YouTube sensation Miranda seduces Broadway

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One of the most popular stars in the Broadway community at the moment is a tone-deaf crooner who has no stage presence and even less acting talent.

Meet Miranda. The YouTube star has become a hit over the past few months with her ‘singing lessons’ in which she badly warbles scales and popular songs, including an expurgated version of ‘Dance: 10, Looks: 3’ from ‘A Chorus Line.’

Think William Hung, only with too much lipstick and crazy eyes.

The Miranda videos have become so popular within New York’s theater community that she was recently invited to perform on stage with ‘Jersey Boys’ star Daniel Reichard at Birdland as part of Jim Caruso’s Cast Party.

A video of her Birdland appearance is making the rounds on the Internet. (A shorter version of the video is embedded above.) And it should be said: Even those of us with high levels of camp resistance must admit that this footage is a major hoot.

Word has it that she’ll be back in two weeks for another Birdland performance with more Broadway stars -- which means we can also look forward to more kooky videos.

So who is Miranda exactly? Her real name is Colleen Ballinger, a 22-year-old singer who actually has real vocal talent. Why would someone want to pretend to be a lousy performer? Well, as Miranda’s popularity proves, the lack of talent can be more valuable to an aspiring star than any amount of singing chops.

-- David Ng