Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
KID VENTRILOQUIST WRAPS UP SHOW
Darci Lynne heads back to Oklahoma
Teenage singing star Darci Lynne wraps up a sold-out, four-night run of “America’s Got Talent Live” at Planet Hollywood tonight, Nov. 5. The 13-year-old, $1-million winning ventriloquist is being bombarded with showbiz offers that could propel her to solid future stardom. She’s already in negotiations for a new Hollywood TV series and a concert tour.
I asked Darci if she’ll continue with the singing ventriloquism when she grows up.
“I’d love to wind up on Broadway,” she told me. “I love musical theater — singing, acting and dancing all in one. First, though, after this show in Las Vegas, it’s back home to Oklahoma, where we are going to do a welcome home concert.
“My life changed in a split moment. It feels crazy, kind of hectic and a definite whirlwind. Now, I’m being recognized by complete strangers. I can always tell when people know who I am because they just stare at you. They look at you; and they look at you; and they look down; and they look at you again; and they stare at you for like five minutes. Then they’re on their phone; and they’re looking at me on the phone and they take a picture secretly. And, I just whisper to my mom: ‘The eagle has been exposed.’ (When) they get me, I always say: ‘The eagle has been exposed.’
While here this week, Darci, like any other young teenager, went out to enjoy Halloween with a trick-or-treat walk through a development near Fort Apache Road. She went with her little brother and her 10-year-old rival, Angelica Hale, who appeared on the “AGT” finals.
“It was an awesome neighborhood with a lot of decorations. I went trick-or-treating with Angelica and my little brother. We went to this awesome Huntington neighborhood. It had definitely a lot of decorations. They went all out — over the top. A whole street with a big banner that said: ‘Haunted Hood’ and fog machines. We don’t do that in Oklahoma. Angelica got noticed but nobody noticed me, which is kind of nice, so I could trick-or-treat like a normal kid.”
The toughest part for Darci about “America’s Got Talent” was the awful silence and suspense before she was announced the winner.
“I actually counted the silence to exactly 27 seconds. It felt forever,” she told me. “Almost toward the end, I look at the time and I’m like, ‘Just spit it out!’ And, she did and I was like, ‘Ahhhhhhhh!’ It was crazy. I can’t even describe it. Kids are taking over show business. It’s great to have kids other than adults doing all this kinds of stuff and proving kids can do all sorts of things that adults can do, too.”
Is she still keeping her feet solidly on the ground amid all the showbiz hullabaloo?
“We have a house of six so everybody has to put in their share. So, I’m back to the dish washing and the laundry when I get home,” she summed up.