Winnipeg YouTube star on Good Morning America
Winnipeg's 10-year-old singing sensation Maria Aragon, who has been on a whirlwind ride of fame, appeared on Good Morning America Thursday.
The show, featuring her playing keyboard and singing Lady Gaga's Born This Way was broadcast on a giant screen in New York City's Times Square.
'While you were playing I think the traffic stopped all over Times Square this morning, that was so fantastic.' —GMA host George Stephanopolis
GMA host George Stephanopolis was blown away and said said he wasn't the only one.
"I have to tell you, they were playing that out over Times Square and while you were playing I think the traffic stopped all over Times Square this morning, that was so fantastic," he said.
He then presented her with a gift certificate for six months' worth of piano lessons.
"You taught yourself how to arrange this song, but you've never actually had piano lessons. So we at GMA wanted to give you six months of piano lessons for coming on," he said.
Aragon is hot off an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres Show on Tuesday, in which she received a standing ovation after playing the song there as well.
'I love this song so much, thanku for giving it life.'—Lady Gaga tweet about Maria Aragon
She has rocketed to fame since pop superstar Lady Gaga posted a link on Twitter to a YouTube video of Aragon performing Born This Way.
"Can't stop crying watching this. This is why I make music. She is the future," Gaga tweeted on Feb. 17about Aragon's cover.
Posted Feb. 16, the video had about 3,100 views before Gaga's tweet. Within a couple of hours after the tweet, the views had shot up to 61,000.
When the praise by Gaga hit the mainstream news, Aragon was suddenly being interviewed around Winnipeg and appeared on a local radio station.
More than 13 million views
She was back on the radio station a few days later where she was hooked up, via telephone, to Lady Gaga herself. The pair sang together briefly before Gaga invited Aragon to join her in a duet at a Toronto concert in March.
That led to the appearances on U.S. television this week.
Following the Ellen spot, Aragon was once again the subject of a Lady Gaga tweet.
"Such a doll. Monstercovers are all beautiful. I love this song so much, thanku for giving it life," the tweet stated, and included a link to the Ellen appearance.
All of the publicity has driven more attention to the YouTube video, which had been viewed slightly more than 13 million times as of Thursday morning.
Maria Aragon appeared on Ellen DeGeneres' talk show on Tuesday.