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Amira Willighagen

Born: March 27, 2004 (age 11)
Origin: Nijmegen, the Netherlands
Genres: Classical crossover
Occupation(s): Singer
Years active: 2013–present

Amira Willighagen was born on March 27, 2004, in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, and became well-known by demonstrating her talent as a singer of opera arias and other classical music at the age of 9, without ever having taken a single music or singing lesson.

In October 2013, Willighagen took part in the auditions for the talent show Holland's Got Talent and wowed the jury with her interpretation of the aria "O mio babbino caro" from Puccini's opera Gianni Schicchi.[2] The video of this performance rapidly became a YouTube hit and has been viewed by more than 36 million viewers worldwide as of June 2015. In the semi-finals Willighagen sang Gounod's "Ave Maria". On December 28, 2013, Willighagen won the finals of the talent show with her interpretation "Nessun dorma", an aria for tenor from Puccini's opera Turandot. By then she was so popular that she received over 50% of the votes from the TV viewers.

In February 2014, Willighagen recorded her debut album titled Amira. The album contains ten tracks including the songs she performed during Holland's Got Talent. The album was released in The Netherlands on March 28, reaching a Gold status only 2 weeks later, meaning that by then already 10,000 copies had been sold or downloaded.

Willighagen's first international performance took place in South Africa during the Starlight Classics Concerts on February 28 and March 1, 2014. On April 30, Willighagen performed in Las Vegas as part of the prize she got when winning Holland's Got Talent.

With half of the revenue she makes by performing and her album sales, Willighagen supports her own charity project to build playgrounds for poor children. In March 2014, she opened the first playground in Ikageng, a township near Potchefstroom in South Africa, the country from which her mother originates.

On November 8, 2014, Willighagen visited Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome to receive the International Giuseppe Sciacca Award 2014 for her extraordinary skills in the area of music and singing.

In August 2015, Willighagen records her second album, which will be released in November and carries the title Merry Christmas. Besides a selection of well-known noëls, the album will contain various famous arias.