The last 3 months have been a whirlwind for one little Nanjing girl, as her YouTube channel has turned her into somewhat of an internet celebrity; videos of her almost flawless singing and playing guitar racking up millions of views.
It all started when Zhou Zhaoyan began learning guitar aged just 3, taught by her father, a guitar teacher himself.
Now aged 6, Zhaoyan’s version of “Fly Me to the Moon”, popularised by Frank Sinatra, has been watched more than 5 million times on YouTube.
As Wuhan went into lockdown on 23 January, and the rest of China more or less followed in early February, the Zhou family started posting Zhaoyan’s MTV clips on video-sharing platform, Bilibili.
Her poignant performances prompted users to repost some of the videos on YouTube, leading Zhouyan’s parents to open their own account showcasing their dauighter’s cover versions of both Chinese and Western songs, under the username Miumiu Guitargirl.
Her success is due, certainly, to cute appeal, and to a degree, her being the epitome for a better world. As such, people everywhere have been drawn to Zhaoyan during their soul-searching lockdowns.
The stone-cold reality, however, is it’s also largely down to practice, and lots of it. During the family’s home isolation, Zhouyan would spend 5 hours each day practicing.
Some say teachers in China are ruthless, dishing out homework that keeps their students busy until 11 pm every night. For Zhaoyan post Covid, its 30 minutes of cartoons for every hour of guitar practice.
“Practice makes perfect. Her gift is natural but she works to develop it”, said her father, reports ECNS. “I always accompany her while she’s practicing and correct her instantly.”
“I’m glad that many people like my music. I know some of them will watch it over and over. I feel very warm-hearted”, said Zhaoyan. “Among all the instruments that I can play, I like guitar most. My favorite singer is Jay Chou, and I’ve also covered his popular songs.”
Zhaoyan calls her YouTube fans “little frozen candies” on account she loves sweets and her favorite movie is…
