The "In Memoriam" portion of an awards show is generally hard to get through; it's always sad seeing who passed away over the past 12 months. At the 2016 Emmy Awards, Tori Kelly honored those departed and sang a poignant tribute, singing a cover of "Hallelujah." The Leonard Cohen (made quite famous by Jeff Buckley and Rufus Wainwright) is a lovely and sad song, commonly used — and overused — in emotional series and season finales. But Kelly did it justice, showing off her vocal skills and yet not letting them overshadow the reason that she was singing in the first place: paying homage to those that died.
According to Kelly's website, she first rose to attention when she covered "Thinkin' 'Bout You" by Frank Ocean and posted in on YouTube. She got like 25 million views on that one video, and her debut album came out in 2013. With hits like "Nobody Love" and "Hollow," Kelly is gaining quite a name for herself in the pop music sector, and she's been performing all over the place: the BET Awards, the MTV Video Music Awards, and more.
Kelly's gorgeous vocals were the perfect choice for the 2016 Emmys "In Memoriam." While I would have chosen a different song ("Hallelujah" is played literally everywhere), Kelly is the ideal performer. She knows when to bring it out, and she knows when to chill, and on the 2016 Emmys, she certainly gained herself a lot of new fans.
