Sungbong Choi ♪ Nella Fantasia

By Xah Lee. Date: . Last updated: .

A 22-years-old Korean vocal talent, with unusual background, sings Sarah Brightman's - “Nella Fantasia”. In just 30 days, it got 10.6 million views on youtube. (that's about 355k views per day.)

Korea's Got Talent tvN 코리아 갓 탤런트 Ep.1 Sung-bong Choi. Singing starts at 2:48.
Choi Sung-bong 2011
Choi Sung-bong, . [image source 2015-03-02 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Choi_sung_bong_2011.jpg ]

Nella Fantasia

The song he sung is Nella Fantasia (In My Fantasy). It's in Italian. Music by Ennio Morricone (born 1928), lyrics by Chiara Ferraù.

“Nella Fantasia” (“In My Fantasy”) is a song sung in Italian based on the theme “Gabriel's Oboe” from the film The Mission (1986). With music by composer Ennio Morricone and lyrics by Chiara Ferraù, “Nella Fantasia” is popular among classical crossover singers, and was originally released in 1998 by Sarah Brightman. It has since been covered by various artists.

Nella Fantasia

Nella Fantasia (Italian)

Nella fantasia io vedo un mondo giusto,
Lì tutti vivono in pace e in onestà.
Io sogno d'anime che sono sempre libere,
Come le nuvole che volano,
Pien' d'umanità in fondo all'anima.

Nella fantasia io vedo un mondo chiaro,
Lì anche la notte è meno oscura.
Io sogno d'anime che sono sempre libere,
Come le nuvole che volano.

Nella fantasia esiste un vento caldo,
Che soffia sulle città, come amico.
Io sogno d'anime che sono sempre libere,
Come le nuvole che volano,
Pien' d'umanità in fondo all'anima.
In My Fantasy (English)

In my imagination I see a fair world,
Everyone lives in peace and in honesty there.
I dream of souls that are always free,
Like the clouds that fly,
Full of humanity in the depths of the soul.

In my imagination I see a bright world,
Even the night is less dark there.
I dream of souls that are always free,
Like clouds that fly.

In my imagination there exists a warm wind,
That breathes on the cities, like a friend.
I dream of souls that are always free,
Like clouds that fly,
Full of humanity in the depths of the soul.

Sung-Bong Choi Biography

Choi Sung-bong (최성봉; Hanja: 崔聖奉, born 18 February 1990) is a South Korean vocalist who became famous after his appearance on Korea's Got Talent in 2011 was picked up by the worldwide news media. He finished in second place in the competition.

Early life

Choi Sung Bong was born in Seoul and abandoned in an orphanage at the age of 3. He ran away from the institution two years later because he was ill-treated and beaten by the staff. He took a bus to Dae-Jeon and for 10 years he lived as a “street kid’ among criminals and drug addicts in the red light district, sleeping on stairwells and in public washrooms. He said that he survived by scraping a living by selling chewing gum and energy drinks on the street and in a nightclub.

Musical background

While living on the street he was kidnapped by mobsters. He escaped, but he had to return to street life because he had nowhere else to go. Choi was inspired to pursue a career in music when he was 14 years old, after listening to a classical vocalist at the nightclub where he sold chewing gum. He later said that he was particularly fascinated by the sincerity of the vocalist in contrast to the usual type of music heard at the club and tried to find a way to learn music himself by research in an internet cafe. He was refused many times by the music teachers he approached. He later found a teacher, Park Jung-So who, after visiting the place where Choi lived (a worn couch in the night school), agreed to teach him without charge and helped him get into an arts high school at age 16.[1]

Choi Sung-bong

Sungbong Choi has a book now, in English.

[Singing is My Life: A Memoir of My Journey from Homelessness to Fame By Sungbong Choi. At Buy at amazon ]

Jackie Evancho ♪ Nella Fantasia

Jackie Evancho 2013-11
singer Jackie Evancho

Jackie Evancho (born 2000), another incredible young talent.

Jackie Evancho - Nella Fantasia

She's just 11 years old at the time.

Jacqueline Marie “Jackie” Evancho (/iːˈveɪŋkoʊ/ ee-VAYNG-koh; born April 9, 2000)[2] is an American classical crossover singer who gained wide recognition at an early age and, since 2009, has issued an EP and five albums, including a platinum and gold album and three Billboard 200 top 10 debuts.[3][4]

Between 2008 and 2010, Evancho entered several talent competitions; made singing appearances, mostly in Pennsylvania (including singing the U.S. national anthem at a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball game); issued an independent album, Prelude to a Dream; and attracted interest on YouTube. Evancho impressed composers Tim Janis and David Foster, each of whom included her in his concerts beginning in 2009. Later in 2010, at the age of ten, she gained wider popularity with her performances in the fifth season of the America's Got Talent competition, finishing in second place.

Jackie Evancho

Sarah Brightman

Here's Sarah Brightman's version.

Sarah Brightman ♪ Nella Fantasia

Operatic Fantasy