Darci Lynne with PetuniaCredit: Todd Rosenberg A lot has changed for Darci Lynne since winning America's Got Talent nearly two years ago, and yet, some things have stayed the same. Now 14 (she was 12 when she won in 2017), she still lives in her native Oklahoma. still goes to public school, and still maintains a normal life, as much as possible. For example, she does media interviews, but they're all scheduled late in the afternoon after the 8th grader comes home from school. Most of the time. "Well, I live in Oklahoma and I didn't have school today because the roads iced over." And as she gets ready to kick off her 18-city tour Fresh Out Of The Box tour ( which starts February 15th) all show dates have all been planned around her school schedule. "The shows are all on weekends so I could go to school during the weekdays and go out and do these awesome shows on the weekend. Two weekends a month, four shows a month." The 2019 tour follows a highly successful 50-stop tour last year that took her all over the country, generated more than 100,000 in ticket sales, and grossed $5.2 million. "After winning, it was kind of crazy and everything came at me at once, so we thought it would be perfect to do a tour because people wanted to see more of what I did on AGT (America's Got Talent). It was so much fun! I can now say I've been to 37 states…and counting." Her enthusiasm, openness, and genuine talent are the qualities that helped garner Darci Lynne the most votes for a final performance in the history of NBC's America's Got Talent. The road to success began years ago with a shy little girl who discovered ventriloquism. "I wanted to be a ventriloquist because I met a girl and had no idea what it was before I met her," she recalls. "I was just kind of mesmerized and I thought it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen. I wanted to try it, so I asked for tips and I taught myself in my bathroom mirror." She was so determined to learn how to do it, she started teaching herself to project her voice long before she ever had a puppet. "Well, I started out with my hand because I didn't have one yet, but then when I turned 10, I got an EBay puppet for my birthday," she explains. That $30 EBay puppet got her even more interested in a "cool art form" she'd noticed wasn't around much anymore. She decided to try and bring it back. She now has four puppets, that very first one, and three others that each have his or her own unique personality. There's a rabbit named Petunia, a shy mouse named Oscar, and a sarcastic old woman named Edna. "Once I have a puppet and make a character and add personality to them, they still evolve and pick up little quirks and funny things along the way," she says. "Sometimes their personalities change according to what I do and what happens to me. Like winning changed Petunia. She used to be shy and now she's a diva." While the puppets may have changed, Darci strives to stay grounded, despite the many new doors that have opened for her. "I think who I am hasn't changed, I've stayed true to myself, but definitely the opportunities have changed. I've gotten to do so many things that I've never gotten to do before, so it's a whole new world for me. My world has kind of changed, but I haven't. You know what I mean?" That changing world included not only her own tour last year, but her very own Christmas special on NBC. Famous guests included famous Toby Keith, Hunter Hayes, Kristen Chenoweth, and others. (Ratings show the special was a big success, attracting more than 6-and-a-half million viewers.) As she's tackled new opportunities, her family has stayed close every step of the way. "We go on the road and my little brother comes, he's 11. Then my 19-year old brother comes and he's in charge of my merch (merchandise), my dad helps out on stage, and my mom runs my music. And my older brother, Nick, he's in college and he's our moral support from afar. But we're like a big team and I'm just really glad about that." Through her many appearances on America's Got Talent, first during the 2017 season, and then this year's Champions series, she's grown very fond of all of the judges. "They're genuinely kind people, there's not a mean thing about them," she says. "Simon, I think, sometimes says things just because it's good TV, but he's probably one of the nicest people I've ever met. He's kind of a teddy bear and has a soft side. I love Mel B, she's so awesome and really inspiring. And Heidi is so friendly and she's really bubbly and I love getting to talk to her. And Howie is probably one of the funniest guys I've ever met. He's really nice." She's back on NBC tonight (February 11th) and next Monday (February 18th) as a wild card as part of America's Got Talent: The Champions. As she explains, she wasn't the winner on the Champions series in January, so she's very fortunate to be back. "I am the wild card for AGT: The Champions because in the first round, sadly, I got voted off the island," she says with a laugh. "If you get voted off, sometimes you're picked to come back and it's super exciting because I get a second chance. Not everybody gets a second chance." While she's been a big hit with her ventriloquism act, as Simon Cowell noted in January, she's a talented singer in her own right. "Apart from being so charming and funny, you've actually got this incredible singing voice," he stated on the show. She hopes to do more with her music in the future. "I'd love to, maybe grow a little more in my music because I love to sing by myself. So, maybe I'll record some music of my own, I think that'd just be awesome." In terms of what else the future might hold, she says she thinks about possibly having her own TV show some day or perhaps venturing into acting. For someone who has already made a pretty amazing dream come true at a very early age, the possibilities are endless. Darci LynneCredit: Todd Rosenberg Let's block ads! (Why?)
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February 12, 2019 at 01:21AM | 
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