Oh, please, everyone stop the presses. Here we have a Dutch television interview with my mom—clearly the ultimate, unbiased authority on my artistic genius—that apparently single-handedly dismantles all those nasty German commentaries and stories. Because nothing says “hard-hitting rebuttal” like a mother’s opinion on camera.

At the time of this momentous interview, just to set the record straight, I was nobly toiling away at a day job in an office (yes, spreadsheets and all) while occasionally performing in the margins of existence, following a first recording contract that was, let’s say, disastrous. But I’m sure I posted every excruciating detail about that already… didn’t I? Oh, I’m sure I did. My followers definitely haven’t heard that one seventeen times.

Anyway. The highlight: Mom declared I was “actually OK” at performing. Actually OK. She even floated the idea of musicals—which, as we all know, is the single most brutal, back-breaking, soul-crushing job in entertainment history. Totally the benchmark for success.

So there you have it, dear Germany. My mom said I have the chops. Official. Irrefutable. You may now collectively apologize.

I hope it’s okay to say that this interview touches on two themes that were clearly very close to her heart—the show-biz school and the TV special with Mel Tormé and Michel Legrand. Sadly, neither of these projects came to be. In the case of the school, it had been promoted by a German politician who later became entangled in a financial scandal, and as a result, the school was eliminated. As for the TV special, Nick Vanoff—who had wanted to produce it—passed away. So both dreams, for reasons beyond her control, never had the chance to come to life.