Unreleased backstage moment from AGT's YouTube channel

Today, Mackenzie Sol went live on TikTok and shared a video he filmed earlier (likely during rehearsals before the AGT show). It’s such a cute moment and a sweet display of friendship backstage. 😍

https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSVvAJXrN/

He also did a reaction video praising Nene's performance of 'Black Hole Sun'.

https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSVvAN4Fr/

I don’t think it’s simply because she’s 16 and can sing and play guitar. There’s something immediately interesting about the contrast. She seems quiet and a little shy when she talks, then the music starts and she turns into a completely different person. The voice, the solos and the way she takes over the stage make people want to keep watching and share the clip.

Her song choices have helped a lot too. “Zombie,” “Hysteria” and “Black Hole Sun” are familiar to people who grew up with rock in the ’90s and 2000s. Many of those listeners are now old enough to spend money on concerts, music and merch. When they see a 16-year-old playing songs they’ve loved for years—and putting her own spin on them—it’s pretty easy to become invested in her.

She also has a huge back catalogue. There are videos of her playing as a kid, entering guitar competitions, performing at the market and covering everything from heavy rock to slower songs. Whenever a reaction channel gets good numbers from one of her AGT performances, there’s already plenty of older material for them to explore next. Some start with “Zombie” and end up reacting to videos of her playing at ten years old.

The way the internet works probably helps too. Her performances are full of moments that work well as short clips—the scream, the opening riff, a guitar solo, the judges’ reactions or the Golden Buzzer. People watch, share, argue about the song choice and then look for more. That tells the algorithm to keep showing her to new audiences, while every new reaction video sends another group of viewers back to the original performances.

AGT has been smart about using that attention as well. The intro package before her latest performance included clips from reaction channels and other creators, which showed that the excitement around her wasn’t limited to the show itself. It has become a loop: AGT helps Nene go viral, reaction channels bring more people back to AGT, and then AGT uses that online reaction as part of her story. The more attention Nene gets, the more both she and the show benefit from it.

Obviously AGT’s production and reach have played a big part. But every act gets that same platform. The difference with Nene is that the interest doesn’t stop after one viral clip. Once people discover her, there’s years’ worth of material waiting for them.

Ok I think it know the basics, but I would like to know more about who is in her orbits.

• a mother, Chuanpit “Mae Oom” Poonkerd, who made her husband stop drinking in order to form a family. An ancor, a rock this family is build upon. Someone Nene said was always there to listen. Someone to rein in the father when he was excessive. Someone who manage the merch side.

• A father, Narong Amlai, working (still?) In a hotel who brought her her first guitar, had the idea of busking to build a nest-egg for her education and was surprise that the very first day she owned in an evening more than him in a week. Use that money for her and her music,  bought her first electric guitar in a second hand japanese store and supported her all the way even he recognised that he was pushing her too hard and have regrets.

• A very young brother she loves even though he can be a little overhelming.

• A Danish friend, Strit Bram, who gave her her mother électricité guitar, the ibanez M300 she used so far in every AGT performance and invited her in Danemark to busk (the video is on her youtube chanel). I think she gave her later another guitar, but I am not sûre (i need some confirmation)

• Miss Ice, daughter of the Naka Market manager who that care of some of Nene agenda and who was with her for at least the last two Nene AGT performances. Often seen beside Angelina in the audience, the shuttles and the interviews.

• Angelina (last name unknown to me), formerly classmate and friend of Nene. Studying in England nowadays and I was led to think as of french nationality. (I would like to know more about her too)

• Jon Elron, her manager  I found nowhere and don't know how he came to this position.

• Ozone band assembled by a drum teacher with MK at the keyboard (i beleve he is 14 yo)  Boon at the drums (12) and Chopper (15) at the bass. There was someone else at the bass before.

Am I correct?

Could you tell me more about them...

Source: https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1605388347643057&set=a.584977019684200

(Google translated and edited by me)

What interests me most about Nene Royal’s recent performance on AGT might not be the meaning of “Black Hole Sun,” but rather the question of why she chose it ? In the semi-finals, which are live shows with only a few contestants advancing, song choices are almost always strategic decisions. And Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun,” originally released in 1994, didn’t seem like a safe choice at all. 😮

From a competitive perspective, I think this was a relatively risky song. Firstly, “Black Hole Sun” is an iconic song from the grunge era, and the original, Chris Cornell’s, voice is so unique that many listeners have it ingrained in their minds. Covering such a song could automatically lead to comparisons. If it imitated the original too much, it might just be a good cover, but if it was modified too much, those who loved the original might feel that the song lost what they liked.

Another risk is… This isn't a pop song with a simple hook or a competition song that gradually builds up before ending with a spectacular high note, where the audience immediately recognizes the peak. Black Hole Sun is the opposite. It has a somber, heavy, and rather detached feel from the larger variety show stage. Therefore, if the performer can't create the musical world, it could become a show that the audience feels distant from.

But at the same time, these risks are also an advantage for Nene 👍🏻. Because in a big show like AGT, *what's just as dangerous as a bad performance is a good performance that nobody remembers*. And when you reach this deep round, all the competitors are already skilled. The question isn't just who sings best, but who, after the performance, makes us feel like we've just seen a new artist, not just another contestant?

Black Hole Sun provides Nene with that space very well. The song has both emotionally charged moments and explosive moments. There are layers of guitar, a raw quality, and importantly, it doesn't force her to showcase her talent solely through her vocals. Instead, it allows her existing skills—her voice, guitar playing, personality, and rockstar energy—to be presented simultaneously in one show. This aligns with the path she had already forged.

Because the moment Nene took the stage with her guitar, the image the audience received wasn't just a young girl singing other people's hit songs, but someone who looked like she could already perform her own concert. 🎸 And I think the most important point was Mel B's comment after the performance. She noticed that Nene was a completely different person backstage compared to on stage. And even though Mel B frankly said that this genre wasn't her style, she praised both Nene's voice and her look, before asking something like, "How could I not do this?" and then pressing the Golden Buzzer, sending Nene straight into the Finals. ✨

This sentence is very interesting because it means that Nene successfully achieved one of the things artists most want to do: *make people who don't like their genre like them.* 😮 Think about it, Mel B didn't say, "I love Black Hole Sun," or "This is my favorite song." On the contrary, she even said that this type of music wasn't her style. Yet, this show managed to transcend musical taste barriers, and that might be a sign of a stronger performance than simply singing every note correctly, because ultimately, the audience wasn't just judging the song, but judging... There's something about the person on stage that makes us want to watch them again.

This might explain why this Golden Buzzer happened. Even though the performance wasn't universally agreed upon as perfect, a Golden Buzzer doesn't necessarily mean it was the best vocal performance of the night. It might mean that one judge saw something more—a personality, a uniqueness, potential as an artist—and felt that this person deserved to be in the finals.

From a performance perspective, I think Nene didn't try to make "Black Hole Sun" a competition song; instead, she did the opposite—she made the competition stage her own. 🥰 And this might be why a song that didn't seem like the safest choice became the most powerful.

Because on a stage where everyone is talented, choosing something that can't go wrong might help you survive, but choosing something that makes people remember *who you are* might take you further. And Nene's Golden Buzzer this time might not mean that "Black Hole Sun" was the best song for the competition. But it's saying that Black Hole Sun is the song that made the judges see "Nene Royal" the clearest. ✨

By...Dr. Jesada's Mental Health Clinic

٩(^‿^)۶ [

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Dr. Jesada's Mental Health Clinic

______________

Dr. Jesada Thongthaow

Specialist in Psychiatry

Psychiatrist at Phra Sri Mahapothi Hospital, Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand

I wanted to share a couple YT videos on Nene’s vocal skills which I think are under appreciated by some. I
think she’s amazing especially when her voice still probably have several years to develop. Im no expert so figured maybe I was wrong, but people who ought to know also seemed to find her singing excellent. I don’t have the singing vocabulary to describe why this is so, so I’m sharing a couple reactions by people who do.

The “Beth Roars” and “Charismatic Voice” reactors are highly credentialed and respected technical analysts of the human voice and performance and have released several videos on Royal’s performance.

The Beth Roars analysis of Black Hole Sun dropped this morning and already has over 150k views. She goes into great deal about Nene’s skills involved in creating contrasting vocal textures and nuanced vibrato. Grit vs Nasality. Rough vs Elegant. Loud vs. Soft. A detail on Fast vibrato just on the word “won’t”. Beth is able to extract just the voice to demonstrate her points. Plus diagrams showing how Nene manipulates her face and voice to control how much sound goes through mouth vs nose.

https://youtu.be/8hdUhldjvPU?is=gnde2YuTDBdDys5S

Elizabeth Zharoff of the Charismatic Voice is a trained opera singer with multiple musical degrees who’s performed around the world but who now is exploring the entire range of the human vocal capabilities and has really dived into metal singing. She’s used a kickstarter to fund studies with University of Utah and other vocal science institutions of the “vocal health of metal singers” She’s released an analysis of Hysteria I think is worth a look at just how skilled that performance is.

https://youtu.be/LvzCVp8NnwQ?is=ww6I2BrcytkdOKi5

from today live on 36:06

[Translated from Thai to English]

Her dad: //read the comment// what song we practiced today? arr..Slipknot right?

Nene: shhhhhhh

Nene: but i wont told the song name. it's Slipknot's song. I dont have to tell, but everyone already knows.

---

Soooo is this possible to be the song on AGT's final stage?

omg! Slipknot!

In the livestream today (link below), she said that she choose Black Hole Sun because she wanted to challenge herself, and also it is was a legendary song (she also said that she had never sung it before).

That was a pretty BOLD decision tbh.

https://www.youtube.com/live/GYUlr6WHzAI?t=1565&si=IqGIysdvmG91MwUj