Cambridge resident Jennifer Grout could go on to win “Arabs Got Talent.” Via YouTube
A Cambridge woman who has captivated audiences in the Middle East with her incredible voice could go on to become the winner of “Arabs Got Talent.”
Jennifer Grout, 23, headed to Morocco to compete on the TV show despite not knowing any Arabic. A classically trained singer, Grout had studied Middle Eastern music for quite some time. But that doesn’t mean everyone believes Grout isn’t just a Middle Eastern transplant who knows how to fool viewers.
“There’s lots of rumors that I’m not actually American,” Grout told The Guardian. “I’m very flattered by that because it means I’m doing something that is … unbelievable.”
“I have a natural ear for picking up accents,” she said, “but not necessarily for languages.”
In her first audition, Grout performed a memorable rendition of Umm Kulthum’s “Baeed Annak,” which caused many people to question whether she was really foreign or not. But despite naysayers, Grout sustains that she’s just a talented singer who studies hard.
“Sometimes, I would just be sitting in my room for three hours singing one note, just trying to get the right note,” she told ABC News, “to get the right vocal technique.”
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