Niki Tehranchi

I have been walking around the house for the past few days singing that old Mariah Carey classic:

Ken Leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Dobidobidobatchouuuuuuuuuuuuuu

Don't recognize it? Click on the link below which will take you to a YouTube video of my favorite new singer discovered on Bulgarian Idol (thank god for the Internet):

I absolutely LOVE that girl. She is so endearing. She has no idea of the words or the meaning but she sings with such conviction and she has infused a world of meaning into the song, you can just feel it. Hair and make-up all done up, a dazzling evening dress on, this is a real trooper. You can't help but be rooting for her. We have ALL been there. Come on, you snickering judges, imagine the hard work, heart and soul she poured into it. I am sure if Mariah Carey was asked to sing the Bulgarian national anthem, she would butcher the words despite her lovely voice.

I love to listen to songs in several langauges, Italian, French, Spanish, Persian etc and I am sure I have butchered the lyrics to all of them. I remember as a child spending hours with my best friend Fabienne trying to decipher the lyrics to our favorite song "Take on Me" by A-Ha. Can you imagine an Iranian little girl with no command of the English language trying to phonetically mimick a bunch of Norwegians who themselves probably learned the verses phonetically?

We all butcher lyrics in the language(s) we are supposed to be proficient in. Just, this girl does it with more panache than any of us.

Ken Leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

I will never be able to go back to the Mariah Carey version now.