Madison Tevlin’s family always knew she had a special spark to share. Now, thanks to her love of singing and a YouTube video gone viral, the world knows it too.
Less than two weeks ago, 13-year-old Tevlin, who has Down syndrome, posted a video of herself singing a cover of John Legend’s “All of Me.”
While not an unusual thing to do for a girl who loves to sing, Tevlin’s video highlighted the special vocal challenge faced by those who have Down syndrome and invited people to be inspired.
Apparently, it worked.
Within days the video had been viewed thousands of times. However it continued to be shared and quickly went viral, garnering posts by big name celebrities such as Ashton Kutcher. To date it has been shared more than 3 million times. (Scroll to the bottom of this page to see the video.)
“I was not expecting a lot,” Tevlin told CP24.com in her first interview with the media. She spoke to CP24.com from Florida where she was on vacation with her dad, Matt.
“We didn’t expect any of this,” he added. “The first day we posted it we got some comments from our friends, we got some beautiful feedback from them.
“There were about a thousand hits the first day and then it doubled the second day. There was just an outpouring of support and it spiraled into this almost three million views. It’s crazy.”
According to Down Syndrome Education International, a charity dedicated to educational achievement for children with Down syndrome, people who have the genetic disorder are rarely able to sing because making sound requires a greater exertion on their part compared to others.
But that wasn’t stopping Tevlin, who says she loves music.
“I sing all the time. My dad and my mom always hear me, every single day singing,” said Tevlin, who calls midtown Toronto home. “That’s why we do singing lessons. They told me that I was so loud that I had to take singing lessons.”
Her parents laugh and confirm they decided that if the family was going to be treated to regular serenades, they may as well get the best performance possible. So they decided to send Madison for singing lessons about a year ago.
“We figured we may as well improve on the skills a little bit,” said Tevlin’s mom, Grace. “We added that to the list of her therapies – singing.”
After Tevlin started lessons with her singing teacher, Marla Joy, her parents noticed improvements in other areas as well, such as reading and vocabulary because she learns the lyrics.
“I do lyrics a lot on my iPad because I learn so many songs, so many songs,” Tevlin said.
Then in August, as part of a regular exercise for all of Joy’s students, Madison had to make a video performing one of her songs.
She chose “All of Me” by John Legend because the song reminded her of love.
“I really do love ‘All of Me.’ I love John Legend like so much,” Tevlin said. “It took me a little bit long but I just loved singing it and doing it so much.”
While it was challenging at times, Tevlin said she decided to handle the challenge like a pro.
“The song can sometimes feel hard, but I stick with it because I’m a singer. So I have to go with the flow,” she said.
The video was produced back in August when she was 12 with the help of Joy, Toronto producer Jody Litvack and pianist Kibwe Thomas.
Tevlin said it took her about a week to learn all the words and prepare for the song.
But meticulous about her performance, she initially didn't want the video to be posted because she had a sinus infection when she recorded it. However convinced that perhaps the video could help inspire others, Madison eventually came around and it was finally posted to YouTube on Jan. 20.
Since then it has been seen millions of times around the world and the response has been overwhelming.
“We’re getting a lot of feedback through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram connecting with other families with children who have Down syndrome who are incredibly impressed, some of them asking for information related to what kind of therapy Madison has had and how is it that her speech is so great and that she can sing,” Matt said. “We’ve seen some other inspiring stories of another boy with Down syndrome who did a triathlon. And that’s just within the first few days of this video being out there.”
Grace adds that Madison’s video has given hope to families around the world who worry about what limitations their kids might have.
“It’s incredible awareness the way that it’s just spread. The humanity, that people keep spreading it and spreading it – it’s unbelievable to me,” Grace said. “She’s inspired many, many people. She’s given hope to a lot of moms and dads – it’s pretty cool.”
Since the video was posted, Madison has also had numerous invitations to appear and perform. She’s not sure yet if she’ll accept them, but she is sure that she’ll keep singing.
When she's not making John legend cover videos, she loves bopping out to Ariana Grande, Hozier, Taylor Swift and One Direction.
“I love grooving to the music, I love singing to the music. I just get the rhythm and the beat and I get into it full zone,” Tevlin said.
It’s a passion that she shares with her younger sister Zoie, 11, who sings, acts and dances alongside Madison constantly and also helps her handle social media – interaction their mom says is vital in Madison’s amazing progress.
Tevlin says she plans to keep building her singing skills as she gets older. However the spunky teen says that singing may eventually have to take a back seat to dancing, which she hopes to do when she grows up.
Grace confirms that Tevlin loves singing and dancing to just about any Top 40 song. She adds that she hopes that passion has helped others gain a little more insight into people who are different.
“I hope that people look at people with differences, not only Down syndrome, with a little more of an open mind,” Grace says. “There are people that are different but it doesn’t mean they can’t achieve if they try.
She adds that Madison “is a gift, just like any other child and she’s sharing her gift, which is pretty cool.”
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