Childhood
Newton found her own voice as a child growing up in the town of Burshtyn, in the western part of Ukraine. At age five, she taught herself to sing by imitating famous Ukrainian and Russian vocalists, and begged her mother to invite her friends over so she could perform for them. "I didn't know if I wanted to be a singer, but I knew I loved performing," she says. At age nine, Newton began to enter regional vocal competitions to gain experience onstage. Then, when she was 11, a video of Michael Jackson performing his international hit "Earth Song" caught her attention. " I didn’t know who he was but I heard “Earth Song” and I decided: “oh my god, I want to do what he’s doing for the planet! I want to be where he is right now!” I’m in America This childhood dream came true."
While attending a performing arts school as a teenager (where she studied voice, piano, acting, dance, and pantomime), she continued to compete in local and international talent contests, taking first place at nearly all of them, which led to attention from music industry players, at the age of 16 she got signed with the record label Falyosa Family Factory.
Her first name, Mika, is a derivative from Mick Jagger's first name and Newton stands for a new tone.
Read more about this topic: Mika Newton
Famous quotes containing the word childhood:
“Most childhood problems don’t result from “bad” parenting, but are the inevitable result of the growing that parents and children do together. The point isn’t to head off these problems or find ways around them, but rather to work through them together and in doing so to develop a relationship of mutual trust to rely on when the next problem comes along.”
—Fred Rogers (20th century)
“Modern children were considerably less innocent than parents and the larger society supposed, and postmodern children are less competent than their parents and the society as a whole would like to believe. . . . The perception of childhood competence has shifted much of the responsibility for child protection and security from parents and society to children themselves.”
—David Elkind (20th century)
“Women’s childhood relationships with their fathers are important to them all their lives. Regardless of age or status, women who seem clearest about their goals and most satisfied with their lives and personal and family relationships usually remember that their fathers enjoyed them and were actively interested in their development.”
—Stella Chess (20th century)