The Story of Darci Lynne Farmer _ Beyond America's Got Talent

A lot has changed for Darcy Lynn since she went America's Got Talent almost two years ago, and yet some things have stayed the same. Now 14, Darcy still lives in her native Oklahoma. Growing up, Darcy loved to sing, but her shyness made her afraid to perform in front of an audience. Her dad, Clark, encouraged her to sing for him around the house because he loved the sound of her voice. To help with her shyness, her mother, Misty, entered Darcy into various pageants to improve her confidence. One pageant in particular would change the course of Darcy's life forever. When Darcy was six years old, her mother entered her in the International Cinderella Scholarship Program. Darcy would go on to win the title of International Mini Miss 2013. During that time, Darcy met International Teen Title Holder, Larissa Bonacquisti, who introduced her to the art of ventriloquism. Larissa's talent portion of the pageant featured her ventriloquism puppets, Lucy and Lucky, yodeling and singing in three voices, including her own. Darcy was fascinated by Larissa's performance and wanted to try it. She approached her for pointers, and Larissa gave Darcy advice on how to use certain words and tips so her mouth wouldn't move. Darcy became so determined to learn ventriloquism that she started teaching herself to project her voice long before she ever had a puppet. After practicing in front of the mirror for a few weeks, Darcy, nine years old at the time, begged her parents to get her a puppet. Her mom revealed that even though she and Darcy's father are their daughter's biggest fans, they resisted her idea of singing with a puppet. They initially brushed her off, saying she was a singer and not a ventriloquist. Darcy was also training in elite gymnastics for 20 hours a week while competing in pageants. Her mother was convinced she would not be able to juggle ventriloquism with school and gymnastics. She would go in the bathroom to practice and come out and do Larissa's entire routine, explained Misty Farmer. I said, we can't take on one more thing. However, Darcy kept wanting a puppet and continued to ask for one. It was her persistence, said Clark Farmer. That's what told us how passionate she was about it. Although the farmers had reservations, they eventually bought her a puppet. Darcy explained, well, I started out with my hand because I didn't have one yet, but then when I turned 10, I got an eBay puppet for my birthday. Darcy was soon brought to the attention of ventriloquist coach Gary Owen, who was so impressed by her skill that he voluntarily agreed to be her coach and business manager. In 2014, Darcy entered Edmund's Got Talent, a local talent competition in her hometown, with her yodeling puppet Katie. Her performance earned her first place and a grand prize of $300. Unbelievably, she had only been learning ventriloquism for a month before she won the competition. The next year, she won first place at Oklahoma's Got Talent and Oklahoma Kids competitions. She also won overall Entertainer of the Year at America's Kids in Branson, Missouri. Darcy's popularity continued to grow, and in 2016, she made her first major television appearance with a performance on NBC's Little Big Shots. Host Steve Harvey even had a chance to try his hand at ventriloquism with his very own puppet. Of all of her appearances, it is her many performances on America's Got Talent. First, during the 2017 season, then this year's champion series that Darcy is best known for. In her first America's Got Talent audition, the then 12-year-old performed an incredible rendition of Ella Fitzgerald's Summertime with puppet Petunia. Moved by her performance, Judge Melby pressed her golden buzzer, allowing Darcy to bypass the judge cuts and sending her straight to the quarterfinals. The video of her audition became the most socially viewed video in the show's history within 30 hours of broadcast and was later named number four on YouTube's list of the top 10 trending videos of 2017. For Darcy's quarterfinal act, she serenaded Judge Melby with her shy, stuttering mouse puppet Oscar, giving a soulful rendition of the Jackson 5's Who's Loving You, and it wasn't long before the crowd was on their feet. Darcy's performance received enough viewer votes to move on to the semifinals, where she introduced us to her puppet Edna Dornacher. Darcy and Edna performed You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman, and Darcy made sure to stand next to the judge's table so Edna could flirt with Judge Simon Cowell. Again, viewers voted her through to the finals. For her finals act, Darcy performed With A Little Help From My Friends with her rabbit friend Petunia and her mouse buddy Oscar. Darcy earned a standing ovation and Judge Simon Cowell predicted, I think you're going to win. During the results, Darcy advanced to the top five for the night and then to the final two, along with singer Angelica Hale. Host Tyra Banks then announced Darcy was the winner of season 12, having received 52 million votes, the most ever in the history of an AGT final. Things didn't slow down for Darcy after winning the show. Following her big win, she appeared on The Ellen Show with her puppet Petunia. She was asked to perform live in front of an audience, and Darcy and Petunia relived their audition performance. Host Ellen DeGeneres congratulated Darcy and praised her incredible talent. That Halloween, Darcy teamed up with fellow ventriloquist Jeff Dunham for a fun video. The video was released on Dunham's YouTube channel if you would like to see it in full. Next for Darcy was headlining a live show at the Planet Hollywood Resort in Las Vegas. Joining Darcy on stage were season 12 runner-up Angelica Hale, comedian Preacher Lawson, and dance group Light Balance. Darcy made her Madison Square Garden debut at One Night with the Stars. Before proceeds from the show went to celebrity hairstylist Martino Cartier's foundation Wigs and Wishes, which provides wigs and wishes to women and children suffering from cancer. Darcy performed her homecoming show at the Criterion in Oklahoma on December 16, 2017. Tickets for the event sold out in just six minutes, and the venue added two additional shows. For New Year's, Darcy performed with singer Fergie for nearly 3,000 guests at Caesars Palace. Darcy kicked off the New Year's Eve celebration by singing Hit the Road Jack with her puppet Petunia. Singer Fergie hit the stage later that night and opened with her hit song You Already Know. Shortly after winning season 12, Darcy was asked how she planned to spend her winnings from the show. Darcy responded by saying, I have to get my mom a dishwasher and maybe a fridge along with it. For herself, Darcy said, I want a pug so bad because I love puppies and it's been a long time since I had a puppy. Later in the year, Darcy announced at one of her performances that not only would her mom get a new dishwasher, but a whole new kitchen courtesy of GE. To give you a full kitchen's worth of new appliances and a new washer and dryer. How cool is that, y'all? Darcy also finally got her puppy this past Christmas. Darcy had been wanting a puppy for so long, and a reaction was captured in a post that she shared on Instagram. Wait a minute, what's going on? In January of 2018, Darcy appeared on the Today Show with her puppet Oscar the Shy Mouse. The young ventriloquist and Oscar performed the duet of Michael Jackson's Who's Loving You from their America's Got Talent quarterfinal performance. Darcy was also named Citizen of the Year by the Edmonds Area Chamber of Commerce. Citizen of the Year is the highest award that the Edmond Chamber gives out. It has been won by many of the town's most notable residents who contribute to the community and beyond. She received the award in January of 2018 at the group's annual award banquet. Darcy now has four puppets that each have his or her own unique personality. There's Petunia the Diva Rabbit, Oscar the Shy Stuttering Mouse, Edna a sarcastic, flirty old woman, and Katie who helped Darcy win her first talent competitions. Once they have a puppet and make a character and add personality to them, they still evolve and pick up little quirks and funny things along the way, she says. Sometimes their personalities change according to what I do and what happens to me. Like winning changed Petunia. She used to be shy and now she's a diva. While the puppets may have changed, Darcy strives to stay grounded despite the many new doors that have opened for her. One of those changes include a highly successful 50 stop tour last year which generated more than 100,000 ticket sales and grossed over 5 million dollars. In addition to her tour, Darcy also got her very own Christmas special which aired on NBC last year. It's called Darcy Lynn My Hometown Christmas. Earlier this year, Darcy returned to the America's Got Talent stage as a contestant on the champion's version of the show. In the preliminaries, she performed a medley of Nutbush City Limits and Proud Mary with her puppet Oscar. The performances earned Darcy a spot in the top three, however, she did not receive enough votes to continue to the next round. Darcy was brought back as a wild card act for the show finals and performed O Mio Babino Caro with her puppet Petunia. Darcy made it to the final two and was announced as the runner-up behind card magician Shin Lim. Throughout all of the changes, Darcy's family makes sure school remains a top priority. For example, the dates for her new 18-city tour Fresh Out of the Box have also been planned around her school schedule. Darcy explained, The shows are all on the weekends, so I could go to school during the weekdays and go out and do these awesome shows on the weekend. Two weekends a month, four shows a month. Darcy explained that she hopes to do more with her music in the future. I'd love to, maybe grow a little more in my music because I love to sing by myself, so maybe I'll record some music of my own. I think that would just be awesome. Darcy also says she thinks about possibly having her own TV show someday or maybe doing some acting. For someone as talented as Darcy Lim, the possibilities are endless.