Extraordinary Montreal singer Kathleen Reiter; winner of The Voice Israel

Hats off to native Montrealer Kathleen Reiter, 23, who moved to Israel last summer, auditioned for that country's version of the popular TV program The Voice and won.

I had the chance to meet her in person this week. Immediately upon learning that she had won this competition, viewed by 1.6 million Israelis each week, I set out to track her down. All I knew was that she was from Montreal. I checked Facebook and found a few "Kathleen Reiters." These turned out to be fan pages. Someone messaged me back, recommending that I direct message her via Twitter. I did so and it worked. 

In the "it's a small world" category, It turned out that she was already in  town visiting family; her parents reside close by my home in Côte Saint-Luc; and when I was trading emails with her while downtown on business I was only two blocks away from her dad's office.

Kathleen will return to Israel soon to take part in The Voice  concert tour. She won a five year recording contract and appears on the verge of stardom. This week she went to the Israeli Consulate in Montreal and received her official Israeli passport. A citizenship application is in process and naturally, she is already a very recognized personality in the Jewish state. "The  paparazzi are  taking my picture," she said. "People wave to me from their cars. It is all quite amazing."

The Herzliah High School graduate says her real wish is to sing the national anthem at a Montreal Canadiens hockey game.

Here is my exclusive video interverview with Kathleen.

Here is Kathleen singing in French:

And  here is Kathleen singing in Hebrew, a true trilingual threat.