‘Hometown Christmas’
Darci Lynne Farmer teams with Toby Keith for holiday TV special
In the 15 months since winning “America’s Got Talent,” Darci Lynne Farmer has played theaters across the country on her first national tour, made her debut at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee, and returned as a guest performer the show that made her famous.
“I guess just being more known is the biggest change, getting noticed in public and having a lot of followers on Instagram and things like that. Just a crazy new life,” the Deer Creek Middle School eighth-grader told The Oklahoman.
“Even though I’m in this big, crazy business, I’m still just myself. I still celebrate Christmas; I still live at home.”
The 14-year-old singer and ventriloquist has added some new activities to this holiday season: Filming in California, New York and Oklahoma City on her television special “Darci Lynne: My Hometown Christmas,” premiering at 8 p.m. Tuesday on NBC.
“It’s my first-ever Christmas special, and it’s crazy that I get to do it,” Darci said after filming a segment in OKC at the Toby Keith Foundation’s OK Kids Korral.
Behind the scenes
Cozied up to the fireplace between two towering Christmas trees, Toby Keith and his band and Darci Lynne with her puppet pal Petunia are
crooning a countrified version of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” with about two dozen parents and children clapping and singing along.
When Keith yodels out a big finish, an expectant hush falls over the group.
“Cut. All right,” calls director Michael Simon, setting various people in motion.
Cameramen move their equipment, while parents tend to fidgety children. A production assistant checks a cellphone photo to ensure that each wandering youngster returns to the same spot in front of the decked-out fireplace in the foyer of the OK Kids Korral, a nocost home-away-fromhome for pediatric cancer patients seeking treatment at The Children’s Hospital at OU Medical Center.
It isn’t Darci Lynne’s first time at the OK Kids Korral. A few months ago, one of her father’s friends suggested she stop by and perform. Keith was quick to agree to join her for the special.
“They called us and I was like, ‘absolutely,’ and then I found out afterward that she had already been coming here and performing on her own,” Keith said. “So, the beauty of her is she didn’t do this because she got a TV special. … I’m really proud for her, and she’s really good at what she does, too. She handles everything really well for her age.”