Originally filed Tuesday, December 4, 2018 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
Angelica Hale, the 10 year old with the angelic voice from Johns Creek, almost won "America's Got Talent" last year, losing to a 13-year-old ventriloquist singer.
But not pocketing the $1 million prize didn’t hurt her burgeoning young career. Now 11 and noticeably taller, she has since moved to a new home in Suwanee and continues to be home schooled while booking 40 events a year, from Taiwan to Vancouver, from Phoenix to Chicago.
She’ll be back on TV both on a special holiday edition of NBC’s “Little Big Shots” December 12 and a special winter “America’s Got Talent: The Champions” starting January 7.
This will be her second appearance on the Steve Harvey hosted show, which has no competitive element. "AGT" has her competing with a wide array of talent from past seasons and other countries.
“It’s going to be awesome,” she said, of “AGT.” “I saw some talent I’ve never seen before and people from other seasons. It was a like a family reunion.”
Her dad James Hale remains her manager. "We get more control of what we do," he said at a Suwanee Starbucks last week. "Building connections, which is a benefit. Choose what we want and what we don't want to do."
She continues to be very much in demand from corporate events to sporting matches.
Over the past year, she's performed at a David Foster event in Canada. She sang for a Taiwanese bank event. She crooned "Georgia on My Mind" for the Atlanta Women's Foundation before Laura Bush, Jill Biden and Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. She met Michelle Obama at the Empire State Building. ("She's tall and very sweet," she said.)
She did the National Anthem at a Braves game earlier this year at Suntrust Park and at a Cleveland Cavaliers game with the Los Angeles Lakers, where she met Khloe Kardashian. ("I was starstruck!" she said.)
She will be in an upcoming indie film "American Reject" about a singing competition and features Billy Ray Cyrus and Rebecca Black of "Friday" fame. "I love acting," she said. "It was a fantastic experience."
Recently she has sung tunes at the Macy’s Tree Lighting in Chicago and another tree lighting in Houston.
This week, she is in Calcutta, India for a corporate event. Her favorite Christmas tunes to sing? “Where Are You Christmas,” “All I Want For Christmas Is You” and “O Holy Night.”
She recorded some Christmas songs at legendary Patchwerks Studio and will release them soon independently.
Angelica listens now to a lot of current pop and is a fan of Ariana Grande, Bebe Rexha, Zedd, Marshmello, Bazzi and Post Malone. She also continues to work with a voice coach three times a week, largely on Skype.
RELATED: Angelica’s vocal coach marvels over her skills
TV PREVIEW
“Little Big Shots,” 9 p.m., Wednesday, December 12, NBC
“America’s Got Talent: The Champions,” 8 p.m., Monday, January 7, 2019, NBC
