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Youthful inspiration: Jessie Hillel at TEDxChristchurch

2,792 views · Published 6 February 2014 · 12:20 · Indexed 4 October 2026

Channel: TEDx Talks · 2014 · Entertainment

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Jessie Hillel loves singing. The bubbly 12-year-old Wellingtonian has been performing since she was 3 — Jimmie Rodgers' Waiting for a Train was her first song — and she started singing lessons two years later. She won her first major singing competition at the tender age of seven, going on to rack up a long series of awards. In 2010 she represented New Zealand at the World Championship of Performing Arts in Los Angeles, winning in multiple singing categories; in 2012, she placed 2nd in 2012's 'New Zealand's Got Talent.'
Jessie's success there opened up several other opportunities. She was invited to represent New Zealand at last year's International Children's Concert in China, which screened on television in China on New Year's Eve. Her debut album, "With Love," was released this past April in New Zealand by Sony Music; it hit #3 on the World Albums Top 40 and #2 in NZ Albums Top 20.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

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