Where’s a 14-year-old to go after winning $1 million on ‘America’s Got Talent’? Charlotte
Darci Lynne Farmer has a confession to make:
“I love singing with my mouth open,” says the Oklahoma teenager who gained fame as the winner of the 2017 edition of NBC’s “America’s Got Talent.” “And I’m actually able to sing even better that way.”
It’s possible, she says, that when she’s older her career will veer in a direction that allows her to do more of that. But for now, Farmer is perfectly happy — and staying incredibly busy — belting out songs like “With a Little Help from My Friends” by The Beatles and “Summertime” by Ella Fitzgerald while tightly clenching her teeth and playfully manipulating puppets.
And over the next few weeks, the focus for the precocious ventriloquist will be on putting audiences in the holiday spirit: She’ll be among the celebrity performers featured during NBC’s “Christmas in Rockefeller Center” broadcast (8 p.m. Wednesday); she’ll host her own holiday special (“Darci Lynne: My Hometown Christmas” on Dec. 11, also on NBC); and she’s currently traversing the country as headliner of a Christmas-themed tour that stops at Charlotte’s Ovens Auditorium on Dec. 14.
Here are seven fun facts we learned from Farmer during a recent interview.
1. She’ll bring some familiar friends with her to Charlotte. The concert (billed as “Rocking Around The Christmas Tree With Darci Lynne And Friends”) will feature all four of her puppets: 80-something Edna Doorknocker, diva-esque rabbit Petunia, Oscar the mouse, and country girl Katie — who’ll be new to many but familiar to longtime fans. “Katie was my very first puppet, but I didn’t bring her on ‘AGT,’ so it’s been awhile. ... I did (NBC talent show) ‘Little Big Shots’ before ‘AGT,’ and she was on that, so I wanted to shed some light on the others.” Also: Opening for Lynne on this current tour is Pelican 212, a family band she befriended when it advanced to the finals the same year she won. Coincidentally, Pelican 212 also got its first taste of the national spotlight on “Little Big Shots.”
2. When they’re not being used, her puppets do not hang out with her in her bedroom. “They really just stay in suitcases in the closet. ... I mean, when it’s time for bed and the lights are off, it’s just creepy to have them out.”
3. She has a ventriloquism coach — fellow Oklahoman Gary Owen — who offered to work with her for free after watching her win a local talent contest four years ago. “But I’m pretty laid-back about practicing because I’ve been doing it so long. I don’t have to practice as much as I used to.”
4. The other kids think she’s cool, but she’s not too cool for school. Lynne is an eighth-grader at Deer Creek Middle School in the Oklahoma City suburb of Edmond, and as of now, her parents plan to enroll her next year at Deer Creek High School. Her tour schedule is designed around her school schedule, not the other way around. But it’s not a completely normal existence. “It’s a little crazy. Last year I was in seventh grade and we were the babies at the school — ‘cause my middle school’s eighth grade and seventh grade — and now I’m eighth grade and all these new students have come in, and they’re all like, ‘Oh my gosh! Darci Lynne!!’ ... The rowdy seventh-grade boys want me to give them high-fives all the time.”
5. She loves how much touring allows her to see new places and meet new people, but she wishes she could do that without having to get on an airplane. “I hate flying. It creeps me out and it scares me half to death. ... I’ve always been told that turbulence is normal and you’re supposed to have it, and it’s what keeps you in the air, so I think of that (to try to keep calm). Me and my family, we’re very faithful, so I always pray, too, before the flight. But yeah, it’s — echhh, echhh, I hate it!”
6. Touring is mostly a family affair. Her father, Clarke, and her mother, Misty, always accompany her on the road. Her oldest brother, Nick, is in college and rarely travels, but her 19-year-old brother, Dalton, oversees her merchandising and her 11-year-old brother, Nate, always goes along for the ride. Darci says her little brother is “really supportive” and enjoys the excitement of the tours, but that he gets fed up with the everyday attention back home in Oklahoma. “Sometimes, he comes home and he’s like, ‘Mom, I’m sick of it. I’m sick of my friends asking, ‘How’s your sister, Nate?’ ‘Oh, Nate, what’s your sister been doing?’ (Laughs.) He’s funny.”
7. Though she pocketed $1 million for winning “America’s Got Talent,” she hasn’t gone on a shopping spree. “I didn’t buy myself anything yet. I donated $30,000 to my church (Church of the Servant in Oklahoma City). Then I bought my mom a dishwasher, ‘cause that’s what I said I would do. I wanted to get a puppy, but then things started getting super, super busy, and I didn’t have a chance. But hopefully we’ll get a puppy — maybe next year. I hope.” Perhaps one small enough to take on the plane to keep her calm? “That’s what I said! But my parents were like, ‘NOPE.’”
‘Rocking Around The Christmas Tree With Darci Lynne And Friends’
When: 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 14.
Where: Ovens Auditorium, 2700 E. Independence Blvd.
Tickets: $29 and up.
Details: 800-745-3000; www.ovensauditorium.com.
This story was originally published November 27, 2018 at 1:11 PM.