Oprah Staff:
The video is of my 10 year old son, Jackson, who is also the youngest professional movie critic in America. Jackson (a.k.a. "Lights-Camera-Jackson") has had his own movie reviews website (www.lights-camera-jackson.com) for about a year and a half, and in September he got his own weekly film critic segment on a local TV station. He's also been doing movie reviews on the radio since he was 7 1/2.
Jackson is an amazing talent. I couldn't link his TV review work for you due to copyright issues, but you can see his segments here:
http://capitalnews9.com/content/living/lightscamerajackson/Default.aspx
and you can read his reviews, listen to his podcasts and see his box office wrap-up on his site.
But one of his most incredible talents is his ability to do impressions. He was born with the ability to hear a voice, sometimes only once or twice, and then duplicate it. Obviously his love for the entertainment business leads him to doing many celebrity impressions (the one's on this clip are of some of the 2008 Oscar nominees), but he also does political figures, cartoon characters and regular people. It's really something to watch and hear.
Nothing against the other kids you have on your site, they're all very talented, but when was the last time you heard a 10-year do impressions...and just NAIL THEM? I'm guessing never.
The other thing that makes Jackson so unique is that he is a "Kid Critic" - he reviews Kids/Family movies from a kids point of view. Other kids, and PARENTS especially love this, because they get insight and advice on a movie they might be thinking of taking their kids to...from a real kid...and not some 45 year old man who, for obvious reasons, can't relate to these films the way a 10-year old can.
And Lights-Camera-Jackson knows his stuff. He is a student of film and pop culture. He can tell you the actors, plot, release date and box office take of practically every movie that's been released in the past 3-years. And he knows the year that every Disney film came out - cold.
Last year he saw 46 films in the theater. Some weekends we hit one Friday night another on Saturday.
And, along with his reviews, he also does celebrity interviews. I know he'd love to ask Oprah a few questions about her film career.
Check out his website and on-air work. I think you'll agree that Jackson fits your criteria as both smart and talented.
Thanks for allowing me to write to you about him and I appreciate you considering him for the show.
Sincerely,
Dan Murphy
Jackson would make a great guest on your show as he could also do review some recent films or, and this would be very timely, do a SUMMER MOVIE PREVIEW.
Charlie Liu might be the only 8 year old in the U.S. to be able to give a virtuosic performance on this very difficult Chopin show piece. Not only so, he's also a travel hockey player than plays hockey 5 times a week during season.
Charlie has won 13 international and local piano competitions, performed in all 3 halls of the Carnegie Hall (a feat likely no other 8 year old ever did) and performed on great pianist Lang Lang's own concert (very few kids had done that). He's Massachusetts 1st place and New Jersey 2nd place piano competition winner. Not only so, he's won 2nd place in Greater Princeton Chess Championship. He's identified as exceptional by his school district, participated in Continental Math League, and he skis and snowboards!
13-year old Norweigian girl Nora Foss Al Jabri singing "Somewhere over the Rainbow" live with Dag Stokke on the piano. One of the most talented singers the world has seen!
Hi Oprah,
Let me start by saying that my wife and I are big fans of your show! We, along with our 7 year old son, caught the episode with all of these talented kids from around the world and we loved it. Especially my little boy!
Attached is a video of my son this past summer hitting balls at our local driving range. He was 6 years old here and he's been playing since he was 3 years old. Enjoy.
Cheers,
Eric Reyes
This is a video of our 4-year old son and his love of world Geography. He has a passion for places, names, cultures, etc. and this video shows his knowledge of Africa and it's countries.
Almira is 11 years old. She is a musician, singer, song writer, and teacher. Her main activities besides school are play soccer, teach guitar, and write music. She plays several instruments including acustic guitar, bass, harmonica, keyboard, and drum. When she performs, often she uses a loop station machine to allow her to add several instruments on her own to accompany her singing on the stage. In this video, she is playing her original song 'Chillax' with acustic guitar and harmonica.
Sadie Hamrin is 8 years old and has been playing the violin since she was almost 4. This piece is one of her current favorites, "Polish Dance," by Edmund Severn. Sadie takes lessons with Dr. Michelle Laliberte in Bemdji, MN. She is home schooled and plays the piano as well. Aside from violin and piano, she loves to read, play soccer, run in track meets, and cross country ski.
This video is by South of the River. The live performance of their original "Flatbed Truck" was in October of 2008 at the Bob Evans Festival located in Rio Grande, Ohio. At the time of this video, two of the boys were 15 yrs. old and the other two had just turned 16. South of the River is a band from Mineral Wells, WV. They are made up of four sophomores from Parkersburg South High School. They have been playing together since March of '06. They play country, southern rock, and originals written by the lead singer and lead guitar player. They have opened for Jason Michael Carroll and are scheduled to open for Luke Bryan and the Zac Brown Band this summer. South of the River has played for numerous Relay For Life benefits and at many Fairs and Festivals. They are in the process of making their 2nd CD which should be done around March. You can view more about them at their website www.myspace.com/southoftheriverband
www.myspace.com/jessevickrocks
Jesse and Jacob have been musically inspired from a very young age, and they are now at a point in their young musical career where they are prime and ready to share their incredible talent with the rest of the world.
Jesse is only 15 years old, and he is the Lead Guitarist and Lead Band Member of the Jesse Vick Band. Jesse is accompanied by his younger brother, Jacob, age 12, as Vocalist and Bassist. The Jesse Vick Band's unique line up of original music, coupled with such young and rarely seen talent and impressive rock covers is what sets the Jesse Vick Band apart from the pack. Their major music influences include George Lynch, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Jason Becker and Yngwie Malmsteen.
Jesse has always had an interest in music. He began playing guitar at the age of 9, and he has excelled in his guitar abilities beyond anyone's imagination considering Jesse has never been professionally coached. It was through Jesse's devotion and love of music that directly inspired his younger brother, Jacob, to also discover his inner talent as vocalist/bassist/rhythm guitarist.
The Jesse Vick Band is truly on the verge of a major breakthrough with their latest demo release of "Redemption", "Dreams", and "You Got to Let Go. The preview response of these three songs has been extremely positive, and it's just a matter of time before this killer demo gets into the hands of major festivals, guitar shows, and promoters.
Already Jesse has many accomplishments to his name. Guitar Player magazine, September 2007 issue, features Jesse in the Editor Boy's Big Eight highlighting "Meltdown," as "it portends Vick's impending guitar heroism."
Sarah is an 11-year-old violist that started on violin at age 6 and started viola at age 9. She has a sister, Sadie, who plays violin, and both girls also play the piano. This piece is "La Folia" by Marais.
Stephanie is a 15 year old girl who pretty much sings 24/7. She arranged her own version of Oh Holy Night which she sang at her school Christmas program. She has sung in many venues and is good singing alone, in a band or harmonizing with someone. We think she's great and hope you enjoy her as well.
Oprah,
Here is a video of my beautiful and talented 12-year old daughter, Symphonie, singing a capella.
Enjoy!
Claude Constant
Jonathan is 5 years old and spends alot of time doing math for fun.
Since he was very young, he has been very interested in letters and numbers.
He now can read and write and do some math in his head and on paper.
Hope you enjoy the video.
Thank You,
Tanya
14 year old Allison in the recording studio recording her version of Ave Maria. She released this recording in 2008 as a tribute to her grandmother who is battling cancer. The recording has been nominated for single of the year for 2008 in the Hawaii Music Awards. We are asking for everyone's prayers for her grandmother. To hear the completed version go to : myspace.com/allison808 or hawaiimusicawards.com .
Allison was recently chosen Hawaii's Super Kid of 2008. To see the story go :http://kgmb9.com/main/content/view/12497/104/ .
to see more of Allison check out her you tube channel at at youtube.com/allisonhawaii .
Allison loves to watch Oprah every night with her mom!!
My daughter, Yaning, who just celebrated her sixth birthday, started learning Chinese harp when she was three and a half years old in Beijing China. She now plays the Chinese instrument, called Zheng in Chinese, under the guidance of Wang Changyuan, one of the most famous Chinese harp masters in the world. Yaning enjoys her music very much and plays publicly occasionally, such as at a show hosted by UNICEF and at a performance of Asian arts at Princeton University. She has entered an international Chinese harp contest, the finals of which will take place in Hong Kong early next May. I'm happy that she loves music.
Flowers and Chocolate is the title for this song written by sisters, Lianna 16 and Rachel 12. You can view more of their originals at youtube.com/liannaanduha and myspace.com/liannaanduha. Lianna has been writing songs and singing since she was 9. She also plays guitar and piano. Rachel has also been bit by the musical bug. Their dream is to one day share music with people everywhere. We hope that they are given an opportunity.