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Baby, she's got it: Sassy six-year-old schoolgirl diva channels Aretha Franklin

Video: Step aside Aretha, there's a new diva in town

Kiran Moodley
Wednesday 10 June 2015 09:31 BST
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For some of us, it takes years to perfect the art of kissing our teeth or snapping our fingers a la the hero from Jeopardy; for others, sass just comes naturally.

And for a select few, like Johanna Colon, the art comes as early as six-years-old.

The young school girl has become an internet sensation after her mother, Elissa, uploaded a video of her daughter to Facebook with the title, "Johanna channeling Aretha Franklin". 34 million likes and appearances on Fox, ABC and the Today show explain just how much of a star Johanna has become.

While she dances to the diva classic "Respect" with two other girls, Johanna is the only one commanding respect on stage, leaving the other two to simply plod along as they are upstaged, unable to steal the limelight: the Kelly and Michelle to Johanna's Beyonce.

Her father, Carlos, told Yahoo Parenting: "It was an amazing feeling to see her out there because she just loves to entertain. Her teacher picked that song for her because she knew Johanna would put her own twist on it."

Johanna had been working on her Aretha moves during lessons at her dance class, knowing she had to pull off the song with as much aplomb as Ms Franklin. Her mother, Elissa, told the Today Show: "She would make me play ('Respect') on Pandora constantly…She really didn't know who Aretha Franklin was, and when I told her about her and played it, she said, 'Ooh, she’s got a lot of sass, mommy.'"

She ain't lyin'.

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