Singing Nun Becomes Winner Of Italy’s ‘The Voice’

Singing sensation Sister Cristina, who garnered millions of YouTube views, has won the final of The Voice of Italy and a contract with Universal Music.

Dressed in a nun’s habit and wearing a crucifix, 25-year-old Sister Cristina Scuccia said her win was “not up to me, it’s thanks to the man upstairs!” before reciting the Lord’s Prayer, the BBC reports.

The young nun quickly became an Internet superstar after her first appearance on The Voice. Her cover of Alicia Keys’ song “No-One” has attracted over 50 million views on YouTube alone. However, Sister Cristina suggested she wouldn’t let fame go to her head, saying that she was happy to return to singing with children in her chapel in Milan.

Sister Cristina, a reformed rebel who has become incredibly popular in predominantly Catholic Italy, said she was following Pope Francis’ advice to make Catholicism more accessible to ordinary people. In her first audition in March she told judges, “I have a gift and I am giving it to you.”

Her gift wasn’t lost on Whoopi Goldberg, star of comic film Sister Act, who tweeted a link to Sister’s Cristina’s audition writing, “for when you want a taste of sister act!” In subsequent appearances Sister Cristina covered Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” and Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ On A Prayer”.

Sister Cristina, a native of Sicily, decided to become a nun after auditioning for a musical about the founder of the Ursuline Order, Saint Angela Medici, the Telegraph reports. She became a novice in 2009 though she has yet to take her final vows.

[BBC]