A Christian girl, named Mirna Hana, has become an internet sensation after her stupendous performance on ‘The Voice Kids’, a german music talent show. She has revealed how she fled Iraq, when ISIS vowed to kidnap and kill her.
The 11 year old girl surprised the judges in Beirut when she sang Iraqi love song 'Yesterday in a Dream' and Frozen's ‘Let it Go’.
Her breathtaking performance in a song video, has gone viral on the YouTube with 11.8 million times.
But Mirna has told the heartbreaking story of how she ended up on the show - and how she was forced to leave Iraq for Lebanon 8 months ago when her life was in danger.
Mirna said, “After we got to Lebanon, my dad told me that Daesh [ISIS] wanted to kidnap and kill me. From then I felt very scared at night, and I couldn't sleep alone, or be by myself.”
The little girl in the video said, “The Voice is a chance to sing for the world and to show that Iraq isn't just about war and things like that - there are beautiful sounds too.”
“Everybody knows the difficulties of Iraq, from ISIS and how they slaughter the people and how they take their houses,” the girl’s father said.
'They threatened us with the kidnapping our little girl, so we came here. We left everything behind us - even my job with the government,' he added.
The war-ravaged existence Mirna, a Chaldean Christian, has left behind in Baghdad is a far cry from her new reality in Beirut, where she took to the stage in a chiffon red dress to perform in front of the Arab world's pop elite.
After her father hugged and said not to be scared, the girl walked on stage. Upon hearing the opening notes, Kazem El Saher, the 58-year-old Iraqi judge, smiled, recognizing the rendition of his own haunting love song.
On the hit show, it did not take much time for Kazem, to turn his chair to see who was singing so beautifully.
Even all his fellow judges, Lebanese superstar Nancy Ajram and Egyptian actor and singer Tamer Hosny, were also visibly moved, their eyes welling with tears before hitting the button to compete to mentor the young star.
After Mirna told that her age is only 12, judge Nancy asked her in disbelief, “How do you sing like that”
In an attempt to lure Mirna to her team, Nancy offered her costumes from Frozen, and Tamer offered her a chance to be in his films.
It was the simple offer of being able to sing whatever she wanted from fellow Iraqi Kazem Saher, known as the 'Caesar of Arabic Singing', that won her heart and she chose to join his team.
Now, the little girl, will compete along with other talented children in the competition.
A Facebook page celebrating Chaldean Christians posted messages of support for their young star.
By Phani Ch
