Jane Lui’s “Firefly”

So a couple of us are back from this weekend’s Kollaboration event in Los Angeles. And despite some snags, grumblings and awkward ponies — a girl behind Moye in hysterics when the VIP ticket she pre-purchased was given away, an after party described on twitter as a bad high school dance, a white boy winning the freestyle dance competition — the event was a success, primarily because of the artists and performers.

But for me, the stand-out performer of the night wasn’t BoA, but Jane Lui, a singer-songwriter from San Diego who was the runner-up of the competition, despite having a sound that was more mature than the high schoolers in the crowd. (What? I’m 32; I was feeling fucking old in that auditorium.) While the performance that won her a $1,000 check is already on YouTube and her cover of George Michael’s Faith is equal parts funny and charming, I posted a clip of her song Firefly because while there are tons of people that sing with their guitars in front of video cameras, this is the one of the few YouTube clips I keep coming back to and clicking on the play button, time and time again.