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Mom proudly watches autistic son bring down the house singing Ariana Grande karaoke on first cruise

"POV: you started off the cruise as a shy karaoke novice but by the end became a karaoke legend thanks to the best backup strangers ever."

Image via Canva

Young man with autism sings karaoke on his first cruise.

Anyone who's been on a cruise knows that there are endless activities you can participate in while at sea. And for 19-year-old Kevin (@raisingkevin_), a young man with autism and ADHD, there was one activity that he was absolutely drawn to while on his first Caribbean cruise–karaoke.

Kevin's mom and main caretaker Tola documented his first time on a cruise and the impact his joy and enthusiasm for singing on the mic had on everyone. Not only was he embraced by a group of total strangers, but he personally transformed from a timid performer to a 'karaoke legend' by the end of the voyage.

"POV: my son is 19 and has a diagnosis of autism & ADHD. Here he is on a Caribbean cruise in a room full of 'strangers' singing karaoke as off tune as possible without a care in the world," she wrote in the caption.

In the video, Kevin is holding a mic and passionately singing Ariana Grande's song "Dangerous Woman" to an entire room full of supportive people who are singing along with him, including his mom Tola. He doesn't waver once, and his mom added in the caption, "As a parent I used to focus on 'shielding' him in the name of 'protecting' him from the 'bad people in the world' but realized that in doing that I was also shielding him from all the 'good people' in the world too."


ariana grande, singer, gif, celebrity, song, karaoke Ariana Grande Wink GIF by The VoiceGiphy

In the comments, Tola shared how the kindness of strangers was the epitome of inclusion. "Kev has never met anyone in this video prior to this trip but here they are cheering him on like he their nephew! Inclusion at its finest! Hope this encourages other parents to be a lil less scared ❤️," she wrote.

Viewers were deeply impacted by Kevin's bravery and the support of strangers.

"I feel this--- I felt me shielding my son, was protecting, but if anything I was holding that bright light back because I see how weird their world is. But-- how can my sweet heart fly if I hold his wings. Thank you for this reminder❤️❤️❤️❤️."

"My lil neurodivergent heart is so full seeing him have a positive public group✨ moment ✨love that for Kev 💕."

In another video from the cruise, Kevin crushed Ed Sheeran's "Perfect" in front of another crowd. And in the comments, Tola shared more about Kevin's love for karaoke during the cruise and the community that supported him. "So [I] asked Kev what his favorite part of the cruise was and he said the karaoke. Shall we now call him karaoke Kev? 🤣 But really one of the best parts of our cruise was seeing Kev get more and more comfortable with singing some of his favorite tunes in front of strangers who became friends ❤️," she wrote.


Ed Sheeran, singer, snap, karaoke, cruiseEd Sheeran Television GIF by The VoiceGiphy

And viewers cannot get enough of his energy. "Kev really got his entire life on this cruise!! 😂" one wrote. Another commented, "I’m so glad he had a good time and opened up he’s a brave soul love ya Kevin and your mom is a wonderful woman for sharing 👏👏🔥❤️😍❤️👏👏👏."

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Pop Culture

16-year-old wows 'The Voice' judges with her piercing voice. Then she began yodeling.

She just proved how cool yodeling can be.

TheVoice/Youtube

Ruby Leigh on "The Voice"

Few music genres are as polarizing as country music. For the most part, you either love the twangy sounds of honky tonk, or it makes your ears bleed.

And perhaps nothing epitomizes this quite like yodeling (yes, yes, yodeling might have originations beyond country music, but nowadays it is very closely linked with country music).

Generally speaking, yodeling is often seen as something old-fashioned, annoying, even cartoony. More likely to be used as the butt of a joke—similar to bagpipes—rather than seen as the very difficult and otherworldly art form that it actually is.

But every so often, someone comes around to remind us that when done well, yodeling can feel just as dazzling as a Mariah Carey whistle tone.

And that person was 16-year-old singer Ruby Leigh, who left all four judges with their jaws on the floor for her first impression audition on NBC’s “The Voice.”

Hailing from a small town in Missouri, armed with her black guitar that perfectly matched her country western outfit, Leigh began singing Patsy Montana’s "I Want to Be A Cowboy's Sweetheart.”

Almost immediately after she began battling her heart out, judge John Legend turned around in his seat.

But then, when she unleashed her secret weapon, all bets were off.

All three judges, including Gwen Stefani, Niall Horan and country western queen Reba McEntire turned around to see where such a piercing sound was coming from.

Plus…the camera pans over to Leigh’s mother, father and sister overcome with emotion as she lights up the stage. If you watch closely, you’ll even see Leigh’s father tearfully yelling "I told you, Ruby!” It’s seriously a bit of a tearjerker moment.

Watch:

After Leigh finished her song, Stefani and McEntire both shared a little bit of their yodeling gifts, with McEntire sharing how “flattered” that the young performer honored a tradition passed down in her own family.

We might all have our individual tastes, but sometimes…good music is simply good music. It’s a gift when artists of any kind are able to transcend the limitation of genre or mainstream opinion and truly inspire people. Way to go Ruby.

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Singer born deaf wows judges on 'The Voice’ with a soulful rendition of 'Killing Me Softly’'

They had no idea she was hearing impaired.

via The Voice/YouTube

ALI blows away the judges before revealing she was born deaf.

Season 23 of “The Voice” features blind auditions where the judge's decisions are made solely on the singer’s voice, not their looks or stage presence. The judges cannot see the performers thanks to rotating chairs, and if they decide to choose an artist to join their team, they press a button to see the whole package.

The fact that the judges couldn’t see ALI’s performance of “Killing me Softly with His Song” by Roberta Flack on Monday, March 13, makes it all the more impressive. Because after her outstanding, soulful performance, she revealed she was born deaf.

"What?" judge Kelly Clarkson said, shocked. "I wear two hearing aids. I was born deaf. I'm so blessed to be able to share this,” ALI said.

Blake Shelton couldn’t believe that she had a hearing impairment. "If you had lined up all the singers that we've heard so far and then said, 'Pick one which is hearing-impaired,' you would probably be the last one that I would say,” Shelton said. “That vocal was just incredible. The only reason I didn't hit my button is because that's so far out of my lane musically. Outside of that, wow."

ALI received two chair turns from coaches Kelly Clarkson and Chance the Rapper but ultimately chose Clarkson as her coach.

"I sing for the little girl with the sparkly hearing aids, in Walnut, California, singing along to Kelly Clarkson songs my Uncle Rich burned onto CDs for me," ALI wrote on Instagram. "I sing for the people who have the same kind of story as me, for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community. I sing... I sing for You, Lord. I sing because I love it. This is me. This is my story."

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Pop Culture

Chance the Rapper shares how 'kind' Martin Short gave up his seat on a flight to his daughter

He didn’t know who Chance was. He was just being nice.

via Wikimedia Commons

A dapper Martin Short photographed in 2021

“The Voice” judge Chance the Rapper had a touching moment on a flight on Sunday, February 26, when a kind man gave up his seat so he could sit next to his 7-year-old daughter Kensli. The unexpected thing was that the man who gave up his seat was none other than comedy legend and star of “Only Murders in the Building,” Martin Short.

Chance shared his story on Twitter, where it received nearly 300,000 likes.


“So I just got on this plane with my daughter, and found out our seats weren’t next to each other. I really ain’t wanna inconvenience anyone by asking them to swap seats, but before I could say anything this kind older gentleman offered his seat to Kensli so we could sit together,” Chance wrote.

“We both said thank you and as he stands up, I realize it’s THE Martin Short!! So cool and Kensli freaked out cause she’s obsessed with The Santa Clause 3. What an awesome person! SHOUTOUT TO JACK FROST,” Chance continued.

The fact that a 7-year-old is familiar with Martin Short’s work is a tribute to his incredible longevity and how he’s played roles that are memorable for people of every generation.

Chance doesn’t think it was a favor between celebrities because he doesn’t think Short knows who he is.

The “All We Got” rapper also joked that his daughter was really just trying to get her screenplay, a “¡Three Amigos!” sequel, called “The Four Amigos,” in front of Short. Strangely, according to director John Landis, there has never been serious talk of a “¡Three Amigos!” sequel because the first one wasn’t a big hit at the box office.

Writer Alan Zweibel (“Saturday Night Live," “It’s Garry Shandling's Show”) wasn’t surprised at his friend Martin Short’s generosity.

Others thought that Short was just acting like a Canadian.

On a deeper level, some criticized the airline for the situation happening in the first place. These days, airlines are nickel-and-diming people for everything, from checking luggage to early boarding to selecting a seat. Seat selection fees make it more difficult and expensive for families to sit together.

Seat selection on some flights can cost as much as $50.

People are so annoyed with these excessive tacked-on fees that the Biden Administration is urging Congress to pass the "Junk Fee Prevention Act,” which would make it free for families to sit with their young children on airplanes.

"We'll make cable internet and cellphone companies stop charging you up to $200 or more when you decide to switch to another provider," Biden said in the State of the Union Address. "And we'll prohibit airlines from charging up to $50 roundtrip for families just to sit together."

Although airlines run on slim margins, that’ll probably just force them to raise the price of airfare for everyone.

Ultimately, it’s nice to know that Martin Short, whose public persona is so affable, is the same when he thinks that the public isn’t watching.

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