Grace Vanderwaal has a really important message for all of her fans
Do you ever wake up from a great night’s sleep with a revelatory thought that you just NEED to share with the world? That clearly happens to everyone, since the other day Grace Vanderwaal woke up with an important message for fans. The 12-year-old winner of America’s Got Talent’s 11th season shared a video on Instagram which she opens by saying, “People, I had a good night’s sleep on something that’s been bothering me for a while.”
Clearly, she had just woken up and had adorable bed-head and half-open eyes as she sat in her Hello Kitty-decorated room that makes us love her even more. What came next was something we didn’t expect from the sleepy ukulele-playing prodigy, as she continued in the video,”I ain’t tryin’ to be Sia, I ain’t tryin’ to be Melanie Martinez. I don’t want to be Taylor Swift. I just want to be me, so please stop comparing.”
A video posted by Grace VanderWaal (@gracevanderwaal) on Dec 16, 2016 at 7:30am PST
Ahem, no hard feelings to Sia, Melanie Martinez or T-Swift, but Grace has got her own plans. Apparently this young lady knows how to use her voice not only for belting ballads but also for proclaiming her individuality.
What a boss!
In the caption, Vanderwaal reiterated her point by writing,
I just want to say something that’s been bothering me for a while and it’s that I just want to be grace! Not Taylor Swift or Melanie or anyone else that I’m compared to! I’m so grateful and take it as a HUGE compliment but I’m just trying to be me.
Yes, Vanderwaal has been subject to comparisons to other artists from the start when Simon Cowell dubbed her “the next Taylor Swift” at her audition for America’s Got Talent. Flattering as that may be — and yes, that might’ve been the nicest thing Cowell has said in his entire life — it still implies something that Vanderwaal is sharp enough to detect: that a girl’s identity must be an archetype.
Sure, Cowell could have been simply referring to her role as a precocious singer-songwriter like Swift was, but clearly Vanderwaal is more interested in clearing her own path for herself. We totally applaud that.
Vanderwaal is right, too, because her voice is unlike anything we’ve ever heard before. Just listen to her sing the song that SHE WROTE:
As Grace sings in her beautiful song about self-exploration, “I don’t play by the rules of the game,” which has proven to be true with her refusal to accept limiting comparisons to other female artists.
Keep doing you, Grace, because it’s awesomely unique.
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