father did his best to protect all his children, no doubt their upbringing was far from typical, what with names like Blanket and Prince...
Her grandmother released the following statement:
Would you notice if someone was drowning just a few feet away from you? You'd like to think so. But many of us would not. When someone is truly in trouble, they do not look at all like the flailing actors on TV.
With swimming season upon us, it's vitally important that we recognize and react to the signs. After all, it's the second cause of death in children, second only to car accidents. And with every death, there are countless other close calls.
An article in Slate aims to educate us all in the FAQs of drowning. What's know as The Instinctive Drowning Response, a term coined by Francesco A. Pia, Ph.D. to describe the real actions involved in drowning, involves "very little splashing, no waving, and no yelling or calls for help of any kind."
Then how can you tell if someone is actually in trouble, you ask. These are the telltale signs you need to watch for, according to Slate:
In other words, if it looks like someone is fine and treading water, don't be complacent. Ask them. If they can readily answer, then they're probably fine. If not, you may have very little time to get to them.
The Red Cross estimates that 500 kids drown every year in Canada, many languishing in mere centimetres of water. That's 500 too many. Let's open our eyes. Get more water safety tips here.
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