Photo credit: Fernando Medina/Orlando Magic
Gina Marie Incandela, 7, will sing the The Star-Spangled Banner for the fifth time this season prior to tonight’s Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Throughout her toddler years, doctors were not certain whether or not Gina Marie Incandela would be able to speak.
Incandela’s inability to audibly formulate words was a result of a stunning and silencing characteristic of pervasive development disorder, an autistic spectrum disorder (PPD NOS) she had been diagnosed with.
Four years removed from uncertainty, a now 7-year-old Incandela stood at center court of Amway Arena and floored a sell-out crowd with a soul-warming rendition of the national anthem before the Magic topped the Heat on Feb. 22.
Then, she did it again before Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Celtics, and Orlando won.
Then again, prior to Game 6 against Boston, and again, the Magic were victorious.
Fittingly, Gina sang the national anthem before Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals and the Magic beat the Cleveland Cavaliers.
In all four performances, Gina was even flanked by the same color guard: The Civil Air Patrol’s Central Florida Composite Squadron.
Her seemingly veteran-singer’s voice is embodied in the petite frame of a first grader from Kissimmee, masked by a smile that will make even the gloomiest of days seem bright. Her angelic voice is the antithesis of the boisterous Amway Arena crowd that pesters opponents for 48 minutes each game.
“I’ve had music executives tell me that her voice is one in a million,” says Incandela’s mother, Michelle, who along with husband Dwayne and daughter Lexi, 5, travels the country to watch Gina perform. “I don’t know any other 7-year-olds that can sing the way Gina can.”
Incandela’s incredible inclination to music was discovered around the age of 4, when she would carry the notes of a song before she could manage to speak the words. Michelle then had Gina enrolled in music therapy classes, which dramatically increased Gina’s speaking and singing skills.
Gina first broke into the spotlight by singing the National Anthem before a Houston Astros’ spring-training game at Osceola County Stadium in March of 2008. Since, she’s performed more than 50 times.
“It just makes people happy and it makes my own heart feel good just like everybody,” explains Gina, who like many 7-year-olds, enjoys swimming, science and singer Miley Cyrus. “The fans really like it and love it in their own hearts.”
How could fans not love it?
A girl, once unable to speak, has poured her heart into a quartet of spectacular singing performances, leaving all in attendance speechless.
Magic Communications Contact: Dan Dugger, (407) 916-2636, [email protected]
