The charming little girl of three years ago, has, since Andre Rieu's support, become a beautiful, confident young woman who owns everything she sings. Her professionalism is amazing. I have never known so many Reactors respond so favourably to a teenage singer. The approval of the Bangkok Voice Coach is perhaps the highest professional commendation she could have.

She is an amazing young lady and I really enjoyed your reaction and analysis. One thing I haven't seen in the comments from most reactors is the fact that she is singing in English. Last time I watched her singing Viola in French even though she doesn't speak French. She learned to sing it phonetically. I wonder if she speaks English or if she same this one the same way, phonetically. Either way, she did an amazing job on both songs I've heard. She's incredible.

Thank you so much for your reaction and analysis of this song by Emma Kok! Like many, I have become possessed with her. I think it's because, like you said, her amazing courage and stamina in spite of everything she has been through already in life. I agree with you that she does close her eyes a lot during this song, but it is only to focus on her ability to communicate emotion. In her "Voila" performance, her eyes are open much of the time and it feels like she is singing to every individual there and looking into their soul! She has a beautiful smile, too, as I've seen in many videos of her. She is very versatile in every respect! Definitely one to keep watching as she matures over the years. I will also keep watching your reactions to her.

It's a pleasure watching Emma grow into a superstar. She's also a fantastic person inside. I'm going to help Emma anyway I can with her foundation Stichting GASTROSTARS.

❤Emma is an angel on earth💙

First: I have watched Emma sing Voila SO many times. Watching different people react to her! She's absolutely angelic!! I really hope she goes far in her singing career! And Second: (Nothing to do with music or singing at all). So my Momma passed away 4 months ago. I miss her So Very Much! I was her full time caregiver as she suffered dementia 😭💔. Anyways, she had big beautiful blue eyes just like you. Seeing you smiling & the twinkle in your eyes, is what she always had. I didn't realize how much I missed seeing them until I watched you. Anyways, sorry for the rant. Thanks for your reaction videos. ❣️

Important. Emma Kok with "come back home". For me: the best!!! Raw, without orchestra, clear. Perfect. An Engel❤❤❤ Greetings from Germnay

Thank you William , for your wonderful reaction It is always a pleasure to hear you about Emma , who really deserves a nice comment. Keep on going the nice work you are doing. Hugs from the Netherlands

ANGEL ❤️

About the eyes, you are right but, EMMA is a singer who adapts to each song. In "Voilà" she closed her eyes just when necessary. In "White Christmas" she never closed her eyes! Here, she closed her eyes only in the soft part (angelic voice). I think she went deep into her soul.

My favourite rendition of Hallelujah by Emma was about two years ago, with the men's choir. Thanks, William.

🤗🍒🌹 well done again

I've seen a lot of reaction channels but I have to admit that you add so much extra info (value) thank you. Also for the little girl which I've seen also live by coincide Maastricht last summer. Tears in my eyes without understanding anything of what she was singing

Good morning Bangkok. Thank you for your reaction. EMMA is my inspiration and my favorite❤👋🎤🎶

Emma's performance of her song is heart-warming and brings tears to the eyes of the listeners. His performance is wonderful and unique.

כייף לשמוע אותך מסביר ברור ומפרגן ,תודה רבה.

Perfect song... perfect prezentation... Emma is perfect signer❤

Dank je wel voor de prachtige uitleg van deze prachtige uitvoering Halleluja van Leonard Cohen.

Comecei a acompanhar as performances dessa menina a tão pouco tempo, mas ela me fisgou com Voila. Absolutamente fantastica Emma Kok

WOW!! 👏🏼💪🏼❤️

Just another absolutely fantastic performance by Emma 🤩 „Voilà“ still tops it, by this was gorgeous 😮

Thank you. Her voice adds an innocence to this song. Beautiful.

Oh yes, this song has had many treatments, some of them violating the spirit of the song itself. As you point out, it is a challenging piece that requires life experience. Emma does it justice and vocally she shows so much skill here. I might not have listened to this performance if you hadn't posted this reaction because I have been disappointed in so many other adaptations of it. Thank you.

Thank you William, for updating me on Hallelujah. I was about to comment similar to Emma, but now I'm wiser. Thank you for the update, just in time. Although I watch your reviews, I have to admit I only have eyes for Emma at the moment. She inspires me to cope with my own adversities in my old age, and I love her like my own. Your reviews are not like others. They come to the review blind. Keep showing us the wonder of music. This is John in London.

You are right in that she didn't want to match the original, but make it her own. Her voice is so beautiful

Hi Leonard, thank you for your sincerely reaction. Emma brings joy in the world with her magic voice. I also live in the Netherlands and follow her since she won 2 television song contests in the Netherlands. Singing is an outlet for her and wow it's so beautiful, not only to hear but also her expression.

Angelic Healthy Voice!Bravo,Emma! 💖👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

Fabulous ✨✨magical ✨✨

Whilst i love the Lucy Thomas version, i would know this was Emma just on the first listen, everyone will always compare it to the Jeff Buckly version which was awesome and Lucy pretty much copied it. Emma made this version her own and i have no issues with the changes and its 100 % Emma. This girl continues to inspire me with her courage and Honesty and it so helps me get through the trauma of having had cancer and the treatment endured. I hope i get to see her perform live one day She has so helped me. Watch the version with just her and a piano its even better.

Great reaction, thank you

I was really dubious about listening to this song by Emma Kok for two reasons. The first being Leonard Cohen's version is one of my favourites. The second being I didn't want to spoil Emma's performance singing Voila, I also thought the song would be to difficult for her. All that said i thought she was brilliant. Let's see where life takes her 🌟

Emma (who's fairly unknown here in germany) performed "Voila" as a duet on a large German TV-show on the 25th of December with Helene Fischer, one of our biggest music-stars. A lot of the comments were, like, "well that teenager just upstaged our greatest singer, who's that?"

Fantastic rendition by Emma. ❤ The only problem I had is that at times the orchestra was quite loud and was covering Emma’s superb voice…

She may be short physically, but she is very tall in how she has over come her problems and will not let it hold her back.

❤

Two more exciting videos, expressing her experience, are Strijder (Warrior), the official version; and Butterfly (music festival presentation). Both have English lyrics editions.

She does indeed close her eyes a lot, but I think that also has to do with the fact that there was no audience at the recording of this TV program. If you watch the recordings of 'Voila' with Helene Fischer, you see that she has her eyes open a lot, just like during the live Christmas concerts with Andre Rieu.

William, I love your comments thoughts and insight about Emma, both in terms of this performance and her wider involvement with other songs. I've said it elsewhere, the first time Emma sang Voila on the Vrijthof stage with Andre, that first live performance of the new version of Voila changed her, in so many ways, it is summed up so clearly in her earlier single release LAAT MIJ EEN VLINDER ZIJN , let me be a butterfly, that night, her dream came true. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/nb-la5mqrrOcmWg.html You need to see the translation that's been added to this version to understand the deep emotion, it's every bit as emotional as Voila, especially as she sings a section, around 2:10 in, 'if only for a day, or even for a count of ten, I'd just like to live as another', and you will then see a gentle shake of her head, the pain in her eyes, the recognition of the awful reality of her situation, and then her head goes down to silence for a moment. Then she rises, physically and in the song she soars to an even greater height, as much as to say, 'This is NOT going to beat me, or define me, I WILL rise above it', an incredibly emotional moment, it was written for her, an expression of her dream, and that first night at the Vrijthof, which is also the video that's went viral, (32 million views and counting still ) Emma changed, and now, with Andre, her future is so much larger than I think even she dreamed it might be, she's still coming to terms with just how much that is the case. Mentally, her dream became reality that night, it happened for her, in the words of another song she's sung, 'Some people wait a lifetime for a moment like this', and while she physically walked out on to that stage, mentally, she was the beautiful butterfly emerging from the long period of change, the chrysalis emerged from the cocoon and soared high and free over the stage. Emma mentally went up with it, and she absolutely dominated that stage, the orchestra and the audience, and that was the first time she had performed the new version, she was truly inspired, because of how much the words of Voila mean to her, it's been her life in so many ways, whenever she performs that song, it's deep, and the new version with Andre gave her the time and space to do more than perform it, she LIVED it on that stage, and that was so evident. Andre had worked his showmans magic, Emma was no longer a comptent powerful girl singer, the new Emma emerged and soared, she came out on to that stage visibly and emotionally a beautiful, strong, powerful, serene, composed, competent, driven and dedicated young woman, her star rose, and shone bright in the sky. The only reason that Andre and the orchestra were not shedding tears at the power of that performance was because they'd shed plenty of them during rehearsals, and had steeled themselves to control those emotions during the performances, Andre said as much in a TV interview at the time. I think it will be a very long time before anybody comes even close to performing Voila with the power, emotion and passion that Emma gave it that night, every part of her was totally invested in that performance, and she went on to do another 11 performances during July, and every one of them got at least a minute of standing ovation. As she hit that top note at the end, her smile said it all, she knew she'd absolutely nailed it, but then just for a moment, the 15 year old girl came out again, with arms wide, she looked at her mentor, Andre, with a look that said 'How was that?' His eyes, his smile, the embrace, the one word, 'Fantastic', the standing ovation from everybody, including the orchestra, and the call to come back out and accept the audience reaction, they all said it, she absolutely delivered what Andre had recognised she was capable of. We've been treated to a feast of new work from Emma in recent weeks, and it''s very evident that we're seeing the new Emma, between Andre's Christmas concerts, where she was much more involved, and the other events, she's becoming very much more visible at the moment, and I'm actually happy she's with Andre for the next year, if not longer, if anyone can really help her develop into the superstar that she truly is, yet also make sure that she's not destroyed by the nasty side of the music industry, it's Andre and his extended family, and I know from watching Andre for many years that he very much recognises her potential, and he will gently but firmly push her to greater heights than she dreamed possible, and so far, she's responded and delivered, and she'll continue to do that, but with the protection of being under Andre's wings. In 15 years, I don't think I can remember another guest coming on to stage and starting to sing a capella without so much as a prompt note or introduction, Emma's rendering of 'White Christmas' recently is sublime, the first verse is just pure Emma, absolutely no support, so soft and gentle yet powerful, you could have heard a pin drop, she so captivated that huge audience, and then Andre again wove his magic as first the orchestra, then the sopranos and the tenors all join in, and then he winds it right down again to let Emma finish it out, magnificant showmanship that also gave Emma the spotlight she so deserves. The link that follows is the longer version kzfaq.info/get/bejne/f65geMimnpm6n5s.html The other thing I'll make you aware of is a short (2 minute) video in Dutch (sorry), I won't spoil the surprise, just warn you to have tissues handy, it's emotional, and there's an explanation in the first few comments that are attached, it's a very clear demonstration of just how much Andre cares for the people who work with him, and now also for Emma. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/m9CdgJOIztHRoWg.html I will close with a plea, to anyone who's enjoying Emma's rise to stardom, if you can, please consider making a (regular) donation to her foundation, gastrostars.nl It might be the means of assisting them to find treatments or even a cure that will free Emma and others like her from the awful regime of 22 hours a day tied to the pumps that are so restrictive, and Emma freed from even some of that awful regime will be so worth watching, it's clear she can rise to cope with any genre, and she does it so beautifully, and makes it look so simple to do, there's never any evidence of any strain or stress in her singing, I'd like to hope we'll be seeing and enjoying her making wonderful music for a very long time to come.

Patrimonio Dell umaanita

If you want to see some of the most impressive singing please watch LUCY & MARTHA THOMAS - O Holy Night then The Prayer and Mary Did You Know then Lucy Thomas sing I Will Always Love You, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas also HALLELUJAH , Evergreen and then At Last and La Vie En Rose you will not regret it Enjoy!.

Thanks for your interesting comments. Yes, her eyes were closed a lot, she never does that, as far as I have seen. Might it be the lack of an audience and a not so interesting studio to look at? Maybe it is easier for a 15-year old to concentrate with the eyes closed in these circumstances.

Hi William. Thank you for this beautiful reaction. Personally for me the orchestra and the choir did not do this beautiful song justice enough. If you like this version, I can recommend the version she did earlier on her regional television network. A very intimate setting in a living room with only a piano. In that one Emma's pure and beautiful voice truly shines (no distracting guitars or choir!). I'm sure you'll enjoy it very much! you can find it here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/eblkjaaoz9bPkqs.htmlsi=1NVoo9Gr5VZfD26a

I'm nitpicking, but would like to see some more vocal dynamic in the arrangement/phrasing or what you call it in certain parts, that would take her to the next level. Maybe work with dutch singer/vocal coach Floor Jansen from Nightwish 😉

So glad Andre Rieu took her under his wing. Not that she couldn't do it on her own of course

It's been a while since I've seen your videos, it was a bit strange. Turns out I wasn't subscribed, but I thought I was (that's why I'm not an airplane pilot...) Everything fixed.

@BangkokVoiceCoach William, It's clear that Emma has found a way into your heart, and rightly so, I'm going to suggest you take a look at a video she did earlier this year, and by the look of it, this was a home recorded karaoke video, no audience, just her, a sound track and a microphone, she did a cover of a Disney film, the song is part of your world, a cover of halle Berry. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/n9qoppCSs9-2eo0.html She comments that it means a lot to her because it's talking about being able to move away from the life experience that is every day, so close to her own heart,

Hi William. Another brilliant review of Emma with Hallelujah. Your experience creates wonder. I've heard your voice, and now I'm in awe. Emma posted a P.S. clip to Voila, detailing her view of God, re. her affliction. Sadly, it was uncomplementary. It's been taken down. It disturbed me, so I subscribed to her channel. I commented: 'Well done, Next song must be Big, and please don't lose your faith.' Hallelujah has done it. It's Bigger, more intense than Voila, and her shortened, slow rendition, eyes closed, hands poised, she simulates a fervent prayer. Has she changed, and held to her faith? I hope so. Leonard Cohen doubted God's existence, and he was troubled and wayward. He may have viewed this song as a kind of prayer for forgiveness, as King David was once forgiven, although he was an adulterer and an accessory to murder. Perhaps Leonard's song would be appeasing, and bring him like forgiveness. I sympathise. Hallelujah appears 4 times in Bible book of Revelation as Alleluia, and means Praise Jah, or Yah, an abbreviation for God's personal name, found in Psalm 83 verse 18. In the A.V. K.J. Bible. It seems to be a term of endearment in approaching God, one of praise and thanks. If this is how Emma uses it in her song, then I am truly impressed. I hope this info complements yours. Thank you William. This is John in London.

I agree Jeff Buckley did one of the best if not the best version of this however John Cale of Velvet Underground fame did an extraordinary version that rivals Buckleys.

Love her, but this one will always be a difficult song because Jeff Buckley's interpretation (in my opinion) will never be surpassed.

Emma has done a great job here. But.... I have to say that in my view she has changed the song a bit too much. My favourite version remains the rendition Lucy Thomas from the UK has done a few years ago, when she was 16. Lucy did follow the orginal more than Emma does. Again: great job from Emma, but not my favourite.

It does display her ability. but over all to me its not REALY that special. I've watched the Lucy Thomas version and this just lacks the power and commitment kzfaq.info/get/bejne/as6ams6n2rGpg2w.html