Singer-songwriter and winner of NBC’s 11th season of America’s Got Talent Grace VanderWaal headlined part two of Spring Fever, an on-campus concert series hosted by Associated Students, Inc. (ASI), at 7 p.m. Friday, May 31 in the University Union (UU) Plaza.
At 12 years old, Vanderwaal stole America’s heart when she auditioned for America’s Got Talent in 2016 with a ukulele. Her original composition, “I Don’t Know My Name,” eventually led her to win the competition. She was both the second woman and second child to win the show.
Now 15 years old, VanderWaal averages 1,936,761 monthly listeners on Spotify, and her audition video has racked up nearly 100 million views on YouTube.
Industry management senior and ASI Musical Entertainment Student Assistant Jennie Diaz said they chose VanderWaal because she is an “up and coming” pop artist and has gained a lot of attention since winning America’s Got Talent.
“ASI Events has brought country and hip hop artists this spring quarter, and we wanted to bring a different genre,” Diaz said.
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The concert was the second of the two-part series that made up Spring Fever, which replaced Spring Stampede, the concert hosted the past four years. Hip-hop artist P-Lo performed as the first installment on the Via Carta Mall outside Campus Market May 10.
“We had to seriously analyze how we were using student funds, and we decided to do two concerts with two different genres of music this year to meet the needs of different populations of students,” Diaz said.
Student band VibeOut opened for VanderWaal and SLO Mama Sweets provided free ice cream for students.