“Heal the World.” This song is very popular these days because there's a coronavirus pandemic, and this world needs healing. So that song has 6 million views.
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YOUNG ONLINE STARS
“More than Words” by Extreme cover, 171k views on FB
Koi (K): Hi! My name is Koi. I am 13 years old.
Moi (M): And my name is Moi, I am 10 years old. And we like to sing...
K: ...play the ukelele,
M: and we also like to record videos and post it on our Facebook and YouTube page.
K: We want to make YouTube videos, entertain people, and make them happy. At first, our videos were just nonsense--games and laughs. My parents realized that we had talents. Our mom and dad said, why don't we make our talents shown on YouTube? So that's where we started singing cover songs of artists, and now we’re here.
WHO TAUGHT THEM TO SING AND PLAY THE UKULELE
K: I asked my mom and dad that question earlier. They said [that] when I was a kid, they just always saw singing along to TV shows--to Thomas and Friends, Barney. And so my mom said that I should keep singing because they saw that, and they heard that I can sing in tune.
Sometimes they just comment on our videos that, “I don't understand your language, but I like you both, and I love you both.”
So until now I am still developing my singing. And that's where my brother comes in. When we both ‘matured,’ my brother always looked up to me in singing. That's why he was encouraged to sing also. So now we're both here singing as a duo. And on playing the ukulele, one Christmas--it was 2018--my parents gave me the ukulele as a present. My mom and dad said that I could rely on YouTube. I can listen to the tutorials, and that's what I did. And so I make my own chords and tabs now.
FANS FROM ALL OVER
"Sad to Belong" video cover by England Dan and John Ford Coley, 823k views on FB @koiandmoi2019
My mom and dad said that I could rely on YouTube. I can listen to the tutorials, and that's what I did.
K: Some of our fans are from...
M: America, China...
K: We have friends in India, we also have friends in Canada, and mostly from the United States. So sometimes they just comment on our videos that, “I don't understand your language, but I like you both, and I love you both.” It's very overwhelming that even though they don't know the language, they like the tone of our songs, and they love it.
WHY THEY DO WHAT THEY DO
"I Don't Care" by Ed Sheeran X Justin Bieber cover
K: At first, it was just jokes, games on our YouTube channel. But soon as we realized-- as we go on TV guestings--some places, some recordings, some invitations, we saved money and [with some of it], we buy things that we like.
M: And recently, our grandfather was infected by the coronavirus. We have to think of a plan to help, so we did “Music for a Cause,” a fundraising for our grandfather. And our family, friends, and followers donated. And I think it was a big help, and it was successful also.
"HEAL THE WORLD" BY MICHAEL JACKSON COVER:
6 MILLION VIEWS
M: “Heal the World.” This song is very popular these days because there's a coronavirus pandemic, and this world needs healing. So that song has 6 million views.
K: And we still have more viral videos, we still have more videos which have millions of views, which was very overwhelming because we didn't notice that.
Recently, our grandfather was infected by the coronavirus. We have to think of a plan to help, so we did “Music for a Cause,” a fundraising for our grandfather.
HOPES AND DREAMS
K: Mostly our dreams are to be successful on YouTube, help our family and friends when we become successful. We will travel with our parents to other countries, and just pay them back for what they’ve done here, when we were still kids. And [to] graduate so that all their hard work will be...
M: Paid off.
CALLING ELLEN DEGENERES
M: Ellen!
K: We sure do love, especially “Ellen.” I watch some other ukulele players, like Feng E. He’s guested on the Ellen show, and I’d like to experience that also. That's also my dream. I know that there’s a pandemic, that we’re still in quarantine--so if that could happen, it’s OK even though we just have a Zoom call with Ellen in an interview. It's gonna be fun. Even though we're just on camera-to-camera, I'm gonna feel so proud of myself for being a part of that interview still.
ADVICE FOR THE YOUNG AT START
K: If you have your talent, because I know [that] God gave us all specific talents, all unique talents that we could share.
M: Share it.
K: Don't be shy to share it. You can share it [with] anyone. If they discourage you, just feel proud of yourself that at least you tried. You need to be proud of your talent, even though other people are letting you down. Don’t stop. It’s just obstacles which you need to surpass to get to the top, to be successful.
M: Yes.
*In loving memory of Koi and Moi's grandfather, Manuel Vallejos, who lost his battle with COVID. For donation inquiries, please email us at info@middleofalovestory.com
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