Nun wins ‘Voice of Italy’ talent show
Print Edition
A singing nun clinched the final of “The Voice of Italy” television talent show contest on Friday after winning millions of followers with her lively dance act and soulful renditions of lusty pop classics.
Wearing her black habit and a crucifix around her neck, Suor Cristina punched the air and thanked God for her victory, reciting an “Our Father” prayer to the puzzlement of organizers and audience.
“I want Jesus to come in here!” said the wholesome 25-year-old with a self-effacing manner, who was dressed in the sensible black shoes and ankle-length black skirt she has worn throughout the contest.
“My presence here is not up to me, it’s thanks to the man upstairs,” said Suor Cristina after defeating a 28-year-old hard rocker with long curly hair who had performed “Stairway to Heaven.”
Suor Cristina, a reformed rebel who used to sing in a band and now lives with fellow nuns in Milan, has won a record contract with Universal but hinted she might shun a full rock’n’roll career.
“I will go back to my priorities — prayer, waking up early in the morning, school service. That’s fundamental for me to be able to begin something new later on,” the Sicily native said.
Suor Cristina said she was following Pope Francis’s appeals to bring the Catholic Church closer to ordinary people and was not shy about her newfound success.
“I have a gift to give, and I am giving it to you, what can I do about that? Jesus has called upon me. It wouldn’t be worth much if I kept it for myself,” she said.
She shot to television fame in recent months in this predominantly Catholic country with her versions of songs like “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” and “Time of My Life” from the film “Dirty Dancing.”
It was a performance of Alicia Keys’s “No One” that first drew attention to her in March and she sang the tune again on Friday to cheers from an audience that included nuns from her Ursuline Order.
There was some confusion when one panel judge — rock star Piero Pelu — joked she was the “devil incarnate,” prompting the host to step in saying this was meant with “maximum irony.”
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