Darci Lynne Farmer

Darci Lynne Farmer
Born (2004-10-12) October 12, 2004
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S.
Occupation(s) Ventriloquist, singer
Instruments Vocals
Years active 2014–present
Website darcilynne.com

Darci Lynne Farmer (born October 12, 2004[1]) is an American ventriloquist. She was the winner of season twelve of the NBC competition show America's Got Talent.

Farmer became both the third female and third child to win America's Got Talent, following Bianca Ryan in season one and Grace VanderWaal in season eleven. She was also the third ventriloquist to win, following Terry Fator in season two and Paul Zerdin in season ten.

Early life

Darci Lynne Farmer lives in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She was born on October 12, 2004. Growing up, Farmer loved to sing, but she was shy and was afraid to perform in front of an audience.[2] Her parents encouraged her to overcome her shyness by participating in the International Cinderella Scholarship Program where she was crowned International Mini Miss. At that pageant she also met International Teen titleholder, Laryssa Bonacquisti, a young ventriloquist who inspired her to try ventriloquism herself.[3] She then asked her parents, Clarke and Misty Farmer, for a puppet, insisting that it would overcome her shyness. On her tenth birthday, her parents presented her with a puppet. Farmer's idol is past America's Got Talent winner Terry Fator. Because ventriloquism is not very common, Farmer made a commitment that she personally wanted to keep the art of ventriloquism alive.

In 2014, she entered Edmond's Got Talent where she won first prize after a month's preparation on Bonacquisti's tips. She was soon brought to the attention of ventriloquy coach Gary Owen, who was so impressed by Farmer's skill that he voluntarily agreed to be her coach and business manager.[4] Since then she has worked with Owen and vocal teacher Tiana Plemons.[3] In 2015, she won first place in both the junior division at Oklahoma's Got Talent and Oklahoma Kids, and won Broadway, Specialty Acts, and overall Entertainer of the Year at American Kids in Branson, Missouri.[5] In March 2016, Farmer made an appearance on Little Big Shots, performing "I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart" with Katie,[6] and in July 2016, she became the first child ventriloquist ever to perform on an evening show in the 40-year history of the Vent Haven International Ventriloquists' ConVENTion, where she fronted for celebrity ventriloquists Kevin Johnson and Todd Oliver.[4] Then, in March 2017, she appeared on the British version of Little Big Shots, again performing "I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart" with Katie.[6]

Career

2017: America's Got Talent

Farmer competed on the twelfth season of America's Got Talent in 2017. During the first episode broadcast on May 30, Farmer and her puppet, a girly rabbit named Petunia, performed George Gershwin's "Summertime".[7] The comedy–singing act featured Petunia cutting off Farmer so Petunia could continue singing instead. Judge Mel B praised the act and pressed her Golden Buzzer, allowing Farmer to bypass the judge cuts and go straight to the quarterfinals. The video of this performance became the most socially viewed video in the show's history within 30 hours of broadcast,[7] and was later named No. 4 on YouTube's list of the top 10 trending videos of 2017.[8]

For Farmer's first live presentation after her Golden Buzzer performance, she serenaded Mel B with her shy, stuttering Motown mouse puppet, Oscar, performing Smokey Robinson's "Who's Lovin' You".[7] Judges Howie Mandel, Mel B, Heidi Klum, and Simon Cowell gave Farmer standing ovations. For this performance, Farmer received enough viewer votes to move on to the semifinals, where she brought her puppet Edna Doorknocker to sing Aretha Franklin's "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman",[7] and stood next to the judges' table so Edna could flirt with Simon Cowell. Again, all four judges gave Farmer a standing ovation. Viewers voted Farmer through to the finals.

For her final competition appearance, Farmer performed The Beatles' "With a Little Help from My Friends",[7] with Petunia and Oscar interacting for comedic effect. Again, she earned standing ovations and judges' praise; Cowell predicted, "I think you're going to win."[9] For the finale in episode 22, Farmer fulfilled her dream by performing "Anything You Can Do" from Annie Get Your Gun with her idol and mentor Terry Fator, with Farmer singing as Petunia and Fator singing as Winston the Impersonating Turtle. After tripping over the first line of the song, she recovered and the act continued.[10] The field was cut to the top five, and then to the top two finalists, Farmer and Angelica Hale. Host Tyra Banks then announced Farmer was the winner of the season, having received the most votes out of the 52 million votes[7] cast. With the win, Farmer received the $1 million prize and a headline gig at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, originally set for November 3 and 4 but two additional shows were added on November 2 and 5 after the first two dates sold out. The Las Vegas shows also featured Angelica Hale, Preacher Lawson and Light Balance.

Post-America's Got Talent

Farmer was a guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in September 2017.[11] She appeared in Jeff Dunham's October 2017 video, The Haunted House on Dunham Hill, in which she takes three of her puppets trick-or-treating at Dunham's home, where they encounter him and some of his puppets.[12] In November 2017, she made a guest appearance during a Terry Fator performance at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa, Catoosa, Oklahoma.[13] On November 27, 2017, she appeared in A Very Pentatonix Christmas performing "O Easter Egg" (an Easter-themed parody of "O Christmas Tree") with Petunia.[14]

On December 4, 2017, Farmer appeared as part of the charity event One Night With the Stars at Madison Square Garden.[15] Her December 16, 2017, homecoming show iHeartMedia and KJ103 Present Darci Lynne sold out within six minutes of the tickets going on sale. As a result, a matinee show earlier the same day and then later another two shows on December 17 were added.[16] On December 31, 2017, she performed at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas along with Fergie as part of a New Year's Eve event.[17]

2018–present: Darci Lynne and Friends Live

On November 28, 2017, Darci Lynne and Friends Live, a national tour, was announced, starting with five locations, to take place in January and February 2018,[18] which was later expanded to 46 locations taking place between January 2018 and January 2019,[19] including 9 Christmas performances in November and December, referred to as Rocking Around the Christmas Tree with Darci Lynne and Friends.[20]

In March, Farmer appeared on the Grand Ole Opry[21] and made a cameo appearance on the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards,[22] and then returned to Little Big Shots in April as "a Little Big Shots legend", where she performed "Shout" by the Isley Brothers with Oscar.[23] In July, she participated in the 2018 Starkey Hearing Foundation gala.[24] In August, she returned to AGT as a guest performer, singing "Show Off" from The Drowsy Chaperone with Petunia.[25] In September, she appeared as a guest in an episode of Kids Baking Championship.[26]

In December, Farmer is set to star in her own holiday special, Darci Lynne: My Hometown Christmas.[27]

Reputation and accolades

Farmer's success on America's Got Talent has been credited with helping to bring ventriloquism back to the general public's attention.[28][29]

Bill King of BuddyTV described Farmer's final America's Got Talent performance as "so seamless you need to be reminded of its difficulty".[30] Talking to USA Today, Terry Fator said of Farmer that "she is, at 12 years old, one of the most unbelievable, perfect ventriloquists I've ever seen, and she'll only get better",[31] and later called her "one of the most talented human beings on the planet" in an interview with Billboard.[32] Professional ventriloquist Sammy King said in an interview with The Fountain Hills Times that "she is very gifted, a great singer and has tremendous comedic timing",[33] while Jay Johnson described her on his personal blog as "a wonderfully talented girl" with "near perfect" ventriloquism technique and "singing chops [that] could stand alone without the puppet assistance", whose "dedication to the art and ... young spirit will influence a generation of belly talkers to come".[34]

Characters

  • Petunia – A singing rabbit "who thinks she's a diva".
  • Oscar – A stuttering and nervous Motown mouse who has a crush on Mel B.
  • Edna Doorknocker – A naughty old lady with a crush on Simon Cowell.
  • Katie – A sassy cowgirl who yodels.
  • Okie – A yellow duck who sometimes impersonates Elvis Presley.
  • Scarlett – A sassy debutante fox.
  • Ace – A big brown monkey.[35]
  • Nigel – A very smart British bird.[35]

Personal life

Farmer attends Deer Creek Middle School near her home in Edmond, Oklahoma. She missed the first day of her seventh grade year due to appearing live on America's Got Talent on August 16.[3]

Her parents are Clarke and Misty Farmer. Farmer has three brothers: Nick, Dalton, and Nate.[36]

References

  1. ↑ Hall, Richard (4 September 2017). "10 things about 'America's Got Talent' winner Darci Lynne Farmer you didn't know". NewsOK.
  2. ↑ "Darci Lynne Official Website".
  3. 1 2 3 McDonnell, Brandy (4 August 2017). "Interview, photos and video: 12-year-old Oklahoma City ventriloquist Darci Lynne Farmer prepares to go back on 'America's Got Talent'". NewsOK.
  4. 1 2 "A New Star is Born". The Dummy Shoppe. 4 November 2016.
  5. ↑ Franklin, Dallas (25 March 2016). "Young Oklahoma girl shows off her ventriloquism skills for KFOR ahead of national debut". KFOR.
  6. 1 2 Stubblebine, Allison (21 September 2017). "Watch All of Darci Lynne Farmer's 'Little Big Shots' Appearances Before She Won 'AGT'". Billboard.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 McDonnell, Brandy (21 September 2017). "Oklahoma ventriloquist Darci Lynne Farmer breaks 'America's Got Talent' records, earns 306 million views on social media". NewsOK.
  8. ↑ Allocca, Kevin (6 December 2017). "It's time for #YouTubeRewind: Celebrating what you watched, shared, and created in 2017". Official YouTube Blog. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  9. ↑ Seemayer, Zach (20 September 2017). "EXCLUSIVE: Darci Lynne Farmer 'Overcome With Joy' After 'America's Got Talent' Win, Talks Prize Money Plans". Entertainment Tonight.
  10. ↑ Maglio, Tony (21 September 2017). "Watch 'America's Got Talent' Puppet Duel With Darci Lynne, Season 2 Winner Terry Fator (Video)". TheWrap.
  11. ↑ McDonnell, Brandy (25 September 2017). "Video: 'America's Got Talent' winner Darci Lynne Farmer performs on 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show,' returns home to Oklahoma". NewsOK.
  12. ↑ McDonnell, Brandy (26 October 2017). "Watch: 'America's Got Talent' winner Darci Lynne Farmer trick-or-treats at Jeff Dunham's house in fun Halloween video". NewsOK. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  13. ↑ Hard Rock Tulsa [@TulsaHardRock] (13 November 2017). "Thank you to everyone who came out to The Joint last night to see @terryfator and a special performance from @ItsDarciLynne!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  14. ↑ Lorge, Melinda (28 November 2017). "An "America's Got Talent" champ brings humor to the Pentatonix Christmas special". Rare Country.
  15. ↑ Viagas, Robert (29 November 2017). "Constantine Maroulis, Fran Drescher, and Darci Lynne Added to One Night With the Stars". Playbill.
  16. ↑ McDonnell, Brandy (5 December 2017). "'America's Got Talent' winner Darci Lynne Farmer adds fourth Oklahoma City homecoming show". NewsOK.
  17. ↑ Morris, David (1 January 2018). "Caesars Palace Ushers in 2018 with Major Star Power and Preps for Two Openings". Vegas Seven.
  18. ↑ McDonnell, Brandy (28 November 2017). "'America's Got Talent' winner Darci Lynne Farmer announces first theater tour". NewsOK.
  19. ↑ "Darci Lynne - Events".
  20. ↑ McDonnell, Brandy (15 August 2018). "Season 12 winner Darci Lynne Farmer returns to 'America's Got Talent' tonight, Oklahoma illusionist Rob Lake reveals when he will next perform on the show". NewsOK.
  21. ↑ Grand Ole Opry [@opry] (9 March 2018). "This girl's got TALENT! So proud to have @ItsDarciLynne make her #OpryDebut tonight along with Katie! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 #Opry" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  22. ↑ Haring, Bruce (24 March 2018). "Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards 2018 Winners – The Complete List". Deadline Hollywood.
  23. ↑ Tramel, Jimmie (8 April 2018). "Darci Lynne Farmer returning to series where she made national TV debut (copy)". Tulsa World.
  24. ↑ Belcamino, Kristi (15 July 2018). "Bill Clinton, Alice Cooper, Sinbad, more walk the red carpet at St. Paul's Starkey Gala". St. Paul Pioneer Press.
  25. ↑ Lockhart, Tiffany C. (16 August 2018). "America's Got Talent: First Results Are In. Season 12 Winner Performs". TVOvermind.
  26. ↑ "Scoop: Food Network September Highlights". Broadway World. 1 August 2018.
  27. ↑ Mims, Taylor (8 August 2018). "'America's Got Talent' Winner Darci Lynne to Star in NBC Holiday Special". Billboard.
  28. ↑ Purcell, John (30 October 2017). "Playful puppets promote bullying prevention at Tecler". The Recorder. Sharpwolf said many children have become excited about ventriloquism following the latest season of "America's Got Talent!" where a 12-year-old singing ventriloquist, Darci Lynne Farmer, was voted the champion.
  29. ↑ Stone, Ken (22 September 2017). "Darci Lynne 'AGT' win wildy cheered by veteran ventriloquists: 'Bring us on tour'". MyNewsLA.com.
  30. ↑ King, Bill (20 September 2017). "'America's Got Talent' Season 12: Top 10 Performance Rankings". BuddyTV. Archived from the original on 18 January 2018.
  31. ↑ Mallenbaum, Carly (21 September 2017). "'America's Got Talent' winner Darci Lynne explains all the onstage crying and laughing". USA Today.
  32. ↑ Cheng, Andrea (25 September 2017). "Terry Fator on Darci Lynne Farmer's 'America's Got Talent' Win: 'I Felt Like a Proud Dad'". Billboard.
  33. ↑ Charzuk, Barb (29 November 2017). "The 'King' of ventriloquism". The Fountain Hills Times.
  34. ↑ Johnson, Jay (21 September 2017). "Congratulations Darci Lynne Farmer - Winner".
  35. 1 2 "Darci Farmer appears on NBC's "Little Big Shots"". YouTube.
  36. ↑ Srivatsa, Amrutha (21 September 2017). ""America's Got Talent" 2017 Winner, Darci Lynne's Family: 5 Facts about Darci Lynne's Parents". Earn The Necklace. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
Preceded by
Grace VanderWaal		 America's Got Talent winner
Season 12 (Summer 2017)		 Succeeded by
Shin Lim
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