Juliet Evancho

There is a young singer who I really enjoy named Jackie Evancho, this post is not about her. I heard her by accident while watching videos on YouTube and discovering that she had competed on "America's Got Talent". I want to point out that she was not discovered on that TV show as she had already performed with a famous musician in Las Vegas. She was really discovered in Massachusetts originally by a local talent show and then by David Foster a multi-Grammy winning musician and producer. I should also point out that her first album was produced by Mr. Foster and went Platinum. I think she was 11 at the time.

As for my musical tastes. My favorite music is a certain type of Jazz or big band music. My second favorite type of music is classic rock. My third is for certain types of Country and Western. In addition to all that, I like Opera singers. I blame my mother who listened to all types of music. I do not have the same appreciation she did for Marching Bands; but, appreciate her exposing me to all types of music and never judging my choices. My favorite songs by Miss Evancho are the Opera ones.

Anyways, I saw Miss Evancho recently in Santa Barbara. I planned to post on it; but, sometimes I wait before I post on items. I went to Santa Barbara with a friend and we had a wonderful time and even though he is not a Opera fan, he still enjoyed the show. In the course of our discussing the show afterwards I said I would like to see her again in a few years to see how she was progressing and improving. I think as she grows she will expand her abilities as her body grows. She is only 15 at the moment. This post is still not about her, you just need the background to understand where I am coming from. There is a twist coming soon. Please be patient with my approach.

My friend disagreed with me at first about her improving. He said in his opinion she had perfect pitch and that you either have that or do not. I do not understand perfect pitch nor can I tell you when someone has it. In either case. eventually he conceded that growth might contribute to her having a greater range. In the show she sang a song called Nessun Dorma. She sang it exquisitely and hit a note at the end that was amazing. I did not record the show as that is prohibited. I did however find a video of her singing it in another recent live performance and am providing a link to it.

YouTube - Jackie Evancho - Nessun Dorma - Lancaster, KY - 11-21-15.

I am not a superfan of anyone, I do not get intensely interested in celebrity. I do however remember things and have seen Miss Evancho in a number of interviews. I know that she loves animals. I also know that her family is fairly conservative and she still has chores. I know that when she travels for concerts she brings at least one parent and one sibling. He oldest sibling is her brother. There are some videos out there of him singing on stage with her. My observation is that he is protective of his sister and that she loves him. I have been watching these videos and interviews for at least 3 years. While looking for a video from the show I had watched in Santa Barbara I found something else. I found out that her brother had come out as transgendered this year. I must say that I was surprised.

YouTube - Jackie Evancho & Juliet Evancho - Interview.

I think it is only fair to my readers that I express my biases. I have no problem with homosexuals. I think I have made that clear in the past. I do have issues with trans genders. To say I do not would be to lie to my readers and that is not going to happen. I don't have a need to tell others what they can or cannot do unless they are intentionally hurting others for that purpose. I don't care about Bruce or Caitlyn Jenner. I am not interested in the story. My issue is with changing one's body to attempt to make it something that it is not naturally. That is a lot of my arguing against Transhumanism. I think it is better that we accept ourselves and work with what we have. I should point out that just about all of the homosexuals I know are uncomfortable around trans-genders.

This post is about lines, lines that we cross or do not and lines that we believe others have a right to cross. That is the essence of personal freedom. I personally do not believe in tattoos. I believe in dentures to replace teeth that we have lost and I believe that women who have lost breasts to cancer should be able to restore their bodies to where they were. I do not believe in eliminating healthy appendages for psychological reasons and know that it rarely turns out well as no matter where you go, there you are. You remain you, scars and all. That is my personal feeling and belief. I don't want to be allowed to enforce it on others. I believe in freedom and self direction and personal choice. I detest abortion; but, would not condemn women or doctors to jail for having them. I don't own someone else's soul or body. I leave it to God to judge souls, not me.

How does one take the position that the government cannot tax you to pay to help your fellow citizens; but, still believe that they have the right to outlaw abortion or Marijuana or Gay Marriage. How is that consistent. How do you justify controlling others lives but not believing you can also be controlled? Everyone likes the easy questions and nobody likes the really tough questions. The tough questions make us dissect where two easy answers divert as things get more complex.

I don't believe in abortion and I don't believe in slavery. My choice between the two is to not try and prohibit people from controlling their own body and letting them be accountable for what they do with it. If there is no God, there is nothing to be held accountable for as dead is dead. If you do not believe in God, why would you believe in any rules other than personal choices. I believe in God and if you believe in God then he doesn't need your help to talk to people or decide what is allowed. I believe in free choice until someone tries to impose their choice on my personal choice. I believe others have the same right.

There is a condition called Hermaphrodite. That is when one is born with both genitalia. When one is born as both a man and a woman. I didn't know that frequently when they are born the parents are asked which they want their child to be and that their sex change is done at that time, at birth or near birth. My guess is that people usually choose for their children to become males. That is a sex change operation performed on minors. Would you want your child to be born a hermaphrodite or would you choose for them? What if you chose wrong? Truth is either choice is wrong. I would let them be both and not change what God allowed them to be at birth. Did you know that many trans-genders were born hermaphrodites who had their parents choose which parts remained after they were born?  I did not know that for the longest time because it is not often discussed. I do not know the story surrounding Juliet Evancho. This is not about her. It is about unpleasant questions regarding who we are and the choices we allowed to make for ourselves.

UPDATE:

I wrote this post about 7 months ago. I didn't really think much about it at the time, I had just gotten back from Santa Barbara and discovered that her brother had decided to go public with his choice about who he was. I wanted to use what I had learned to talk to others about acceptance of others and not worrying about being other people's god, decider, judge. Here is the point, I probably would not have mentioned this post again except, it turned out to be popular. The searches that led people here were not for Jackie Evancho, they were for "Juliet Evancho Rocks".  In fact, on Google I came up the tenth search for those terms. I didn't know that, I am always surprised when I show up on the search engines.

I guess it is possible that Miss Juliet Evancho has read this post. I don't know what to say. I would start by saying to her and anyone else that it wasn't personal or about her and hope it was respectful of other peoples choices, I think it was. I am a retired analyst and based on the number of hits this post received I have to assume it was people outside of the Evanho family that searched "Juliet Evancho Rocks". I doubt she would have googled those words. I think the people who read this post are probably feeling a kinship with her. That word "rocks" makes me think that. I think it is read by people seeking support for how they fee and I want to address that.

I don't know who will read this in the future. The post has had no comments, only more views than normal. Let me be clear, you can comment anonymously and as long as you are civil and do not use cuss words, I will probably post your comment. My guess is that people who searched :Juliet Evancho Rocks" may feel the same as she did and are seeking the same freedom.

Here is the real fun. Whoever reads this in the future because they searched "Juliet Evancho Rocks" are probably looking for someone to agree with them or someone to be mad at. I am both of those things. I don't agree with changing yourself to fit others views on gender and I do believe others have the "right" to self will and self determination. A paradox to be sure if you fail to understand the real issue, self determination. If you choose to risk your life to climb mount Everest and the welfare of your family if you die, you are a jerk; but, you have that right. Juliet only puts her own self to risk, her family can choose to go on the ride or not (my understanding is that they support her).