Amira Willighagen facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Amira Willighagen
Willighagen in 2023
Background information
Born	(2004-03-27) 27 March 2004 (age 21) Nijmegen, Netherlands
Genres	Classical crossover
Occupation(s)	Singer
Years active	2013–present

Amira Willighagen (born March 27, 2004) is a Dutch soprano singer. She became famous when she won the TV show Holland's Got Talent in 2013. She was only nine years old at the time!

Early Life and Discovering Her Talent

Amira Willighagen was born in Nijmegen, Netherlands. Her dad is Dutch and her mom is from South Africa. Amira grew up listening to classical music.

When she was seven, she heard a famous opera song called "Nessun dorma" sung by Luciano Pavarotti. This made her want to sing too. Her brother played the violin, and her mom also played the violin. Her dad played the piano. Amira didn't play an instrument, so she decided to try singing opera.

Before taking any lessons, Amira taught herself by watching videos on YouTube. She learned how to sing opera songs all by herself! Her mom was very surprised when she first heard Amira sing.

In 2012, Amira sang in public a couple of times. She sang with her family at a festival and as a solo singer in a children's choir. After two years of practicing, she was ready for Holland's Got Talent.

Her Amazing Career

Winning Holland's Got Talent

Amira tried out for Holland's Got Talent. She sang "O Mio Babbino Caro" from an opera by Giacomo Puccini. The judges were so amazed they couldn't believe their ears! Her performance quickly became super popular online, with over 150 million views.

In the semi-finals, she sang "Ave Maria". One of the judges, Dan Karaty, told her, "You're a star who belongs on stage!" For the final, she sang "Nessun dorma" again. Amira won the whole competition with more than half of the audience's votes.

From 2014 to Today

Amira in Lelystad, Netherlands, November 19, 2014 (age 10)

After winning Holland's Got Talent, Amira was invited to many TV shows around the world. She appeared on shows in South Africa, Germany, Argentina, and France.

In 2014, she recorded her first album, simply called Amira. The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra played with her. The album included songs she sang on Holland's Got Talent and other famous tunes like "Nella Fantasia". It was a big hit in the Netherlands, becoming a Gold album in just two weeks!

The famous violinist André Rieu invited Amira to perform with his Johann Strauss Orchestra in Maastricht. This happened in July 2014.

Amira started performing internationally in South Africa and Las Vegas in 2014. Since then, she has sung in many countries, including Belgium, the USA, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Hong Kong.

In November 2014, Amira received an award in Rome, Italy, called the International Giuseppe Sciacca Award.

In 2015, she released her second album, Merry Christmas. It had popular Christmas carols and other beautiful songs. Both her first two albums were produced by Sony Masterworks. Amira also performed in many Christmas concerts.

She continued to perform at big concerts like "Classics Is Groot" in South Africa. She sang many well-known songs, sometimes with other artists. In 2018, she released her album With All My Heart. This album showed her moving from strict opera to a style called classical crossover, which mixes classical music with other genres.

Amira has also sung with other famous artists like Paul Potts and Patrizio Buanne.

In 2018, Amira and her family moved to South Africa. They said the Dutch school system didn't give her enough time for her performances. Amira still visits the Netherlands and enjoys seeing her old friends.

You can find many of Amira's music videos and concert recordings on her YouTube channel. Her most popular video is from her concert with André Rieu in Maastricht. She has also released several DVDs and CDs of her live performances.

Amira continues to perform in concerts around the world. In 2023, she had a tour in the USA. She also released a live album called On My Own, which was a concert celebrating her 18th birthday.

Helping Others: Philanthropy

Amira uses half of the money she earns from her singing and album sales to help children in South Africa. She has her own charity project called Stichting Gelukskinders, which means "Lucky Children Foundation." This foundation builds playgrounds for kids in poor areas of South African townships. Many donations also help her foundation.

The idea for the charity came to Amira when she was seven. She was visiting her grandmother in South Africa and wanted to play outside. But the children there didn't have a proper playground. They were just running around and throwing stones. Amira was sad and told her mom, "If I ever get any money, I'd like to come back here and help these children have something to play."

And that's exactly what she did! In 2014, just three years later, she opened the first playground in Ikageng, a township near Potchefstroom, South Africa. To make sure the playgrounds were built and looked after, her Gelukskinders Foundation was officially started in November 2014.

Amira has opened many playgrounds since then. By 2019, her foundation had opened 13 playgrounds at schools near Potchefstroom. She has also helped raise money for other causes, like victims of a typhoon in the Philippines and for UNICEF. In 2020, she donated a large amount of money to help provide food and juice for children.

Discography

Albums

See also

In Spanish: Amira Willighagen para niños