Hong Kong singer, 11, wins top prize at prestigious competition in Wales
Ella Ng takes solo prize at Eisteddfod in Wales where stars including Pavarotti performed
An 11-year-old singer from Hong Kong has wowed the judges at a prestigious singing competition in Wales - the same contest that launched the career of late opera superstar Luciano Pavarotti.
Ella Ng won the solo vocal category for under-12s with her performance of the hymn A Clare Benediction by John Rutter.
Italian tenor Pavarotti was 19 when he entered the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod in 1955 and sang with his father in the male choir, which won its section that year. "I joked to my dad and said, 'Next time, you're coming with me so I can follow in Pavarotti's footsteps,'" Ng said yesterday, just hours after returning from Wales.
Ng's mother, Flora, accompanied her to the festival, but her father, Mat, wasn't able to attend due to work commitments. After Ng's winning performance, members of the audience asked her for her autograph and she met a woman who said she had been moved to tears by her voice.
"It made me feel very special when she said that to me, because I didn't think I could do that yet," Ng said.
Others who have gone on to global stardom after appearing at the Eisteddfod include Placido Domingo, Kiri Te Kanawa, José Carreras, Katherine Jenkins, Elaine Paige, Michael Ball and Montserrat Caballé.
Ng very nearly missed her spot in the finals, because she found out about the renowned competition only the day before entries closed.