At age fourteen Margaret Vieira, who is commonly known as 'Megan,' has shot to fame, gaining instant popularity after her moving rendition of Hero at the funeral of former President Desmond Hoyte.
In an interview with Stabroek News, Margaret expressed amazement at her new-found popularity. She described singing as a passion which she relentlessly pursued and said that nothing was more fulfilling than performing live.
The young performer, who lives in Bel Air Park, said that according to what her family had told her, she had been singing even before she could speak. At age ten she sang with the Jahrusalem Band on several occasions. She later went on to place fourth in the local programme Star Search, which was a cause for some excitement, because she was the youngest contestant.
However, it was her rendition of Mariah Carey's Hero at the state funeral of the leader of the PNCR which has brought her into the public eye. It was so popular that she was asked to sing it again later in the proceedings, while many in the crowd took up the song.
Margaret confesses she had no idea her life would change in a matter of months. According to her it all began last summer when she decided to apply for a summer programme at the University of Miami.
The programme required auditions in the form of two contrasting videotapes. In the first, Margaret portrayed Shakira, the Colombian singer who recently released her first English CD. In the other, she herself sang I'm dreaming of a White Christmas. Emerging from that, she was selected to be one of a group of 20 out of 305 applicants worldwide.
Thereafter Basil Bradshaw, host of Wake Up Guyana requested the tapes and began airing them on television. Margaret said the response was overwhelming, since various stations then asked for copies of the videotapes, and started airing them as well.
According to the young singer she has received offers to sing at various places, and has made television appearances. Only recently Western Union offered her a gig to sing at their annual prize-giving ceremony. Margaret later donated her paycheck to the David Rose School for the Handicapped.
While she loves singing, Margaret, who is an aspiring lawyer, made clear that education was still her top priority. She attends Mae's Secondary School and is preparing to write CXC Mathematics in June. She plans to sit nine subjects next year and then to take SAT exams in 2005.
She would like to be on the Oprah Winfrey Show some day, and told this newspaper that the most important trait as a singer was to be oneself. She also thanked her parents for their support.
She is due to release a single in March and a CD later in the year.