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.
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.
At the age of 13, Malia Civetz was honored to be selected to perform at the legendary Apollo Theater in New York as a featured 'Star of Tomorrow'. She sings, dances, plays piano and is a straight 'A' freshman honor student majoring in theatre at the Las Vegas Academy of the Performing Arts. Along with her drive for academic excellence and her passion for music, she focuses on lending her time and talent throughout the year to numerous charities. She is a three-time winner of the Las Vegas Search for Talent and has amazed crowds with her soulful & powerful voice since she began singing in church when she was 5. For more about Malia please visit her website created by her brother, www.MaliaSings.com.
She learned this piece (Theme from "Witches' Dance" by Paganini) when she was 4 years old. Now she is in Suzuki book #3. She is a vehement reader and loves to paint, dance and act.
Jonathan Russell is a 13-year-old improvising jazz violinist who has toured the U.S. and Europe. He has performed with Wynton Marsalis at Jazz at Lincoln Center as well as with his own ensemble at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. In this video he plays some improvised solos over his own arrangement of jingle bells.
Bridgette is 13 years old. She has been singing since the age of five. She also plays piano, writes, and composes her own songs. This is an original by her titled "Selfish Lies." Hope you enjoy!!