If you are looking for something to cheer for then, Local 4 suggests you tune in to America’s Got Talent on Tuesday night at 8 p.m. on local 4.
There’s a singer set to audition that all of Metro Detroit is going to want to get behind.
We’re talking about Ava Swiss.
She and her family were kind enough to invite Local 4 into their home Monday in Metamora Village, Michigan, to talk about her appearance Tuesday (July 26) on America’s Got Talent.
Swiss just graduated from Oxford High School, and while she and the entire Oxford community are still reeling from that tragic school shooting, she is hoping that her singing will help people heal, not just in Oxford but the whole nation.
Ava Swieczkowski goes by the stage name Ava Swiss and has been singing since she was two years old.
At age 18, locally, she might be best remembered for singing the song “Rise up” by Andra Day at the candlelight vigil following the Oxford High School tragedy.
On Tuesday night on America’s Got Talent, the nation will know what the Oxford community has known all along.
Swiss is leaning on her music, but she knows the healing will still take time.
Kimberly Gill: Take me thru Nov. 30.
“I don’t really know to be honest, to this day, if I heard gunshots or not because subconsciously, you kind of block things out, you know,” said Swiss. “I remember hearing footsteps almost like a stampede, and I was like, ‘ok, we should probably run.’”
Swiss could get outside, but she couldn’t run far because her younger brother Reid Swieczkowski was still inside.
“I felt like I couldn’t leave him,” Swiss said. “I tried going back in there, and teachers and students were telling me, ‘no, you have to run, you have to go.’”
Gill: Is there anything you would like to say about the four lives that were lost?
“I understand that everyone is healing and coping and moving on, but there were four families that probably still not able to do that,” Swiss said.
Gill: How does it feel that the nation is going to know you?
“It’s honestly a little nerve-wracking, but I’m so excited,” Swiss said. “This is what I dreamed of ever since I was little. I’ve always wanted to share my voice with as many people as I can, and now I feel like I have a purpose in doing that. I’m so honored that I can represent Oxford and our town, and I can send a good message thru my voice, so I’m just happy that I can reach as many people as I can now. My hope is that I can spread hope and healing with my voice.”