Here’s another Yonkers success story. Merissa Beddows, a former contestant in Yonkers Junior Idol, has reached the semi-finals of America’s Got Talent. Beddows is a 23-year-old student at Curtis Institute of Music, Pennsylvania. She identifies herself as an opera singer with a passion for impressions.
Merissa attended Yonkers Montessori Academy, and was singing and performing since she was 10. Her performace is part opera, part comedy and part impressions.
She began her latest act by handing over a giant dice with various celebrity names written on it to judge Heidi Klum. She then told the judges that she would sing ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ in her original voice, and then move to impressions of the names that Heidi picked from the dice.
While Merissa’s original vocals were spectacular, her impressions were nothing short of flawless. She kicked off the impressions by hitting the high notes like Ariana Grande, before moving on to mimic her grandmother. She also did impressions of Stevie Nicks, Celine Dion, and Snow White, before concluding her act with Siri’s take on the classic song!‘
“I like you,’ said Klum. ‘You’re a woman of many different talents.’ Judge Sofia Vergara said, ‘I think your voices are so spectacular,’
Merissa lost her dad when she was 11, and has served as her mother’s caregiver ever since. She is currently hosting a GoFundMe page- https://www.gofundme.com/f/q7ckgj-please-help-my-mom?utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer to raise $25,000 to get her mother long-term care. It is a touching story that you can read about, and if you can, make a donation. She is dedicating her AGT performances to mom. Beddows has over 745K followers on her TikTok and is all over social media.
This year’s process is slightly different than previous seasons. 11 Acts will perform during every Tuesday Live Show for five weeks. Fans will then have their allotted time to vote, with the top two Acts revealed and automatically advanced to the Finale. The remaining nine Contestants will be eliminated.
In the end during the September 13 finale, the remaining top Acts will all compete for the $1 million grand prize and a spot in AGT’s Las Vegas residency. The winner will be determined by America’s Vote and revealed on September 14.
‘This has changed my life, absolutely,’ Merissa said, and all of us hope that she continues to the finals of AGT. You are making Yonkers proud!
Share your Yonkers memories of Merissa with us and our readers by emailing them to dmurphy@risingmediagroup.com. We will try to reach her for an interview.
