Late last year, Austin, Minn., teen Molly Kate Kestner begged her parents to let her audition for American Idol. The budding singer/songwriter already had started to hone her talents through a series of songs she posted online. Her father, Kevin, had other plans. He told her: Molly, if God is interested in putting you up on a national platform, he does not need Ryan Seacrest or American Idol. It turns out God was interested, and he got an assist from actor and social-media celeb George Takei. Over the past few days, Kestners tender, emotional ballad His Daughter -- recorded, as her father said, with a cracked iPhone and out-of-tune piano -- has jumped to 1.5 million YouTube views and counting. CNN called it a bone-chilling performance, while the Huffington Post promised the song will knock your socks off. The 18-year-old Austin High School senior has been posting songs online for years, her father said, primarily to share them with her extended family. Shes one of seven children, and my wife is one of 10 children, he said. Shes got 30 first cousins in Ohio. She was posting songs to keep everyone in the loop. Most of her views were in the low 100s, or at most the low 1,000s. His Daughter was different. Kestner wrote the song, about an unexpected pregnancy, a year ago. She played it for her choir teacher, who thought it was worth saving to debut for her senior solo recital. On Easter, she finally posted it on Facebook, and within 48 hours, it amassed 13,570 likes. But the song truly took off Tuesday, when former Star Trek star Takei shared it on his Facebook page, which claims nearly 7 million followers. A friend forwarded me this clip, and there are tears in my eyes from the depth and pathos of this young womans song, Takei wrote. Has America found its young Adele? Im nearly breathless from listening. https://youtube/watch?v=35say5G5cz8
Posted on: Sun, 18 May 2014 13:05:53 +0000