In 2017, child sensation Celine Tam from Hong Kong performed an astonishing duet with German singer Helene Fisher. She took part in the tenth series of Britain’s Got Talent in 2016, when she was eight. The following year, aged nine, she amazed judges and crowds alike on season 12 of America’s Got Talent, reaching the semi-finals of that competition. Naturally, she sang a Celine Dion song for her audition. Her performance of “My Heart Will Go On” has been viewed on YouTube over 42 million times.
It was on the back of her newfound fame that Tam appeared on the German TV program “The Helene Fischer Show”. This was presented by Fisher, an extremely successful singer in Germany. She has sold over 15 million records and her 2013 album Farbenspiel is the most downloaded album of all time by a German artist. With these two brilliant singers, with twenty-three years between them in age, duetting on the stage, the excitement was high for a memorable performance.
Fischer began by talking to Tam. She pointed out that the little girl had brought her family with her, and the camera shot to the excited Tam family. Fischer asked Tam what her sister’s name was, which was revealed to be Dion. “So it is Celine and Dion,” Fischer said excitedly. After confirming that her parents were big Celine Dion fans, the presenter says that the Canadian singer was a huge role model for her, too.
Describing her “goosebumps” in anticipation of their duet, Fischer announced they would sing “You Raise Me Up”. This was first released by the Irish-Norwegian band Secret Band in 2001, before being covered by Josh Groban in 2004 and Westlife in 2005. Tam and Fischer’s version of the song was as powerful as any that had come before it, and it exemplified Tam’s extraordinary talent for her young age.
At the song’s crescendo, stage pyrotechnics lit up behind the two singers, providing a visual representation of the truly illuminating performance. When the song finished, the audience gave a standing ovation. Fischer hugged her young co-performer tightly, and told her, “This is your applause!”
Celine Tam, now aged sixteen, began singing at the age of two, and was trained by her father, Steve Tam, a famous singing coach. She has over a million subscribers and continues to perform musically. She has sung at the Miss Honk Kong Finals and the Miss World Beauty Pageant, to add to the many global competition she has appeared in. With her brilliant talent, as displayed in this 2017 duet, she will surely go on to have a very successful music career.