Kennedy’s Ashley Marina ready to face the unknown in ‘America’s Got Talent’
There are plenty of 12-year-olds out there who write songs, which makes Ashley Marina all the more special — how many of them get to sing one on national television?
The rising eighth-grader at Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School in Midland, Beaver County, was in the spotlight last week on NBC’s “America’s Got Talent.”
She made it to the next round, but it wasn’t easy.
“Usually when I perform I get more nervous in front of smaller audiences,” said Ashley, who is enjoying summer break at home in Kennedy Township. “With a bigger audience, I’m less nervous.”
Yet this was one of the summer’s most reliable ratings staples, a show that features acts that range from stunning to outright bizarre. This was performing not only on television with its bright lights and a live audience, but in front of a judges panel of Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum, Sofia Vergara and Simon Cowell, the last of whom has been known to make singers cry with his evaluations.
This was no national anthem gig at a Pirates game, which she has done (although Ashley noted they are, vocally, “very hard. It takes a lot of tries to get it to go the way you want it to go.”)
Pre-pandemic, she flew to Los Angeles with her family to audition. Her mother, Nina Yankello, helped with hair and makeup in their hotel room, then it was off to the theater.
“Marina” is Ashley’s middle name. A combination of parents’ Mark and Nina’s names, it seemed easier to use on stage than Yankello.
Literally in the spotlight to perform at the audition, Ashley would sing two songs by popular artists —
“Anyway” and “Opportunity” — but was stopped by Cowell.
He said he felt they were wrong for her voice and wanted something else. What followed on the broadcast was a bit confusing: Cowell asked her to return later and sing something written for a boy’s voice.
“They did not show this on TV but I was talking about how, when I was younger, I used to love Justin Bieber. So they said ‘come back later and sing a song by Justin Bieber, or a song by a guy.’”
She just wasn’t comfortable with the song choices. Instead, she asked to do one of her own compositions. “You’ll Always Be My Hero” is a tribute to her father, Mark, that she wrote 18 months ago.
By the time she returned to the stage, Klum was missing due to illness. She missed what appeared to be an emotional slam-dunk, with all three judges effusive in their praise. Her audition has been viewed more than 11 million times on YouTube.
This wasn’t the first time Ashley had written a song for a relative. When an uncle in Venezuela had a heart operation, she wrote one called “Move a Mountain.”
The coming months will allow her to do the kinds of stuff kids get to do: riding bikes with friends, learning to skateboard, hanging out with family. There will be more music, of course.
Not only does she play the piano, but guitar and ukulele as well. And she dances a bit. Funnily, she said her brother, Roman, and her parents are not musically inclined.
“Maybe some long-distance cousins . ... ?” she said, giggling.
She is contractually forbidden to talk about what kind of music she will perform in the next round.
Ashley will likely return to sing in a pre-taped show this summer.
If she is sent through, the next challenge would be a live broadcast. The program is expected to transition to live shows in August, but the specifics have not been announced.
Other programs, including ABC’s “American Idol” and NBC’s “The Voice,” have gone live with singers in studios, but the nature of “AGT” acts — some of which involve fire, arrows, or both —would prohibit easy translation off-site.
Ashley said after the show, which aired Jun 15, she received “lots of wonderful comments” via social media. “It was amazing to see how they connected to something I wrote and a lot of people said they cried during my performance.
“They were really connecting to the lyrics.”