KODI LEE: The Most Extraordinary Entertainer, Ever

Say you are first-time parents of a new born boy, and are told that your child is blind.  Then, five days old, he undergoes a life-saving operation.  Four years later, they are told that he is autistic.  Tina and Eric Lee went on to have two more children, but life in the household had to be very difficult.

The family moved around, and now lives in Lake Elsinore, California in Temecula Valley.  Mother Tina noticed that the toys Kodi picked up tended to be associated with music and he was able to sing along.  Turns out that he is an autistic musical prodigious savant, perhaps one of 25 such people in the world with this extraordinary ability.  He has a photographic memory and can recall a tune after just one listen.

His piano teacher has long been Yiyi Ku, who was born in Taiwan, grew up in New Zealand and now has a piano studio in Temecula.

Kodi has been entertaining in his neighborhood for years, but has also performed twice at Carnegie Hall.  He plays anything from Bach to Bacharach, and even tap dances.  To the right, friend Mikayla Phillips, who made it to the semifinals of AGT last year.

So then came that fateful day in May of this year when he auditioned for America's Got Talent.  Judge Gabrielle Union gave him her golden buzzer.  This was an extraordinary moment in their lives, and mine.

Why me?  Because two years ago Jokgu, a chicken, also auditioned for AGT, and played America the Beautiful on an electric keyboard.   I was so impressed, I looked into how he did it, and I saw that the keys lit up and he pecked at the light.  I also saw him play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on You Tube.  

This brought back memories because:

Nine years ago, when my wife was in intensive care I bought a Casio Song Bank Rhythm Controller, essentially the same thing as the above, but four decades more recent.  My plan was to play her a song when she returned home.  I even stored a Dom Perignon to celebrate that occasion.  I turned to page one and tried to learn Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  After two weeks I gave up and went to page 98 for Pachelbel's Canon in D.  Unfortunately, she then passed away, so I drank the champagne and this electronic keyboard is now in my closet.  But it had no blinking lights to show you the way.

To make a long story short, I went to Amazon and purchased an electronic keyboard where the keys lit up.  I am not blind nor autistic, but I just could not play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, even seeing where my fingers should go.  Certainly, I'll go back some day and even give a recital here at 15 Craigside, then again, maybe not.  I'm a current joke here on this.  

So what I'm leading to is that Kodi Lee performed Bridge Over Trouble Waters on AGT this week and made me cry.  I can't imagine anyone capable of beating him for the $1 million first place prize, plus.

Next week on Tuesday night will be the second quarterfinals, followed on Wednesday for the results.  Here is a list of some other finalists, and I include clips of a few:

• 13-year old Charlotte Summers from Spain

• Voices of Fire, four former and current members of the military, who should get a lot of sentimental votes

• 10-year old Emanne Beasha sings opera, really well, and is incredibly mature

• hard to explain, but Joseph Allen is just a normal human with confidence, no sad story, wants to make an impact on the world and will definitely go far in life

• then there is Gonzo, a Japanese tambourine dancer, who is absolutely awful, and I can't image how he got this far

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Typhoon Krosa made landfall near Hiroshima, killed one, injured 40, brought a lot of rain, and is now headed for Korea and Russia:

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