The 'lil video that could'

For the mother of 12-year-old Arielle Baril, it was "like hitting the lottery" when Heidi Klum smacked her golden buzzer on a recent Tuesday night, sending Baril to the live shows of NBC's "America's Got Talent."

With her performance this past Tuesday night at Radio City Music Hall, Baril received enough viewer votes to propel her into the semifinals.

The young opera singer hails from Drexel Hill and will be starting the seventh grade at Abington Junior High School next month. She melted hearts and brought the live audience to its feet after singing "Pie Jesu," by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Baril and her mom, Marguerite Pierre, spoke to me over the phone yesterday from Radio City.

"Singing is something I've always wanted to do," Baril told me. "I always had a passion for it, so I just thought maybe I should do it earlier rather than later."

Baril said that her older brother, Joshua, introduced her to opera when she was 10, and that's when her love of song was spawned.

Pierre said that Baril started humming a few bars when she was a toddler.

"She could carry a good note with music, so I knew she could sing at an early age. Having the voice she has now and the ability to command some of the songs she's singing, I think we found that out about two years ago when she was 10."

It's a dream she has yet to wake up from, said Pierre, whose daughter has had no formal training. She'd sing at family functions and school talent shows, but it wasn't until her parents put a video up on YouTube of Baril singing at Upper Darby High School when she was in fifth grade that she really got noticed. Within hours, the video had surpassed 300 hits. Before long, "America's Got Talent" gave them a call.

"We didn't go audition or stand in line or send a video," said Pierre. "We were at home when we got a text and I thought it was just a joke."

It was no joke. The next thing she and Baril knew, they were on a plane to Los Angeles to perform before the "AGT" judges. One golden buzzer later, it was off to Radio City.

"I was not one of those mothers peddling her daughter up to New York to see agents and go auditioning. I didn't have time for that. I'm a working mother. I figured, if it's truly a gift and truly meant to be, eventually, she'll find an avenue, and I guess she did. It really goes to show that the cream rises."

"AGT" semifinals are at the beginning of September. If Baril makes it through to the finals, she could win a $1 million grand prize and headline a Las Vegas show.

Another local act, area Christian-rock band 3 Shades of Blue also advanced to the semifinals Wednesday when judge Howard Stern became a deadlock-breaking vote. The band, which performed a version of Nick Jonas' "Chains" on Tuesday night's show, is comprised of three brothers, Jeffery, Jesse and Austin Allem, and their friend Dane Duncan, who all hail from Philadelphia.

"We are so excited to be on 'America's Got Talent, Season 10,' " said lead singer Jeffery Allem. "To play on the most amazing stage at Radio City Music Hall and now for America and the judges to vote us into the semifinals is just unbelievable! We are so thankful to our fans! We really need Philadelphia to back us on this next step."

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