Emma Kok - Halleljuah Leonard Cohen cover - Requested reaction

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• Emma Kok - Hallelujah ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallelu...)
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[@user-en9xy7pl3c]

Hello! How is it possible to be just 16 years old and singing like that? Great rendition of a great song 👏. Thank you for being there and for your prayers of course. Have a nice day 👋🎶

[@RogerClutton]

You are right, Emma is incredible. Even at age 12 she had a power beyond my comprehension. A respectful observation, that this video is from December 2023 so Emma was still only 15. Her 16th birthday was March 12th ♥ I saw Emma singing live for the first time last Friday in Birmingham - the sound of her voice was otherworldly. Because of the quality of Andre Rieu's sound systems, I seemed to feel it from inside of my body too. Maybe a better description is to say that it was like drowning in the sound. Certainly I could barely breathe.

[@user-en9xy7pl3c]

@@RogerClutton Hi! Thank you for the info. She was 15, even more impressed if that is possible ☺️. Thanks for sharing your live experience. 👋🎶

[@Mars-is4un]

🤗🍒🌹 well done and happy !?

[@stevecgarry]

Thank you for that reaction, and yes, you're right, the studio got the sound balance a bit wrong, and didn't give Emma the power it needed at several critical places, and they sort of made up for it a few days later, when she did a slightly shorter version in the studio, with only a piano accompaniment, and that time, they well and truly got it right, and Emma was incredibly powerful in that version, Roger mentioned it earlier, so I don't need to repeat it. Another recent song that will very much appeal to you, and rightly so, Emma performed a duet with April Darby in Amsterdam at the annual liberation concert, remembering those who gave their lives to liberate Holland in WWII, this was a powerful performance, in the presence of the Dutch Royal family, and a significant number of high ranking political figures. The song is When you believe kzbin.info/www/bejne/j3ibiIlnfKunlcU Emma's been very busy in recent weeks, between the liberation concerts, and her tour concerts in Ireland and the UK with Andre RIeu, and in recent days, she's gone on the record on social media saying that she's been struggling, not because of the workload, which she loves, and totally enjoys, it's her therapy, her freedom, but the pressures and issues around her gastroparesis have caused her mental and physical pain, but ever the warrior, she's not let those issues affect her performances, she absolutely blew me out of the water in Dublin recently, I didn't think that her Voila performance from Maastricht last summer could be surpassed, but she very much did exactly that, she's a perfectionist, and reviews her performances by listening to them after the event, looking for any areas where it can be improved, and that's exactly what she's done, a number of small subtle changes, but the result is stunning, there's a video of the latest version from the London concert recently, and it's followed by a Michael Jackson song, 'Heal the world', kzbin.info/www/bejne/laXSg3lnlqyZbJo None of us can fully comprehend the mental and physical pain she endures on a daily basis, the demands of touring in the way she is are heavy on a person in full health, but the pressures of gastroparesis have clearly had an effect on Emma, and she's been prepared to be openly honest about her feelings, and exposed that vulnerability, and I am so impressed that she's found the courage to speak out and let all of us know that her life is not all roses and plain sailing, there are times when she is finding it hard to cope with the pressures, and I know from the comments that have been made that she is very much loved and respected for having the ability to trust the wider audience, there is no doubt about it, she is truly a star, but at 16, and suffering the effects of her illness, she is finding it hard to cope with the huge changes it's brought to her life.and the very mixed emotions that her success has generated,. Her family are very close and supportive, and she's also got a huge extended family alongside her with Andre and the orchestra, I'm sure that with their help and support, Emma will find a way through the issues she's been facing, and continue to enthral us all with her unmatched singing abilities. That said, I will close with my normal appeal, and in some respects, it's even more important, in that other than her foundation, very little research into her illness is being done, and until her foundation discover more about the illness, Emma is caught with having to cope with the feeding tube regime for 22 hours a day, Emma deserves as much support as it is possible to give her. Emma's foundation can be found at gastrostars.nl I appeal to all readers and subscribers of this channel, please, if at all possible, join me in making a (regular) contribution to her foundation, to enable them to help patients like Emma, and research this awful disease that has affected her from birth, and requires her to be tied to the pumps and feeding tubes since she was 9 MONTHS old, for 22 hours a day, hopefully, the work of her foundation will find a cure. One of their main people is a surgeon who has a lot of experience in dealing with gastroparesis, and she is not only a surgeon, but also suffers from the same disease herself, to the extent that as a result of her condition worsening, she's had to leave her role in the hospital, and she is now dedicated to the foundation, and working to help find possible new treatments, or even better the cure that will free people like Emma to live a more normal life, rather than be tied to the feeding pumps for so many hours every day. It will be so good if the work of Emma's foundation can lead to a better treatment, or even a cure, which will free her to do more singing, and it may be people here who make that possible. It's become clear in recent days that while Emma doesn't let the pressure of her disease affect her performances on stage, her stamina is not good, and it's a delicate balance to ensure that her day by day life and her ability to perform on stage is not compromised by her illness, it would be a tragedy if her ability to perform like she does were to be restricted, limited or even stopped by the effects of her disease, but we have to recognise the fact that her disease is still not well understood, and that it might affect her in ways none of us expected. Supporting her foundation is the one route that may lead to better treatment, or even a cure, and with the quality of singing she's delivered over the last 9 months, freeing her to be able to do more would be a wonderful outcome.

[@paulschmehl2124]

Thank you so much, for all that you wrote. Emma is on my special prayer list.

[@exeter1588]

So how was the show in Dublin Steve?

[@stevecgarry]

@@exeter1588 The Dublin show was everything we were expecting and more, everyone was on top form, and once again, Emma proved me wrong, we'd said a while back that the first ever performance of Voila in Maastricht was perfection, but she had different ideas, by working on reviewing her performances, she found some subtle and minor changes to the song, and the result was that the version we got in Dublin was even better than any of us expected, and reached a new high point, and it was a sublime performance, and even more so when we got a clear message from her a few days later that she was struggling, she didn't let it show in her performance, despite having been incredibly busy in the days before Dublin, there were a number of performances at liberation concerts in Holland, but her performance in Dublin only served to confirm that she's become the connsumate professional, and refuses to let how she's feeling affect the quality of what she gives to her audience, and the standing ovation she got in Dublin was a confirmation of that.

[@exeter1588]

@@stevecgarry That's great. I am so happy for you. I only hope that I live long enough to see her in the States one day. I'm only 68, but over 65 one never knows. You are so right about Emma's professionalism. I know that she will always do what it takes to put on the best show possible, no matter how she feels inside. Still, I am concerned. I saw the post you referenced where she said she hadn't been feeling well. This seems to be something that reoccurs every couple of months or so. I also saw her singing the lyrics to a song she was working on a few weeks ago. It broke my heart to know that she sometimes feels incapable, or even unworthy to know love. Not that all teenagers don't experience this kind of doubt about themselves, but in Emma's case, because of her condition and the restrictions it imposes upon her, including her very small stature, these typical teenage issues are magnified to an extreme degree. Even as mentally strong as she is, she is only human, and the weight of dealing with such issues must be nearly unbearable. I haven't even really thought about how the loss of Angela almost exactly one year ago might be playing into all of this. On the positive side, she is surrounded by a loving family and group of close friends, and I might add millions of loving, adoring fans who care about her very much. I believe she will pull through in time, and find peace in her heart and her mind. I also believe there is someone out there for her to love, and who will love her and cherish her in return as she deserves. I certainly pray for that everyday. I was so impressed by her performance with April Darby on the 5th of May. She seems to have become the 'go to girl' for national events in the Netherlands nowadays, and she does it very, very well. It was a spectacular performance. Kudos to Ms. Darby who is an impressive vocalist in her own right. Anymore, I don't really care if Emma becomes a big international star. She has already in many respects achieved that. I would be happy if she simply released a single every now and then, and continued to perform at events in her home country. Her health and happiness are all that is truly important. All the best.

[@stevecgarry]

@@exeter1588 I think after that heart breaking message where Emma opened up to her feelings much more than she's done before, a number of the orchestra members got alongside her, and made sure that she felt valued, and one in particular spoiled her a little, and took her out for some trips in part of Germany in his car, a Porsche 911, and what 16 year old isn't going to be impressed by going out in a car like that, but it seems to have helped her recharge her mental batteries, she seems to be doing new things and is certainly coming across postively in the last couple of days, which is encouraging. As always, she's changing songs, there's a recent version of Father where she's changed the high note section, and gone for a much higher and more powerful top note, and it's made it even better than the previous version, and she's also changed the costume for this appearance. kzbin.info/www/bejne/apy7apyffrRonbssi=eI_HZrihQS-I_rIg All your other points are very valid, and when you consider all of them together, they indeed add up to make a serious pressure point on her, and I'm sure that's been part of the tensions Emma's been feeling, and on top of that, her schedule was very full in the couple of weeks prior to her message, with a number of flights, and a while back, she admitted to not being a lover of flying, so that also will have been an additional pressure, the more I see of how she is coping with everything that comes her way, the more impressed I am with how she's managing, and she's made sure that her performances are not affected by her own personal feelings, I'm wondering what surprises Andre will put into this year's concerts in Maastricht, I'm hoping that he will have a new song to replace Voila, as that was her only song last year, hopefully, there will be several songs from her in the summer series, and who knows what they'll come up with for the Christmas concerts, I'm hoping for some new work, in that we're going over for one of them, I've still managed to keep it a surprise for my wife, and at long last, there's light at the end of a very long tunnel of County Council work that's taken over 8 years, the last 2 major jobs here, the landscaping and repair of the garage have been agreed, so that will mean that we get back to some sort of normal, it's been a long time coming, the original timescale for the work was 18 months, so to say it's over run would be putting it mildly, and we've been powerless to change that situation. That pressure off us is a huge relief.

[@RogerClutton]

There are others commented that the mix on this wasn't optimised for Emma's voice which is a shame. Nevertheless her talent is clear. There is another version of Hallelujah that Emma sang after an interview with the same television channel. In this one Emma is accompanied only by Rob Mennen on piano so her voice is much more prominent. kzbin.info/www/bejne/o5KTYneOq6tojM0

[@paulschmehl2124]

I copied your comment over to my specials list. I'll do it soon.

[@Pyanfar]

Hey Paul, did you receive my email? Tried once and got an address not valid message, so I tried a second time and got no message, but I'm still not sure it went to you. If I don't hear back from you, I will check back on this thread when I get up tomorrow. ❤

[@paulschmehl2124]

I responded to your email. Did you not get it?

[@Pyanfar]

@paulschmehl2124 hang on, my phone didn't beep or anything, so I will open the email and check. Ha! Remember me saying I was sooo not tech savvy?

[@Pyanfar]

@paulschmehl2124 I found one with KZbin all over it in my spam folder, but it's the one that says, "Did you not get it" there doesn't seem to be one before that. I think the ones I got were automatic forwards from KZbin, but other than ones repeating automatically from this thread, there is nothing. Was it the one with my phone number in the text that you replied to?