At the age of three, Claire Ryann has already taken great strides in getting noticed for her powerful singing voice. Part of the reason for that is that her father, Dave Crosby is a record producer with his own home studio who’s been able to use his equipment to record her singing voice. However, the talent of the young preschooler continues to be the draw.
Claire has expressed a particular fondness for singing songs from Walt Disney animated features like Frozen and The Little Mermaid. In the latter case, her father filmed her a few months ago singing the song, “Part of Your World,” from the film and then posted it online. The response to that song resulted in more than 8.4 million views in a little more than 10 weeks, which defined it as a viral sensation.
Building upon that response, Crosby produced a follow-up in time for Holy Week and the subsequent Easter celebrations, with Claire singing, “Gethsemane,” which was written by Roger and Melanie Hoffman.
“Gethsemane” is a timely song selection because it recounts how it was the place where Jesus Christ and his disciples slept on the evening before his crucifixion. Prior to their sleep, the group prayed. According to the New Testament Bible, it’s also the place where Judas Iscariot discovered him, which resulted in his arrest.
The video shows Claire walking through a wooded area that’s presumably meant to mimic the surroundings that Christ and his followers encountered. Interspersed with video of her singing is footage from a series of Bible videos about Gethsemane that were produced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or Mormons.
Lasing slightly under three minutes, the video concludes by showing Christ’s resurrection. Since first being posted online on March 21, the video has garnered more than 1.3 million views. The high number is primarily due to requests from viewers of the original video for a follow-up. Those viewers who had earlier signed up for an online subscription were then alerted immediately after Crosby had posted the new video.
In conjunction with that marketing, the video is also being shown on a variety of social media outlets and Crosby’s own Facebook and YouTube pages. The recording has also been made available on the iTunes music service.
In offering online comments, Claire receives universal praise for her singing, with many saying that the video was inspirational and many religious people simply praising God.