Steven Spielberg’s niece launches singing career on The Voice Israel

Steven Spielberg’s niece, Jessica ‘Jessy’ Katz, has stepped out of her famous family’s shadow as she launches herself as a singer in Israel.
After immigrating – or making Aliyah – to the Holy Land three years ago, the 25-year-old daughter of Playmount Productions president Nancy Spielberg-Katz, who is the sister of the 67-year-old multiple Oscar-winning director and producer, has been gigging in bars around Tel Aviv.
However, as a video exclusively obtained by The Hollywood Reporter reveals, the aspiring – and clearly very talented – singer has taken her quest for stardom to the next level as she competes on singing competition The Voice Israel.
In the 82-second clip, the statuesque brunette appears confident as she struts on stage during the blind audition round of the show’s third season.
She showcases her sexy raspy, soulful vocals on the track I Follow Rivers, by Swedish singer-songwriter Lykke Li.
While the judges’ decisions aren’t revealed in the teaser, their reactions to her performance give very little away as to what the outcome might be, despite the cheering crowd clearly being on her side.
Shlomi Shabat sits stoney-faced the entire time; Aviv Geffen attempts several times to look over his shoulder and catch a glimpse of the songstress, clearly intrigued by her powerful vocals; while Mosh Ben Ari is the only one unable to hide his obvious delight at having discovered a budding new talent.
Meanwhile, only female judge Sarit Hadad doesn’t appear at all in the clip.
According to THR, The University Of Maryland graduate regularly performs around town with her band Jessica Rabbit & The Blues Bunnies, which plays homage to 1988’s animated movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
Interestingly, the bombshell cartoon character’s vocals in the flick were sung by Jessy’s famous uncle’s then-wife, Amy Irving.
Jessy’s move to Israel reportedly came about as she contemplated enlisting in the Israel Defense Force’s ‘Nahal’ program.
The American-born songstress is not the first immigrant to audition for the show, with the first season being won by Jewish-Canadian Kathleen Reiter, who relocated from her hometown of Montreal just days prior to auditioning in 2011.
The third season of the hit show, which is based on the original Dutch series and is much the same format as its US counterpart, is set to premiere locally on Sunday, June 8.