Claim: Viral videos on TikTok and YouTube claim a Ghanaian lady appeared on the talent show America Got Talent and got a “YES” vote from all four judges.
Verdict: The video is an edited material taken from an original performance by 6-year-old Filipino-American Zoe Erianna on the talent show in June 2023.
Full Text
A five-minute video that has gone viral on social media shows a Ghanaian lady named Vivian Sefakor singing on the America Got Talent platform.
The videos were published with the title: “First Ghanaian 🇬🇭 on America Got Talent shocked the judges and everyone.”
The video begins with a supposed interaction between the lady and the judges before she proceeds to sing.
Different TikTok accounts such as this, this and this were seen to have posted the video.
The video has also been uploaded to different YouTube channels.
At the time of filing this report, the video had been watched more than ten million times on TikTok and YouTube.
Verification
Besides the difference in the sound quality from the judge and that of the said artiste, the inconsistent flow of the video raised suspicion.
After watching the video several times, DUBAWA saved key frames from the video and subjected it to Google reverse image searches.
The searches pointed to one direction: a previous upload of the video on various social media with keywords. The most popular among the keywords was ‘Zoe Erianna.’
Further searches revealed that Zoe Erianna was a previous contestant on America Got Talent platform.
A review of her performance on the show, as evidenced on the America Got Talent YouTube Channel, showed that the video matched elements of what was used in the viral video attributed to the Ghanaian.
This suggests that the viral video was made out of the original video shared on America Got Talent YouTube channel featuring 6-year-old Zoe Erianna.
A further search on TikTok suggests that the viral video emanated from an account known as ‘toplightproduction’.
A YouTube channel linked to the TikTok account of Top Light Production has uploaded the video under investigation. The video upload, however, had a disclaimer that the content was fabricated.
The disclaimer said: “My AGT videos are a creative way of expressing worship and praising God. It is not an actual AGT talent competition, but Top Light Production sampled it in collaboration with Global Talent and African Young Star, which aims to inspire and uplift the name of the Lord Jesus. Enjoy the artistic expression.”
This confirms that the video under review is not original footage from the America Got Talent show.
Conclusion
The viral video suggesting that a Ghanaian lady had made an appearance on the America Got Talent show was fabricated. The content was created by manipulating an original video featuring 6-year-old Zoe Erianna.
