America’s Got Talent fan-favorite Grace VanderWaal is continuing to blow people away. The young performer won the talent competition series in 2016 when she was just 12 years old for Season 11. According to Us Weekly, VanderWaal, 20, performed at the 47th Kennedy Center Honors in honor of her role in the Francis Ford Coppola film Megalopolis. The longtime director was one of four honorees recognized for artistic achievements, and that isn’t all that fans were talking about.
CBS shared a clip of VanderWaal performing at the Kennedy Center Honors on TikTok, and many fans can’t believe how far she’s come. “I was just thinking about her,” one fan said. “Her vocal technique has grown so much. She has such a beautiful voice.” Someone else hoped that this will be “the start of her finally taking over the music industry.”
Many people were complimenting how much she’s improved over the years, with one fan saying, “Little Grace – you’ve grown to a beautiful woman and wonderful singer!” while another said, “oh my gosh her voice has matured SO MUCH!!” Another fan expressed, “her voice has matured so gracefully” with a loudly crying face emoji at the end.
VanderWaal has been plenty busy since getting her big break on AGT. She released her debut album, Just the Beginning, in 2017, which peaked at number 22 on the Billboard Top 200 chart in the U.S. She also released EPs Perfectly Imperfect in 2016 and Letters Vol. 1 in 2019. She released her most recent singles “Call It What You Want” last August and “What’s Left Of Me” last September. VanderWaal starred as Vesta Sweetwater in the star-studded Megalopolis, which was released last September and also stars Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LeBeouf, and Laurence Fishburne, among others.
Of course, Grace VanderWaal’s voice would change in eight years as she gets older and her voice improves, but it’s still pretty amazing seeing her all grown up. While she still hasn’t “blown up” in a way most fans would want, it might not be long until she gets her time to shine. And the Kenney Center Honors is just one big step. In the meantime, fans can always stream her music on Apple Music and Spotify and hope that she continues to blow people away.
What were the final projects like at your technical college? Students at Nissan’s Automobile Technical College in Japan built a trio of cars that revisit old legends. All three models will be shown at the 2025 Tokyo Auto Salon, which runs from January 9 through 12.
The first model, shown above, was built by fourth-year students in the auto maintenance and customization department of Nissan’s technical college. The car aims to create a modern version of the Kenmeri Skyline based on the V35 platform (sold as the Infiniti G35 in the United States from 2002 to 2007). Wanting the car to appeal to enthusiasts in their 30s to 50s, the students labeled their project the NEO Skyline—with NEO standing for nostalgia, encouragement, and originality.
The second model combines the modern Nissan Z with the back end of a Nissan Leaf. According to Nissan, the students cut parts of the Z’s rear fender and roof before connecting the rear section of a Nissan Leaf by welding the two together. Along with adding the back half of the Leaf, the students widened the rear fenders to help embody the Fairlady Z’s more muscular stance. The end product is a sort of Frankenstein’s-monster amalgamation of the two cars—but it’s exactly our sort of crazy.
While the first two models take on a more modern look, the third car appeals more to classic-car enthusiasts. Students at the Nissan Aichi Automobile Technical College took a stock PU11 Bluebird Maxima and used panel-beating methods to turn it into the Bluebird Kiwami. According to Nissan, the students landed on the name Kiwami—which means ultimate in Japanese—to show their desire to perfect every part of the car’s exterior, interior, and driving experience.
Both the Skyline and the Z took six months to produce while the Bluebird took just 2.5 months.
